Olga Sturdee

Olga Sturdee (ca. 1891-) was an actress and musical hall performer

Born Olga Sturdee in Blackheath, London, Middlesex, ca 1891, she was the daughter of Arthur Frederick Sturdee and Inez Geraldine (Heyer) Sturdee and the sister of Freda M. Sturdee and the actress Norah Sturdee.

She appears to have become an actress and music hall performer for a time, possibly also residing in Canada for a while, and touring South Africa in the early 20th century.

She married Clive K Colwell in December of 1927, and died 19 December 1963 in London, England. There is no record of the couple having children.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Olga seems to have toured South Africa for about nine months (1915-1916), leaving from Tilbury, England, for Cape Town on the Union-Castle steamship The Briton on 26 July 1915, as part of a company of music hall artists that left from Tilbury, England, for Cape Town on the Union-Castle steamship The Briton on 26 July 1915. The British performers on the passenger list included a number of music hall artists and actresses, including Mr Y. Blyth, Mr D. Burley, Mrs E. Burley, Mr J. Burley, Mr F. Farrell, Miss E. Gerrard, Miss G. Hay, Mr J.V. Laurel, Mr S. Laurel, Mr A. Laurel, Miss M. Malim, Mr Turner Parr, Mrs Turner Parr, Mrs M.L. Royle, Miss O. Sturdee (G. Sturdee?), Mr F. Pennington-Gush, Mr Y.G. Vane (could also by S.G. Vane)

The company may also have included a Mrs S. Robbins, a Miss E.H. Russel and a Miss B. Stackland (B. Stockland?), since Olga is mentioned as an actress (whose last country of permanent residence is given as Canada, for some reason), alongside the three other actresses on the shipping list of the Kenilworth Castle as returning to England from Durban and Cape Town at the start of the 1916, leaving from Durban in March and arriving in London on 10 April.

Sources

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sturdee-14

E-mail correspondence with Nick Jackson about Norah Sturdee and the South African tour (1 May 2020).

Further correspondence and documentation (also on Olga Sturdee) provided by Nick Jackson on 12 May, 2020.

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

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