Vera Beringer
{{short description|British actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vera Beringer
| image = VeraBeringer1896.png
| alt = A young white woman, posed with a fan, holding one side of her skirt with her other hand; she is wearing a loose-fitting dress with round baggy upper sleeves and an open neckline; her hair is long and loose
| caption = Vera Beringer, from an 1896 publication
| other_names = Henry Seton
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1878|03|02|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|01|29|1878|03|02|df=yes}}
| death_place = Brighton
| occupation = Actress, playwright
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| parents = Oscar Beringer and Aimée Daniell Beringer
| relatives = Esme Beringer (sister)
}}
Vera Beringer (2 March 1878 – 29 January 1964) was a British actress and writer. As a child she became well known for playing Little Lord Fauntleroy on the London stage. Later she was a playwright, sometimes using the byline Henry Seton.
Early life
Vera Beringer was born in London in 1878,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyk_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA63|title=Who's who in the Theatre|date=1922|publisher=Pitman|pages=63|language=en}}Though some sources that give 1879 as the year, Vera Beringer's birth was registered in London in 1878;
Career
File:Esmé Beringer (1875–1972) as the troubadour and Vera Beringer (1878–1964) as the lady in My Lady's Orchard.png (left) and Vera Beringer (right) in My Lady's Orchard (1897)]]
Beringer became internationally famous in childhood{{Cite news|date=1889-05-25|title=A Clever Child Actress.|pages=29|work=Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71118992|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Trove}} for originating the role of Little Lord Fauntleroy on the London stage in 1888.{{Cite book|last=Colclough|first=Dyan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AJ8CwAAQBAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA80|title=Child Labor in the British Victorian Entertainment Industry: 1875–1914|date=2016-01-26|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-49603-4|pages=80|language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=Angelica Shirley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvfyNS5adXAC&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA64|title=Frances Hodgson Burnett: Beyond the Secret Garden|last2=Shirley|first2=Jean|date=1990-01-01|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-8225-4905-5|pages=64|language=en}} She was coached in stagecraft by Madge Kendal.{{Cite news|date=1888-05-23|title=How Children Are Trained for the Stage|pages=1|work=The Pall Mall Gazette|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296525/how-children-are-trained-for-the-stage/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} As a teen, she played Juliet to her sister's Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet.{{Cite journal|date=December 14, 1899|title=A Lady Romeo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdAUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=RA5-PA18|journal=The Irish Playgoer and Amusement Record|volume=1|pages=18}} Other stage appearances included roles in The Pillars of Society (1889),{{Cite book|last=Franc|first=Miriam Alice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wX9BAAAAYAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA169|title=Ibsen in England|date=1919|publisher=Four Seas Company|pages=169|language=en}} The Prince and the Pauper (1890),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtIUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=RA1-PA195|title=Dramatic Notes: An Illustrated Year-book of Thestage|date=October 1891|publisher=D. Bogue|pages=195|language=en}} That Girl (1890), On a Doorstep (1890),{{Cite book|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF8pAgAAQBAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA374|title=The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|date=2013-11-21|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-9282-8|pages=8, 377, 394|language=en}} Holly Tree Inn (1891),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtIUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=RA1-PA15|title=Dramatic Notes: An Illustrated Year-book of Thestage|date=January 1891|publisher=D. Bogue|pages=15|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=1891-01-17|title=Vera Beringer's Farewell|pages=10|work=The Era|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296242/vera-beringers-farewell/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} Richelieu (1896), Our Boys (1896),{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k7hJAQAAMAAJ&dq=Vera&pg=RA5-PA29|title=The Era Annual|date=1896|pages=29|language=en|chapter=Vera Beringer}} The Pilgrim's Progress (1896),{{Cite journal|date=February 1, 1897|title=The Pilgrim's Progress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWZv9PiCr2MC&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA101|journal=The Theatre|volume=29|pages=101}} My Lady's Orchard (1897),{{Cite book|last=Archer|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gG9HAQAAMAAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA275|title=The Theatrical "World" for ...|date=1898|publisher=Walter Scott, Limited|pages=275|language=en}} A Warm Member (1898), Shadows on the Blind (1898), Alone in London (1900),{{Cite news|date=1900-08-04|title=Duchess Theatre, Balham|pages=8|work=The Era|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297508/duchess-theatre-balham/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} The Broken Melody (1902),{{Cite book|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5JWAgAAQBAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA422|title=The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2013|isbn=9780810892941|pages=86, 194, 422}} Warp and Woof (1904), Fanny and the Servant Problem (1908), The Whip (1910), The Odd Woman (1912),{{Cite book|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMFnAgAAQBAJ&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PT456|title=The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|date=2013-12-19|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-9300-9|language=en}} The Vision of Delight (1912), The Absent-Minded Husband (1913), The Morning Post (1913),{{Cite news|date=1913-03-30|title=The Woman in the Case|pages=9|work=The Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296752/the-woman-in-the-case/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} and The Man from Blankley's (1930). During World War I, she and her sister entertained American and British troops in London.{{Cite news|date=1918-08-25|title=Lady Mary's London Society|at=Sec. 2: p. 4|work=The Gazette Times|location=Pittsburgh|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297850/lady-marys-london-society/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} She played Gertrude to her sister's Hamlet in 1938, and the sisters gave further Shakespeare performances during World War II.
Beringer wrote at least nineteen plays, often under the pen name "Henry Seton",{{Cite book|last=Gale|first=Maggie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cw1qimj9lggC&dq=Vera+Beringer&pg=PA203|title=West End Women: Women and the London Stage 1918 - 1962|date=2008-03-07|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-88672-2|pages=203|language=en}} including The Boys (1908), False Dawn (1910, with Morley Roberts), Pierrot's Little Joke (1912), Three Common People (1912), A Penny Bunch (1912-1913), The Blue-Stocking (1913, with Mesley Down; an adaptation of Molière's Les Femmes Savantes),{{Cite book|last=Molière|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJ7PGwAACAAJ&q=Vera+Beringer|title=The Blue-stocking: Adapted by Vera Beringer and Mesley Down, from Molière's Comedy "Les Femmes Savantes"|date=1926|publisher=S. French, Limited|language=en}} Set a Thief (1915),{{Cite web|title=Set a Thief|url=https://www.greatwartheatre.org.uk/db/script/393/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=Great War Theatre|language=en-US}} Lucky Jim (1915), Daring (1917), A Pair (1917), The Honourable Gertrude (1918), Biffy (1920, with William Ray), Beltane Night (1923), The Painted Lady (1924),{{Cite news|date=1924-01-13|title=Last Night's New Play; 'The Painted Lady' at the Everyman|pages=13|work=The Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84298067/last-nights-new-play-the-painted/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} Alice and Thomas and Jane (1932), House Full (1933), and It Might Happen to You (1937).{{Cite news|date=1937-12-28|title=It Might Happen to You: A New Children's Play at Liverpool|pages=12|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84296986/it-might-happen-to-you-a-new/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}} Her play Another Man's Life was adapted for television in 1957.
Lewis Carroll wrote a limerick titled "To Miss Vera Beringer".{{Cite web|last=Beringer|first=To Miss Vera|title=To Miss Vera Beringer by Lewis Carroll|url=https://allpoetry.com/poem/14327811-To-Miss-Vera-Beringer-by-Lewis-Carroll|access-date=2021-08-28|website=AllPoetry|language=en}} In 1933 Vera Beringer and Madge Kendal appeared together as speakers in London, advocating for male teachers and headmasters at boys' schools.{{Cite news|date=1933-12-15|title=Women Teachers 'Not Fitted for Boys' Schools'|pages=12|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297182/women-teachers-not-fitted-for-boys/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Beringer lived in Hove in her later years, and died in 1964, aged 85 years, at a nursing home in Brighton. She left all her property to her sister, who survived her.{{Cite news|date=1964-04-20|title=Miss Fauntleroy Leaves £5943|pages=12|work=Evening Standard|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84297635/miss-fauntleroy-leaves-5943/|access-date=2021-08-28|via=Newspapers.com}}
Notes
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=7375671}}
- The National Portrait Gallery holds [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp103777/vera-beringer ten portraits of Vera Beringer]
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Category:Actresses from London
Category:British dramatists and playwrights
Category:English people of American descent
Category:English people of German descent
Category:Shakespearean actresses
Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers