Maureen Potter
{{Short description|Irish actress (1925–2004)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Maureen Potter
| image = Maureen_Potter.jpg
| birth_name = Maria Philomena Potter
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1925|1|3}}
| birth_place = Fairview, Dublin, Ireland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2004|4|7|1925|1|3}}
| death_place = Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland
| resting_place = Clontarf Cemetery{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/funeral-takes-place-of-maureen-potter-1.976107|title=Funeral takes place of Maureen Potter|work=The Irish Times|date=10 April 2004|access-date=10 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110214452/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/funeral-takes-place-of-maureen-potter-1.976107|archive-date=10 January 2020|url-status=live}}
| nationality = Irish
| other_names = Maureen Potter
| occupation = Singer, actress, comedienne, performer
| years_active = 1938—2004
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| height = {{convert|4|ft|11|in}}
| spouse = {{marriage |Jack O'Leary |1959 |2004}}
| children = John, Hugh
}}
Maria Philomena Potter (3 January 1925 – 7 April 2004), known as Maureen Potter, was an Irish singer, actress, comedienne and performer.
Early life
Potter was born in Dublin and educated at St. Mary's school in Fairview.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/with-warmth-and-comic-genius-she-was-marked-early-on-for-the-stage-1.1307702|title=With warmth and comic genius, she was marked early on for the stage|website=The Irish Times}} She had a long career in Irish theatre, mainly as Ireland's première comedienne, but also as a straight actress.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie//archives/2018/1221/1018541-maureen-potter-abbey-actress/|title=Maureen Potter Abbey Actress|website=RTÉ Archives}} She was a regular performer at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and for many years starred in Christmas pantomime.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maureen-potter-38304.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maureen-potter-38304.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Maureen Potter|date=13 April 2004|website=The Independent}} She became the first star to have a bronze cast of her handprints outside the theatre.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0407/47458-potter/|title=Maureen Potter dies aged 79|date=7 April 2004|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134818/https://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0407/47458-potter/|archive-date=24 September 2015|publisher=RTÉ News}} She married Jack O'Leary in 1959, an Irish army officer whom she had first met in 1943, and he wrote most of her comedic material.
= Career =
Among Potter's many dramatic roles in the theatre was that of Maisie Madigan in Juno and the Paycock.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/maureen-potter-84549|title=Maureen Potter – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB|website=www.ibdb.com}} While still a teenager, she toured abroad before World War II as a singer and dancer with Jack Hylton (known as Jack Haylton and his orchestra). On a tour of Germany, they once performed in front of Adolf Hitler and other Nazis.{{Cite news |date=7 April 2004 |title=Actress and comedienne Maureen Potter dies |work=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/actress-and-comedienne-maureen-potter-dies-1.975853 |url-status=live |access-date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110214042/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/actress-and-comedienne-maureen-potter-dies-1.975853 |archive-date=10 January 2020}} In January 1938, Potter appeared on the BBC Television Service with Jack Hylton and his Band.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/185e8389707a4f598375d598dc028c9f|title=Jack Hylton and his Band|date=20 January 1938|issue=746|pages=17|via=BBC Genome}} Film of her performance is held by the Alexandra Palace Television Society.{{Cite web|url=http://www.apts.org.uk/|title=APTS – The Alexandra Palace Television Society|website=www.apts.org.uk}} In 2001, the Archivist of the Alexandra Palace Television Society gave Potter a copy of her 1938 television appearance, and she recalled her memories:"I was 13 years of age when I appeared with the Jack Hylton Band in RadiOlympia, a programme that went out on television all those years ago. What I remember most is the heavy ochre make-up the performers had to wear. I was excused the make-up for some reason; maybe mine was such a long shot that it was not deemed necessary. If you blink you miss me! However, June Malo, the Henderson Twins, Peggy Dell, Bruce Trent and Freddie Schweitzer had this heavy ochre make-up plastered on them. Plastered is the only word! Having toured with them for over 12-months and used to seeing them in stage make-up they looked very strange. Mr Hylton was excused also. He was always Mr Hylton to me. He called me "Morine", (the American pronunciation, and was a kind man who made such a difference to my career. He always wore those two-tone shoes that were so popular at the time. It is wonderful to see him so trim and dapper in the tape, which Simon Vaughan has sent me."Maureen Potter letter to APTS Archivist – March 2001{{YouTube|0z1iLiTuV1M|APTS footage containing interview with Maureen Potter}}
Potter first appeared professionally with Jimmy O'Dea in pantomime and appeared frequently on television and in cabaret. She played the role of Dante Riordan in Joseph Strick's film, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977).{{Cite web |title=Maureen Potter |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baa84a489 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521135856/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baa84a489 |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 May 2018 |website=BFI}}
File:Maureen Potter bronze hand prints.jpg
In the 1970s, Potter appeared alongside puppets in adverts for Jacob's Mikado, Kimberley and Coconut Cream biscuits, with the line "Someone you love would love some mum".{{cite web |title=Someone You Love Would Love Some (Mum) |url=https://www.crookedshore.com/someone-you-love-would-love-some-mum/ |website=crookedshore |access-date=2024-11-24 |date=25 May 2009}}{{cite web |title=Classic Jacob's Kimberley, MIkado & Coconut Cream TV Ad |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRQAa7eA9l4 |access-date=2024-11-24 |date=15 October 2012}}
Later life and death
{{external media|float=right|width=180px|image1 = [http://www.photopol.com/signs/maureen_potter_grave_xmas.jpg Potter's gravestone at St. John the Baptist cemetery in Clontarf]}}
Potter was conferred with the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1984, and was later awarded an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin in 1988.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/13/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1|title=Maureen Potter|last=Dixon|first=Stephen|date=12 April 2004|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306090624/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/13/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1|archive-date=6 March 2016}} She died in her sleep at her home in Clontarf on 7 April 2004, at the age of 79. She was survived by her husband, Jack O'Leary and her sons, John and Hugh.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | The Rising of the Moon | Pegeen Mallory – barmaid | (2nd Episode) |
| 1958 | Gideon's Day | Mrs. Ethel Sparrow | |
| 1967 | Ulysses | Josie Breen | |
| 1977 | A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Dante | |
| 1997 | How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate | Una's Mother |
Advertising
In the late 1970s she advertised Jacob's biscuits.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{IMDb name|693322}}
- {{IBDB name|84549}}
- {{Find a Grave|9793971}}
- [https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a9375 Potter, Maureen] at Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press.
- [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/13/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1 The Guardian obituary]
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maureen-potter-38304.html The Independent obituary]
- {{YouTube|NanQgFB_avY|Potter duetting with Patricia Cahill on RTÉ Television in 1977}}
- {{YouTube|qRQwbTg5ze8|Potter as Sister Gonzaga}}
- {{YouTube|W7FujZBN-Ts|Potter in a sketch with Patricia Cahill on RTÉ Television in 1969}}
- {{YouTube|apNG4Kc4f84|RTÉ Television 1969 Christmas with Potter}}
- {{YouTube|0z1iLiTuV1M|APTS footage containing interview with Potter}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Maureen}}
Category:Irish comedy musicians
Category:Irish stage actresses
Category:Irish television actresses
Category:Irish women comedians
Category:People from Clontarf, Dublin
Category:20th-century Irish women singers