Maggie Moore

Sullivan was born in San Francisco, California, in 1851 to Irish parents; her father, who died when she was eight years old,{{Cite news|date=24 March 1926|title=Maggie Moore: Her Early Achievements|page=9|work=The Cairns Post|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40529373|access-date=23 October 2020}} was from Dublin, and her mother was from Galway.{{Cite news|date=25 May 1896|title=Miss Maggie Moore|page=4|work=The Mercury (Hobart)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9302033|access-date=22 October 2020}} She had seven siblings: six sisters and one brother, some of whom also appeared on the stage. She began her theatrical career at an early age and married J. C. Williamson, with whom she came to Australia in 1874. They opened in Melbourne on 1 August in the comic play Struck Oil and were immediately successful.{{Cite news|date=26 July 1924|title=Maggie Moore's Experiences|page=3|work=The Evening News (Sydney)| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119978496|access-date=22 October 2020}} Some weeks later they went to Sydney and, after touring Australia, to India.{{Cite news|date=9 June 1894|title=Story of 'Struck Oil'|page=7|work=Telegraph|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173165411|access-date=28 October 2020}} In 1876 Struck Oil played for 100 nights at the Adelphi Theatre in London and was followed for a similar period by Arrah-na-Pogue, with Williamson as Shaun and his wife as Arrah. Other appearances were made in the provinces, and a successful visit was then paid to the United States.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In 1879 they were again in Australia, and Moore began playing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Her voice was not large, but she knew how to use it, and on occasion she took the parts of Josephine and Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore,[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13440830 "Amusements: Theatre Royal"], Sydney Morning Herald, 17 November 1879, p. 5 Mabel and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance and once, when the actress chosen could not appear, Katisha in The Mikado. In Patience, her part was Lady Jane. Possibly her best part in opera was Bettina, in Edmond Audran's La Mascotte.{{Cite news|date=17 March 1926|title=Maggie Moore|page=15|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28062746|access-date=22 October 2020}}

She was versatile, and after her husband had become a member of the firm of Williamson Garner and Musgrove and had practically given up acting, she appeared in sensational drama. In the late 1880s and early 1890s she was keeping alive with her vivacity and humour such parts as Biddy Roonan in The Shadows of a Great City in 1886,{{Cite news|date=19 July 1886|title=Amusements| page=7|work=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237296648|access-date=22 October 2020}} and Meg in Meg the Castaway in 1890.{{Cite news|date=21 July 1890|title=Amusements|page=6|work=The Evening News (Sydney)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113336559|access-date=22 October 2020}} She visited her parents in San Francisco about this time and played at a benefit in Nan the Good-for-Nothing. Returning to Australia she was in various revivals of Struck Oil with John F. Forde as John Stofel. She left her husband in the early 1890s, and they divorced by the close of the century.{{Cite news|date=16 March 1899|title=Theatrical Divorce Case| page=2| work=Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette (Cue: 1894–1925)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233220430|access-date=22 October 2020}}{{Cite web| title=Miss Maggie Moore| work=Geraldton Advertiser|date=30 May 1899|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article252802608|access-date=22 October 2020}}

Shortly after she married for the second time in 1902, to Harry R. Roberts, she toured Australia (July 1902 to July 1903), New Zealand (July to November 1903) and then Australia again (December 1903 to July 1904), with a repertoire of comedies and comedic melodramas, including Struck Oil.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148895452 |title=Maggie Moore Season |newspaper=Geelong Advertiser |issue=17,787 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=30 March 1904 |accessdate=22 October 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} She left Australia for the United States via England, and until 1908 travelled in the United States and Great Britain. In London she appeared with George Graves and Billie Burke, among others. Back in Australia she played a starring season between 1908 and 1912, occasionally reviving Struck Oil with her husband as John Stofel and making a film of the same name, which was released in October 1919.{{Cite news|date=19 October 1919|title=Notes from the Shows|page=20|work=The Sun|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222293934|access-date=22 October 2020}}

In 1915 she returned to the Royal Comic Opera Company, and for some years played smaller parts with finish and distinction.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In 1918 she played the character of Mrs. Karl Pfeiffer in Friendly Enemies,{{Cite news|date=14 December 1918|title=Friendly Enemies|page=14|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15815687|access-date=22 October 2020}} and it has been said of her that "she imbued the character with a dignity and gentle pathos which crowned her long career with fresh laurels". At this time, when not touring, her home was a cottage called "Francisco"{{Cite news|date=27 October 1923|title=Little Sketches|page=3|work=Saturday Journal| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199234662|access-date=22 October 2020}} in Rose Bay, Sydney, where she kept a number of animals.{{Cite news|date=4 September 1920| title=Maggie Moore|page=5|work=The World's News|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128691283|access-date=22 October 2020}} In 1920 she played in the "mystery musical comedy" F.F.F., which toured in Australia.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4578560 "Music and Drama: King's F.F.F."], Argus, 11 October 1920, p. 8, accessed 8 December 2019 In 1920–21, she played Mahbubah in the first Australian production of Chu Chin Chow alongside C. H. Workman.Gänzl, Kurt. [http://operetta-research-center.org/chu-chin-chow-musical-tale-east-3-acts-music-frederic-norton "Chu Chin Chow Musical Tale of the East In 3 Acts, Music by Frederic Norton"], Operetta Research Center, 9 July 2016 She played Lizzie Stofel as her last stage performance in 1924.Moratti, Mel. [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/century6.htm#1887%22 Down Under in the 19th Century] {{Webarchive| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220020903/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/century6.htm#1887%22 |date=20 February 2009}}, Gilbert and Sullivan Down Under, accessed 24 May 2012 That year, she celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of her first appearance in Australia,{{Cite news|date=6 August 1924|title=Maggie Moore|page=16|work=The Sydney Mail| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169147613|access-date=2020-10-23}} and in 1925 retired to California to live with her sister, Mrs Comstock.{{Cite news|date=26 March 1926| title=Maggie Moore|page=4|work=The Corowa Free Press|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235921164|access-date=23 October 2020}} There she was offered an engagement in Lightnin' with J. D. O'Hara, but she did not accept it.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Moore died at San Francisco after having an operation to remove her leg, following a cable car accident on March 15, 1926, aged 74. Her second husband predeceased her.{{Cite news|date=6 June 1924| title=Mr. Harry Roberts|page=10|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16141207|access-date=28 October 2020}} She was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.{{Cite web|date=2020|title=Maggie Moore| url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5316/maggie-moore|access-date=23 October 2020|website=Find A Grave}}

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• {{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Maggie|Last=Moore|shortlink=0-dict-biogMa-Mo.html#moore1}}

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• Richard Refshauge, '[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050322b.htm Moore, Maggie (1851 - 1926)]', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 279–280.
• [http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/Search/Search.asp?Letter=M&Subject=Moore%2C+Maggie+-+1851-1926+-+Posters Images of theatre posters] from the State Library of Tasmania.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090216102230/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/1892.htm Theatre in Melbourne 1892], including details of Maggie Moore's performances. A [http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22Maggie+Moore%22+site%3Ahomepages.ihug.co.nz Google search of this site for "Maggie Moore"] provides a wealth of details about her stage career.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090916160541/http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/stories/suey_land.htm Miss Suey Land and Ron Wong Loy: The Children of Little Bourke Street and The Entertainment Industry] - Miss Suey Land recounts fond memories of her childhood friendship with Maggie Moore.

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Category:1851 births

Category:1926 deaths

Category:American emigrants to Australia

Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)

Category:Australian stage actresses

Category:19th-century Australian women

Category:20th-century Australian women