Difference between revisions of "Inez Bensusan"

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==Biography==
 
==Biography==
  
Born in Sydney, Australia, of a Jewish family,  in the UK. She became a leader of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage.
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Born in Sydney, Australia, of a Jewish family,  later studying at University of Sydney before she and her family moved to England in 1894. There she joined an theatre company and went on to perform in plays around the world (e.g. England, South Africa, the USA and Australia), and appear in more than fifty plays in the West End between 1906 until 1938.
  
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She also established a Women's Theatre Company at the Coronet Theatre in 1913. The company would go on to entertain the troops during the ensuing war. 
  
 
She wrote a number of plays, including ''[[The Apple]]''  (1909), ''[[Perfect Ladies]]'' (1909), ''[[Nobody's Sweetheart]]'' (1911), ''[[The Prodigal Passes]]'' (1914), ''[[The Singer of the Veldt]]'' and ''[[True Womanhood]]'' (a film, 1911).
 
She wrote a number of plays, including ''[[The Apple]]''  (1909), ''[[Perfect Ladies]]'' (1909), ''[[Nobody's Sweetheart]]'' (1911), ''[[The Prodigal Passes]]'' (1914), ''[[The Singer of the Veldt]]'' and ''[[True Womanhood]]'' (a film, 1911).
  
Died in Australia in 1967.
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Film work included roles in ''The Grit of a Jew'' (1917) and ''Adam Bede'' (1918).
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Besides her theatrical work, she soon became involved in the feminist movement, ''inter alia'' as a member of Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union and one of the founder members of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage.
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She died in 1967.
  
 
==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==
 
==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==

Revision as of 06:20, 7 September 2021

Inez Bensusan (1871–1967) was an actress, playwright and suffragette

Biography

Born in Sydney, Australia, of a Jewish family, later studying at University of Sydney before she and her family moved to England in 1894. There she joined an theatre company and went on to perform in plays around the world (e.g. England, South Africa, the USA and Australia), and appear in more than fifty plays in the West End between 1906 until 1938.

She also established a Women's Theatre Company at the Coronet Theatre in 1913. The company would go on to entertain the troops during the ensuing war.

She wrote a number of plays, including The Apple (1909), Perfect Ladies (1909), Nobody's Sweetheart (1911), The Prodigal Passes (1914), The Singer of the Veldt and True Womanhood (a film, 1911).

Film work included roles in The Grit of a Jew (1917) and Adam Bede (1918).

Besides her theatrical work, she soon became involved in the feminist movement, inter alia as a member of Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union and one of the founder members of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage.

She died in 1967.

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

She played "Lavender" in the Searelle Comedy Company's production of Sweet Lavender (Pinero), which toured the major South African cities in 1896.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inez_Bensusan

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 1923. (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: p. 404

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