Frederick Mouillot

Frederick Mouillot was a British born actor manager.

Born Frederick Charles Arthur Mouillot in Suffolk Street, Dublin on 31st May 1864 to a family which had a French aristocratic pedigree, he began his career working for touring stock companies. His first professional appearance was at the Princess’s Theatre, Glasgow as a utility player and by 1883 he was appearing in name roles, e.g. in Lady Grey at the New Royal Theatre in Bristol.

In 1885, at the age of twenty-one, he formed a theatrical company with Mr. H.H. Morell and purchased the Theatre Royal, Bournemouth, which had opened in 1882. Continuing to act, he now became a manager as well and during the 1890s the Morell and Mouillot business expanded dramatically.

In this period he met his second wife, Gertrude Emily Davison, whom he married on 2nd April 1895 at St. Stephen’s, Shepherd’s Bush, west London. She would become a well-known actress in her own right.

By 27th July 1897, when they opened the Queen’s Opera House at Crouch End, north London with the popular "Japanese operetta" The Geisha, the Morell and Mouillot Company owned 18 theatres, and by 1906 Mouillot was listed in the Green Room Book as the proprietor or managing director of numerous more theatres and music halls. Part of their success was attributed to them touring the same acts around their many theatres. The performers were offered a smaller wage than they would have earned for appearing at just one theatre, but they had guaranteed work for months at a time. On top of this, Mouillot was also involved in businesses in Australia, South America and South Africa.

He was part author, with Edward Abbott Parry, playwright, author and senior barrister, of What The Butler Saw and What’s the Matter with London? The former, Parry’s most successful play, was first performed in 1905. Another, The Captain of the School was performed in London and Manchester in 1910 with Parry’s younger daughter, Dorothy, playing the role of the heroine Rhoda McIntyre. Gertrude also appeared in this play. After Frederick died in 1911 Parry had ideas for further plays, but had not the heart to continue with them after the death of his friend and he became a judge at Lambeth County Court. Frederick’s hobbies were listed in the Green Room Book as “theatres, music halls and taking long voyages” (not too surprising, given his far-flung business interests!). His address was given as 1 and 2 King Street, Covent Garden (his offices) and his clubs were said to be the Green Room (London), Vernon (Belfast) and Ormonde (Dublin).

In South Africa he was one of the original directors of The Electric Theatres, which had at least five cinema/theatres in Cape Town and a cinema in Durban for the black population, and a large number of touring companies.

Gertrude Mouillot biography, The Palace Theatre Club website[1]