Olga Sturdee

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

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

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

Olga seems to have toured South Africa for about nine months (1915-1916), for she arrived in Cape Town 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?, listed as having last resided in Canada), 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), 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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