Joan Clarkson
{{short description|British actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Joan Clarkson
| image = JoanClarkson1919.png
| alt = A young white woman with light hair, wearing a dark, one-shouldered dress
| caption = Joan Clarkson, from a 1919 publication
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|03|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London, England, United Kingdom
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|06|19|1904|03|14|df=yes}}
| death_place = London, England, United Kingdom
| occupation = Actress
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = The Mystery of Fu Manchu (1923)
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Joan Rosaline Clarkson (14 March 1904 – 19 June 1982) was an English actress who was most active in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early life
Clarkson was born in Tottenham, London, the daughter of Frederick William Clarkson and Ellen Theresa Clarkson.
Career
Clarkson was an actress associated with English theatre producer Charles B. Cochran, who called her his "English rose".{{Cite news |date=1928-08-13 |title=Loaned to America |pages=3 |work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798006/loaned-to-america/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was known for her long blonde hair, and her contract with Cochran required her to surrender half her salary if she cut her hair in a bob.{{Cite news |date=1927-09-01 |title=No-Bobbing Contract |pages=6 |work=Liverpool Echo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798411/no-bobbing-contract/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1927-09-21 |title=British Actress Paid to Keep Tresses Long |pages=9 |work=The Pasadena Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798708/british-actress-paid-to-keep-tresses/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her stage credits included roles in Cyrano de Bergerac (1919), The Little Whopper (1920),{{Cite book |last=Wearing |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vFEAwAAQBAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PA22 |title=The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |date=2014-03-27 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-9302-3 |pages=22, 197 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=May 26, 1920 |title=In One of her 'Janet Gregor' Dresses |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4E4AQAAMAAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=RA3-PA118 |journal=The Sketch |volume=110 |pages=118}} An Old-Fashioned Girl (1922){{Cite journal |date=1922 |title=An Old-Fashioned Girl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIkgAQAAMAAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=RA1-PA8 |journal=The Play Pictorial |volume=40 |pages=8}} Fun of the Fayre (1922),{{Cite book |last=Cochran |first=Charles Blake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vl1AAAAAIAAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PA375 |title=The Secrets of a Showman |date=1926 |publisher=H. Holt |pages=375–376 |language=en}} The Happy Ending (1922),{{Cite journal |date=December 16, 1922 |title='The Happy Ending' at the St. James's Theatre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAlIAQAAMAAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PA289 |journal=The Sphere |volume=91 |pages=289}} John Galsworthy's Havoc (1924),{{Cite journal |date=1924-07-10 |title=Joan Clarkson |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_midweek-pictorial_1924-07-10_19_20/page/n9/mode/2up?q=Clarkson |journal=Mid-Week Pictorial |volume=19 |issue=20 |pages=11 |via=Internet Archive}} Cochran's 1930 Revue (1930),{{Cite book |last=Breese |first=Charlotte |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q18pjLrQA40C&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PT101 |title=Hutch: The true story of our biggest cabaret star, and the inspiration for Downton Abbey's Jack Ross |date=2012-01-16 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4088-3113-7 |language=en}} Noel Coward's revue sketches A Tube Station, Ignorance is Bliss,The English Lido, and Rules of Three (all 1928),{{Cite book |last=Coward |first=Noël |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgjZAgAAQBAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PA83 |title=Coward Revue Sketches |date=2014-06-13 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4725-0336-7 |pages=58, 68, 83, 102 |language=en}} and Sunshine Sisters (1933).{{Cite book |last=Wearing |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2mYAwAAQBAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PA319 |title=The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |date=2014-05-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-9304-7 |pages=319 |language=en}}
On film, Clarkson was best known for her appearances as Karamaneh in The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, a 1923 series of more than a dozen short silent films, based on the 1913 novel and starring Harry Agar Lyons.{{Cite book |last=Gifford |first=Denis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHt0DwAAQBAJ&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=PT1583 |title=The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film |date=2018-10-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-83701-5 |language=en}} Dorinea Shirley also played the Karamaneh in some later installments.{{Cite book |last=Soister |first=John T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JO03AUgzYYYC&dq=Joan+Clarkson&pg=RA1-PA1905 |title=Up from the Vault: Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s |date=2010-06-28 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8185-9 |language=en}} Philip de László painted a portrait of her in a white dress in 1935.{{Cite web |title=The White Dress - a Portrait of Joan Clarkson, 1935 (oil on canvas) |url=https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/laszlo/the-white-dress-a-portrait-of-joan-clarkson-1935-oil-on-canvas/oil-on-canvas/asset/48996 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Bridgeman Images |language=en}}
Personal life
Clarkson married producer William Mollison in 1928;{{Cite news |date=1928-07-29 |title=Stage Romance; Actress Asks for Part and Gets a Husband |pages=7 |work=Sunday Mercury and News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798178/stage-romance-actress-asks-for-part/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1928-08-02 |title=Theatrical Romance; Producer Marries Actress in London |pages=6 |work=Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798288/theatrical-romance-producer-marries/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} she left him in 1935,{{Cite news |date=1939-06-26 |title=Decree Against Actress |pages=13 |work=Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798935/decree-against-actress/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} and they divorced in 1939.{{Cite news |date=1939-06-27 |title=Decree for State Producer; Wife's Desertion |pages=11 |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107798814/decree-for-state-producer-wifes/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} She died in 1982, aged 78 years, in London.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20220817224733/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f676fb8 Joan Clarkson] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
- {{NPG name|61882}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0165088}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Joan}}
Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:English stage actresses
Category:English film actresses
Category:English silent film actresses