Bertie Solomon

Bertie Solomon (b. Johannesburg, **/**/1894 - d. **/**/1971) was an actress and dancer.

Biography

Bertie Solomon is thought to have been Bertha Alice Solomon. In 1917 she and her younger sister, (Ethel) Phyllis Solomon appeared in the show S’Nice at the Empire Palace, which also featured the likes of Hilda Attenboro, H.J. Hamlin and Cecil Kellaway. This was followed by the pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat at His Majesty’s Theatre (1917), with Dan Thomas, Frank Harrison, Grafton Williams, Horace Green and Thomas Pauncefort and, in 1918, The Pink Lady, again with Pauncefort and Williams, as well as Elise Hamilton and Vivien Talleur.

Early in 1918, H. Lisle Lucoque came out from England to direct the first film version of King Solomon’s Mines for African Film Productions and cast her in the role of Foulata, the maiden who is selected to be sacrificed, but is rescued by Captain John Good (Ray Brown), Allan Quatermain (Albert Lawrence) and Sir Henry Curtis (H.J. Hamlin). In addition, Phyllis Solomon was featured as the leader of the dance troupe at the intended sacrifice. While the film was in production, S.A. Pictorial called her Bertie Solomon, but in subsequent records she is frequently referred to as Bertie Gordon.

The following year Lucoque produced Allan Quatermain, also for AFP, and then returned to England. There he directed Lorna Doone (1920) and Castles in Spain (1920), with both starring Bertie Gordon, who presumably was invited to join him at Lucoque-Taylor Productions. There is no information just why and when she changed her surname. Normally this would indicate that she was now married, but there is no evidence of that. In Lorna Doone she acted with Dennis Wyndham, another South African-born actor, while in Castles in Spain she appeared with Hayford Hobbs, who was to come to South Africa to act in Leander De Cordova’s Swallow (1922). These appear to have been her only films in England and in 1923 she and Hilda Neale appeared on the stage of the Tivoli Theatre in Cape Town, with Variety commenting that “Hilda Neale and Bertie Gordon put over a pretty and effective act. Miss Neale has a rich contralto voice and Miss Gordon is one of the daintiest dancers seen on the Tivoli stage for some time.”

In 1929, Bertie Solomon (not Gordon) married Eric Bertram Bell in Durban. He was an electrical engineer and worked for South African General Electric Co. He sometimes travelled to the General Electric offices in the United States and at times his wife accompanied him. There is no evidence that she did any stage or film work after her marriage. (FO)

(Note: The theory that Bertie Solomon and Bertie Gordon are one and the same person is based on circumstantial, though reasonably compelling evidence.)