Maie Saqui
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Maie Saqui
| image = MaieSaqui1907.png
| alt = Maie Saqui, from a 1907 publication.
| caption = Maie Saqui, from a 1907 publication.
| birth_name = May Vivian Saqui
| birth_date = 19 December 1879
| birth_place = Melbourne
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1907|03|27|1879|12|19}}
| death_place = London
| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Actress
| years_active =
| known_for = Gaiety Girl
| notable_works =
}}
Maie Saqui (19 December 1879 – 27 March 1907) was an Australian actress, dancer, and Gaiety Girl in London.
Early life
May Vivian Saqui was born in the Fitzroy neighborhood of Melbourne, the daughter of John Isaac "Jack" Saqui and Ester Barnett "Stella" Saqui.{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Nick |date=2019-05-18 |title=The strange story of Maie Saqui (1879-1907) |url=https://forgottenaustralianactresses.com/2019/05/18/the-strange-story-of-maie-saqui/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Forgotten Australian Actors |language=en-US}} Both of her parents were born in London. Her younger sisters Hazel and Gladys were also actresses.{{Cite journal|date=December 3, 1902|title=Miss Maie Saqui's Sister|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHw4AQAAMAAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA252|journal=The Sketch|volume=40|pages=252}}{{Cite journal|date=November 4, 1903|title=Some Celebrated Sisters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8n84AQAAMAAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA108-IA6|journal=The Sketch|volume=44|pages=6}} They studied dance in Melbourne with their aunt, Julia Saqui Green. "I started dancing when I was quite a child, and — well, I didn't stop, and I don't want to stop until I am old," Maie Saqui told a magazine in 1903.{{Cite journal|date=July 1903|title=Maie Saqui|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nBEAQAAMAAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA195|journal=The Royal Magazine|volume=10|pages=195}}
Saqui's father was a gambler who eventually lost the family's fortune and was institutionalised at Yarra Bend Asylum.{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207388285|title=MAIE SAQUI SHINES.|date=1904-10-01|work=Truth (Perth, WA : 1903 - 1931)|access-date=2019-05-11|pages=2|via=Trove}}
Career
The Saqui sisters, Gladys, Maie, and Hazel, began their careers on the stage in Australia, then moved to England.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/101477|title=AusStage|website=www.ausstage.edu.au|access-date=2019-05-11}} Maie became a "Gaiety Girl",{{Cite journal|date=August 1899|title=A New Gaiety Beauty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeIJWQbw6ngC&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA297|journal=Broadway Magazine|volume=3|pages=297}} one of the musical performers connected to the Gaiety Theatre in London.[https://books.google.com/books?id=WIPW3N-PjncC&dq=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA583 "Beauty on the London Stage"] Cosmopolitan Magazine (August 1901): 580, 583. She was in the original cast of The Toreador (1901).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AuwQAAAAYAAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PR6|title=The Toreador: An Entirely New and Original Musical Play in Two Acts|last1=Caryll|first1=Ivan|last2=Monckton|first2=Lionel|date=1901|publisher=Chappell|language=en}} She also appeared on the London stage in The Circus Girl (1897),{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31461323/maie_saqui_1897/|title=Borough Theatre, Stratford|date=September 4, 1897|work=The Era|access-date=May 11, 2019|page=10|via=Newspapers.com}} The Geisha (1897-1898),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF8pAgAAQBAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA291|title=The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|date=2013-11-21|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810892828|pages=291|language=en}} Harlequinade (1900), The Messenger Boy (1900-1901),{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/messengerboyane00lucagoog|quote=Maie Saqui.|title=The Messenger Boy: A New and Original Musical Play|last1=Caryll|first1=Ivan|last2=Tanner|first2=James T.|last3=Murray|first3=Alfred|last4=Ross|first4=Adrian|last5=Monckton|first5=Lionel|last6=Greenbank|first6=Harry|date=1900|publisher=Chappell & Company|language=en}} Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury (1902) and The Linkman, or, Gaiety Memories (1903).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5JWAgAAQBAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA63|title=The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|date=2013-12-05|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810892941|pages=3, 17, 63, 122, 132|language=en}}
Personal life
Maie Saqui married stockbroker Arthur Hope Travers in 1903, and retired from the stage.{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227134143|title=MISS MAIE SAQUI|date=1907-05-19|work=Sunday Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1903 - 1910)|access-date=2019-05-11|pages=9}} The couple had one child, Inez Hope.
She died in 1907, aged 27 years, in London.{{Cite journal|date=April 10, 1907|title=The Early Death of a Former Gaiety Star|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTVIAQAAMAAJ&q=Maie+Saqui&pg=PA404|journal=The Sketch|volume=57|pages=404}}
References
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Category:People from Melbourne