Margaret Chute

{{Infobox person

| name = Margaret Chute

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1886|06|07}}

| birth_place = South Norwood, London, England, UK

| death_date = November 30, 1948 (aged 62)

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States

| relatives = {{Plainlist|

Edmund Breon (partner)
Andrew McFadyean (brother-in-law)
William Macready (great-uncle)
William John Charles Möens (great-great-uncle)
Desmond Chute (first-cousin)
Robert Byron (cousin removed)
David Charles Manners (cousin removed)

}}

Margaret Chute (1886–1948) was an English stage actor, suffragist, freelance journalist, and photographer.

Personal life

Chute was the daughter of Charles Kean Chute and Sybil Claridge Andrews. Her parents were notable stage actors, performing in the West End and throughout Britain, including at Hastings’ Gaiety Theatre.{{Cite web |last=Hewitt |first=Phil |title=The tale of Hollywood's very first freelance film journalist |url=https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/the-tale-of-hollywoods-very-first-freelance-film-journalist-3293505 |website=Sussexworld}}

During World War II, Joan Crawford volunteered as Chute's guarantor, allowing her to move from England and continue working in the United States.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/hollywood30fawc |title=Hollywood (1941) |date=1941 |publisher=Fawcett Publications, inc. |via=MBRS Library of Congress}}{{Cite news|date=1936-03-13|title=Hollywood Still Film Capital, Says Reviewer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7IouAAAAIBAJ&dq=Margaret+Chute&pg=PA7&article_id=6417,1234801 |work=The Deseret News |language=en}}

Chute passed away in Los Angeles, California on November 30, 1948, due to a stroke caused by cirrhosis of the liver.{{Cite web |title=Los Angeles. Death Record Indexes | website=FamilySearch |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89SF-8VHL?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQGDV-YFT8&action=view}}{{Cite web |title=Norwalk. Death Certificates | website=FamilySearch |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SV-59DK-C?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQGR1-GMX5&action=view}}

Career

Chute was on the professional stage from 1908-1919. In 1911 to 1912, she played Mrs. Cowper-Cowper in the first revival of Lady Windermere's Fan.

In 1917, George Robey employed Chute as his private secretary. In 1920, she was employed by Sir Oswald Stoll as the first woman press representative for London's Coliseum and Alhambra theatres.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_billboard_1921-02-05_33_6 |title=The Billboard 1921-02-05: Vol 33 Iss 6 |date=1921-02-05 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |language=English}}

In 1925, Chute travelled to Germany to survey their studio systems.{{Cite news|last=Higgins|first=Harvey O.|date=1925-12-16|title=The Fourth Column: Germany's Rapid Strides As Motion Picture Centre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUI_AAAAIBAJ&dq=Margaret+Chute&pg=PA4&article_id=4563,3444331 |work=Border Cities Chrysler News|language=en}} In 1926, Chute travelled to Hollywood to interview some of her favorite film stars, including Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/pictureplaymagaz25unse |title=Picture-Play Magazine |date=1926 |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Street & Smith |via=MBRS Library of Congress}} She would return every year. Chute wrote for various fan magazines including Hollywood Magazine, Photoplay, and Picture Play magazine.{{Cite book |last=Photoplay Magazine Publishing Company |url=http://archive.org/details/photoplay119phot |title=Photoplay (Jul – Dec 1941) |date=1941 |publisher=Chicago, Photoplay Magazine Publishing Company |via=New York The Museum of Modern Art Library}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/photoplayvolume552chic |title=Photoplay |date=Jan–Jun 1938 |location=Chicago |publisher=Macfadden Publications, Inc. |via=Media History Digital Library}} She also wrote for United Press.{{Cite news|last=Chute|first=Margaret|date=1929-01-23|title=Woman Tells of Thrilling Rescue on The High Seas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZFiAAAAIBAJ&dq=Margaret+Chute&pg=PA25&article_id=2143,473191 |work=The Washington Reporter|agency=United Press|language=en}}

Chute also took photographs of many stars, including Jean Harlow, Marion Davies, Dorothy Sebastian, and Joan Crawford.{{Cite web |date=2004-04-16 |title=Jean Harlow talks over the next scene for 'Riff Raff' with director J... |url=https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/jean-harlow-talks-over-the-next-scene-for-riff-raff-with-news-photo/3398726 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |date=2004-04-13 |title=American actress Marion Davies relaxing in her Beverly Hills garden... |url=https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/american-actress-marion-davies-relaxing-in-her-beverly-news-photo/3353635 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |date=2004-04-09 |title=American actresses Joan Crawford and Dorothy Sebastian practise... |url=https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/american-actresses-joan-crawford-and-dorothy-sebastian-news-photo/3301724 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}}

Her career declined after Chute published articles exposing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood, similar to today's MeToo movement.

Legacy

In July 2021, The Stables Theatre premiered Picture Picture by Chute's relation David Charles Manners, which focused on Chute's life and hosted the first-ever exhibition of Chute's photographs.

Performances

class="wikitable"

|+Performances

!Year

!Play

!Part

! Theatre

1908-09

|Aladdin

|chorus & dancer

|Prince’s, Bristol

1909

|Cinderella

|Fairy Godmother (understudy + 5 weeks in role)

|Adelphi, London

1909

|The Proud Prince

|chorus

| Lyceum, London

1910

|F.R. Benson's Co. tour of multiple Shakespeare plays

The School for Scandal

The Knight of the Burning Pestle

|multiple roles

|national tour

1910

|The Eccentric Lord Comberdene

|company role

|St. James's, London

1910

|The Miniature

|Beadnell

|St. James's, London

1911-12

|Lady Windermere's Fan{{Cite web |title=Margaret Chute as Mrs Cowper-Cowper; G. Trevor Roller as Parker in 'Lady Windermere's Fan' Portrait Print |url=https://npgshop.org.uk/products/margaret-chute-as-mrs-cowper-cowper-g-trevor-roller-as-parker-in-lady-windermeres-fa-npg-x104139-print |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=National Portrait Gallery Shop}}

|Mrs Cowper-Cowper

|St. James's, London

1912

|The Bear Leaders

|Lloyd

|Comedy Theatre, London

1913

|Turandot, Princess of China

|Tien-wa

| St. James's, London

1913

|Lady Noggs