Doreen Wonfor
(b. **/**/1914? – d. **/**/****). Actress. Doreen Wonfor was the young girl who acted the part of the shipwrecked Emmeline as a child in the 1923 version of H. De Vere Stacpoole’s novel The Blue Lagoon, directed by Dick Cruikshanks. Her young co-star was Val Chard as Dick and in the film they grew up to be replaced by Molly Adair and Arthur Pusey respectively. A Stage & Cinema of 29 April 1949 compares the 1923 and 1949 versions of The Blue Lagoon. It uses the following caption with one of the photographs: “At the time, the child actors’ families became friends and the children’s education was continued under one governess. Today they are married, have a child of their own, and live in Johannesburg.” In fact, they were married in St. Patrick's Church, Johannesburg in 1938. Apparently they featured in a full page advert for Old Gold cigarettes in a Look Magazine of 30 August 1938. Thelma Gutsche quotes Chard’s mother as saying “He has never looked at another girl since 1922”. (FO)
Sources
Cape Argus, 8 October 1938
Stage & Cinema, 29 April 1949
http://2neat.com/magazines/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=234
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