Olga Isabella Nethersole (1867-1951) birthday is today. The daughter of a London solicitor, Nethersole arrived on the professional stage in the English provinces in 1887, making her West End debut the following year. Roles for John Hare at the newly built Garrick Theatre brought her great fame. for the next several years she alternated seasons in London, Australia, New York and Paris, often self-producing. Plays she are associated with include Clyde Fitch’s Sapho (for which she was arrested in New York), Camille, The Second Mrs. Tanquray, and The Profligate. In 1913 and 1914, like many of the greatest divas of her age, she undertook a tour of high class, big time vaudeville including the Palace, where she was billed as “The British Bernhardt“. She served as nurse during the World War One years (1914-1918). For the rest of her life public health issues joined the theatre as her consuming passion. Though she lived well into the cinematic era, she never made a film.
For more on vaudeville history, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold
(Travalanche) 