Madeleine Lucette Ryley
| Madeleine Lucette Ryley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Madeline Matilda Bradley December 26, 1858 London, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | February 7, 1934 (aged 75) |
| Spouse(s) | J. H. Ryley |
Madeleine Lucette Ryley (December 26, 1858 – February 7, 1934) was an English actress and playwright known for her plays in London and then America in the late 1800s. She began writing plays under the pseudonym Noel Grant until she gained fame as a dramatist. Ryley wrote 27 plays and directed many of them herself, the best known being Mice and Men, Christopher Jr and An American Citizen, some of which were adapted on film in the early 1900s. She was an advocate for women's rights and was involved in the suffragette movement. Ryley rarely wrote suffragette drama for fear of trivializing complex political arguments.
Ryley was born Madeline Matilda Bradley to Alfred and Madeline Bradley in St. Mary, London, the oldest of six children. She adopted the stage name "Madeline Lucette" early in her career. She likely met her husband, J. H. Ryley, while touring with Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy Opera Company while performing in Congenial Souls in 1878. They continued touring together for several years. In 1882, news clippings of The Sorcerer, a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, billed Ryley for the first time as Mrs. J. H. Ryley. It came as a shock to the friends and neighbors of the couple when it was revealed that they were not legally married until 1890, after J. H. Ryley obtained a divorce from his first wife, English character actress Marie Barnam.
Ryley first appeared onstage at the age of fourteen in London, playing Queen of the Fairies in an annual Christmas pantomime. She performed roles in light opera companies, including Carte's Comedy Opera Company with which she toured the British provinces in 1878 in the chorus of The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore, both starring J. H. Ryley. She had roles in the short companion pieces, Two Sharps and a Flat (Mrs. Minor) and Ryley's own Congenial Souls (Clara). Her American debut was in Princess Toto by W. S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay in Boston, and her first New York performance was in 1881 either in Solomon and Stephens's Billee Taylor with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, as Susan, or in Reward of Virtue. In 1882, she appeared in a production of The Sorcerer at the Bijou Opera House in the soubrette role of Constance. Ryley received rave reviews for her performance. When the star of the production, Lillian Russell, fell ill, Ryley filled in as the leading role, Aline. Ryley also played Constance at the Casino Theatre in 1893. Ryley continued performing in operas with mixed success before transitioning to non-musical plays in 1891, performing the role of May Hoaford in The Power of the Press. Although the melodrama by Augustus Pitou and George H. Jessop was not a critical success, the production ran for over fifty performances before going on tour.
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