Marie Dainton

Marie Dainton (8 June c. 1881 – 1 February 1938) was an actress of the Victorian and Edwardian eras who appeared regularly in both music halls and in the legitimate theatre.

Dainton was born in Russia, apparently in 1881, although other sources cite 1877. Her father was Robert E. Sharlach and her mother was the English actress and singer Jenny Dawson (d. 1936). Dainton made her stage debut on 24 March 1894 at York Theatre Royal in Little Red Riding Hood. In this show she gave imitations of well-known theatrical personalities, and this gift for mimicry became her trademark. Dainton became a versatile performer in various theatrical genres, including musical comedy, pantomime and revue.

Dainton made her first London appearance at the Metropolitan music hall in Edgware Road on 6 August 1894. On 24 December 1894 she opened as 'Mr Falsehood' in The House that Jack Built at the Opera Comique, and the following year toured as 'Flo' in Buttercup and Daisy. The next few years were spent appearing mainly in the music halls until June 1899, when she scored a big success at the Avenue Theatre giving impressions of popular stage stars in a production entitled Pot Pourri. In 1898 Dainton appeared in the pantomime Puss in Boots with Eugene Stratton at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Birmingham. She also appeared in the legitimate theatre. Dainton was in demand both in London and on tour in the British provinces and abroad. During 1900 and 1901 she appeared at the Casino Theatre in New York, and at the Apollo Theatre in London, as Paquita in The Belle of Bohemia. In New York she was temporarily restrained from appearing in the show until a breach of contract case was resolved in the courts. She also toured Austria as Fifi in The Belle of New York. At the Strand Theatre in London in 1902 she appeared in the successful musical play A Chinese Honeymoon. In 1902 she made several gramophone recordings for the Gramophone & Typewriter Co Ltd and Pathé of songs from this show, namely "The à la Girl", "Sweet Little Sing-Sing", and "Mandie of Ohio".

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