Difference between revisions of "Shelagh Holliday"

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(****-****).Actress.  Performed in musicals, revue, comedy and drama.  Won Best Actress Award in 1969 for ''[[The Secretary Bird]]'', nominated for Best Actress in 1974 for ''[[Hay Fever]]'' and won a Durban Critics Circle Best Actress Award in 1978 for ''[[Separate Tables]]''. Performed in
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[[Shelagh Holliday]] (1930-2010) was a South African actress.
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''[[Ever Since Eve]]'',
 
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''[[I Spy]]'',
 
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''[[Platonic Nymph]]'',
 
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''[[Applause]]'',
 
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''[[Finger Trouble]]''' ( the revue by [[Robert Kirby]]),
 
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''[[Night Must Fall]]'',
 
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''[[King John]]'',
 
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''[[Hay Fever]]'' (with [[PACT]]),
 
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''[[The Secretary Bird]]'',
 
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''[[Move Over Mrs. Markham]]'',
 
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''[[Mrs. Adams Will be Waiting]]'',
 
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''[[Charley’s Aunt]]'' (in 1973 with [[PACT]]),
 
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''[[Hay Fever]]'' (with [[PACT]])
 
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''[[Two and Two make Sex]]'' (with the [[Academy Theatre]]),
 
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''[[Double Edge]]'' (for [[Toerien-Firth Company]] in 1976),
 
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''[[London Assurance]]'' (in 1977 with [[PACT]]),
 
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''[[Blithe Spirit]]'' (For [[PACT]] in 1977),
 
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''[[Dear Daddy]]'' (in 1978 with [[Nigel Patrick]]),
 
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''[[A Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' (in 1978 at the [[Market Theatre]]),
 
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''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'' (in 1979 at the [[Market Theatre]] and in 1980 in London),
 
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''[[Separate Tables]]'' (with [[NAPAC]] in 1978).  
 
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([[SACD]] 1973) ([[SACD]] 1974) ([[SACD]] 1977/78) ([[SACD]] 1978/79) ([[SACD]] 1979/80)
 
  
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== Biography ==
  
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HOLLIDAY, Shelagh. (19**-) Entertainer and actress. First discovered by [[Adam Leslie]] (??), she also worked for [[Margaret Inglis]] and [[Robert Langford]] ([[Noël Coward]]’s [[Private Lives]] in 195*/6*), **, **. In 19** she joined the [[PACT]] company (??**) she went on to become one of the most popular and accomplished serious actresses in the country, a member of the English ensemble till it was closed down in 199*. Also worked for other companies, such as [[Leonard Schach]],** Among her most acclaimed roles were in ''[[The Dresser]]'' (Ronald Harwood, 1980), *** [[Athol Fugard|Fugard]]’s ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'' (19**) She starred in Noël Coward’s Private Lives which Margaret Inglis and Robert Langford staged starring Robert himself circa 1963. She starred in Feydeau’s farce A Flea in Her Ear at the Alexander in 1967. It was directed by Albert Ninio for the Reps and also starred Hal Orlandini , James White and Gordon Mulholland. She starred in The Secretary Bird which was staged by Shirley Firth, Toerien and Rubin at the Intimate in 1969. It was directed by Kerry Jordan and also starred Jeremy Hawk, Ivan Berold and Firth. She starred in Noël Coward’s Hay Fever with John Hussey who also directed this production for PACT in 1974. Together with Michael Atkinson and Michael McGovern she starred in Double Edge which Anthony Sharp directed for Toerien-Firth in 1976. She starred in Dear Daddy, directed by and starring Nigel Patrick with Richard Haines at the André Huguenet  in 1978. She starred in a revival of Long Day’s Journey into Night with Joe Stewardson, Danny Keogh and Ron Smerczak at The Market in 1978. She starred in Athol Fugard’s A Lesson from Aloes, directed by and starring Fugard, together with Marius Weyers at The Market Theatre in November 1978. She won best actor at the DALRO Awards for her role in this play. She starred in a revival of Coward’s Present Laughter for PACT in 1979. It was directed by John Hussey and also starred Hussey and Erica Rogers.  She starred in A Lesson from Aloes together with Marius Weyers and Bill Curry at Upstairs at the Market in 1980. It was directed by Ross Devenish. She starred in Arthur Kopits’ Wings at the Market in 1981. She starred in The Glass Menagerie together with Lesley Nott which was directed by Lucille Gillwald at Upstairs at the Market in 1981. She starred in Pieter Toerien’s production of Agatha Christie’s The Spider’s Web together with Rex Garner, Paddy Canavan and Kenneth Baker at the André Huguenet  in 1981. She starred in Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser together with Michael McCabe, Michael Atkinson, Paddy Canavan, Lynne Maree and Simon Swindell under direction by Leonard Schach  at the Baxter in November 1980 and the Market in 1982. Together with Lynne Maree and Eric Flynn she starred Leonard Schach’s production of the staged version of Helene Hanff’s memoir, 84 Charing Cross Road at the Market in April 1982. She starred in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by John Hussey, together with Andrew Buckland, Dorothy Ann Gould, Gabrielle Lomberg and Ralph Lawson for PACT in 1982. She starred in Pieter Toerien’s 1984 Agatha Christie, The Hollow which Kim Grant directed at the André Huguenet in February. She starred in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya together with Frantz Dobrowsky, Michael McCabe, James Borthwick, Jacqui Singer and Charlotte Butler under Richard Haines’ direction in 1986. She starred in Agatha Christie’s Murder at the Vicarage for Pieter Toerien in 1986. She starred in James Kirkwood’s Legends at the André Huguenet  in 1988. She starred in Lerner and Louwe’s Gigi  at the Pretoria State Theatre in 1992. She starred in Hugh Whitemore’s The Best of Friends in 1993. ** (Tucker, 1997)
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Born Shelagh Kerry Wright in Johannesburg on 20 October 1930, actress Shelagh Holliday was educated at and  matriculated from Parktown Convent for Girls, today known as Holy Family College.   Always keen on acting, at the age of seventeen she was sent to England to study with Rose Bruford, who taught drama at the Royal Academy of Music .  After four years she returned to South Africa and in 1953 married Robin Holliday, whom she had met when she had a job at the library of the University of the Witwatersrand.  They had continued to date in England while he was studying at Cambridge University. He later became the Chairman of GNK SA and the couple had four children.
  
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Return to [[ESAT Personalities H]]
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Tall and elegant, Holliday was a versatile actress, at home in everything from farce (often for [[Rex Garner]]) and the sophisticated comedies of [[Noel Coward]] (amongst them ''[[Private Lives]]'', ''[[Hay Fever]]'' and ''[[Blithe Spirit]]''), to Shakespeare (Queen Eleanor in ''[[King John]]'' for [[PACT]] and Gertrude in a television version of ''[[Hamlet]]''), and modern classics like [[Eugene O’Neill]]’s ''[[A Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' and [[Athol Fugard]]’s ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]''.  Though her professional career started with dancing in the chorus of [[Anthony Farmer]] productions for £5 a week, by 1980 she was nominated alongside the likes of Frances Delatour, Joan Plowright and Glenda Jackson for the Society of West End Theatre’s Best Actress Award (later the Laurence Olivier Awards) for ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'', which had been produced at the National Theatre.  The staging of this production was filmed for the BBC’s Arena slot by [[Ross Devenish]] and also featured [[Marius Weyers]] and [[Bill Curry]].
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Especially during the first half of her career, Holliday was primarily based in Johannesburg, but as her children grew up, her work also took her to other centres.  Though she featured in a number of films, she never had any major roles in important productions and television didn’t attract her much either.  She was dismissive of a series like ''[[Hospital]]'' (1980), though she received good reviews for her performance as Gertrude in ''[[Hamlet, Prince of Denmark]]'' (1983), directed by [[Ken Leach]].  She also did a lot of radio work.  She died after suffering a stroke at her home in Bryanston on 28 May 2010.  Her husband had predeceased her in October 2003.  Their daughter, [[Cassandra Holliday]], followed her mother onto the stage.
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== Credits ==
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'''Theatre'''
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1957 – ''[[The Housetop]]'' (Director: [[Pat Causton]] for [[YMCA]]), 1958 – ''[[Ever Since Eve]]'' (Director: [[Anthony Farmer]]), 1959 – ''[[I Spy]]'' (Director: [[Anthony Farmer]]), 1961 – ''[[Platonic Nymph]]'' (Director: [[Brian Brooke]]), 1961 – ''[[Women of Twilight]]'' (Director: [[Stuart Brown]]), 1963 – ''[[Private Lives]]'' (Directors: [[Margaret Inglis]] & [[Robert Langford]]), 1965 – ''[[Busybody]]'' (Director: [[Hugh Goldie]]), 1965 – ''[[The Tender Trap]]'' (Director: [[Ricky Arden]]), 1967 – ''[[Night Must Fall]]'' (Directors: [[Margaret Inglis]] & [[Robert Langford]]), 1968 – ''[[A Flea in Her Ear]]'' (Director: [[Albert Ninio]]), 1968 – ''[[Finger Trouble]]'' (Director: [[Robert Kirby]]), 1969 – ''[[The Secretary Bird]]'' (Director: [[Kerry Jordan]]), 1970 – ''[[King John]]'' (Director: [[Francois Swart]]), 1971 – ''[[Impossible People]]'' (Director: [[Margaret Inglis]]), 1971 – ''[[Applause]]'' (Director: [[Otto Pirchner]] for [[JODS]]), 1971 – ''[[Move Over Mrs. Markham]]'' (Director: [[Ray Cooney]]), 1972 – ''[[Miss Adams Will Be Waiting]]'' (Director: [[Rex Garner]]), 1973 - ''[[Charley’s Aunt]]'' (Director: [[Frank Shelley]] for [[PACT]]), 1973 – [[Two and Two Make Sex]] (Director: [[Rex Garner]]), 1974 – ''[[Hay Fever]]'' (Director: [[John Hussey]] for [[PACT]]), 1975 – ''[[Adam Scrapes the Barrel]]'' (Director: [[Adam Leslie]]), 1976 – ''[[Double Edge]]'' (Director: [[Anthony Sharp]]), 1977 – ''[[London Assurance]]'' (Director: [[Michael Atkinson]] for [[PACT]]), 1977 – ''[[Blithe Spirit]]'' (Director: [[Rosalie van der Gucht]] for ''PACT''), 1978 – ''[[Dear Daddy]]'' (Director: [[Nigel Patrick]]), 1978 – ''[[A Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' (Director: [[Barney Simon]]), 1978 – ''[[Separate Tables]]'' (Director: [[Malcolm Farquhar]]), 1978 – ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'' (Director: [[Athol Fugard]]), 1979 – ''[[Present Laughter]]'' (Director: [[John Hussey]]), 1980 – ''[[Spider’s Web]]'' (Director: [[Charles Hickman]]), 1981 – ''[[Wings]]'' (Director: [[Hilary Blecher]]), 1981 – ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' (Director: [[Lucille Gillwald]]), 1981 – ''[[Moving]]'' (Director: [[Rex Garner]]), 1982 – ''[[The Dresser]]'' (Director: [[Leonard Schach]]), 1982 – ''[[84 Charing Cross Road]]'' (Director: [[Leonard Schach]]), 1982 – ''[[Fallen Angels]]'' (Director: [[Michael Atkinson]]), 1982 – ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' (Director: [[John Hussey]]), 1983 – ''[[The Hollow]]'' (Director: [[Kim Grant]]), 1984 – ''[[Other Places]]'' (Director: [[Bobby Heaney]]), 1985 – ''[[The War at Home]]'' (Director: [[Lucille Gillwald]]), 1985 – ''[[Equus]]'' (Directors: [[Rex Garner]] & [[Robert Whitehead]]), 1985 – ''[[Murder at the Vicarage]]'' (Director: [[Rex Garner]]), 1986 – ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'' (Director: [[Richard Haines]]), 1988 – ''[[Legends]]'' (Director: [[Rex Garner]]), 1990 – ''[[Mrs Klein]]'' (Director: [[Robert Whitehead]]), 1992 – ''[[Gigi]]'' (Director: [[Francois Swart]] for [[PACT]]), 1993 – ''[[The Best of Friends]]'' (Director: [[Mark Graham]]), 1994 – ''[[A Far Country]]'' (Director: [[John Carson]]), 1995 – ''[[An Old Lady’s  Guide to Survival]]'' (Director: [[Maralin Vanrenen]]), ''[[Agnes of God]]'' (Director: [[Murray McGibbon]]).
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'''Film'''
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1971 – ''[[Die Banneling]]'' (Director: [[David Millin]]), 1972 – ''[[The Winners]]'' / ''[[My Way]]'' (Directors: [[Emil Nofal]] & [[Roy Sargeant]]), 1973 – ''[[Vinkel en Koljander]]'' / ''[[Oh Brother..!]]'' (Director: [[Roy Sargeant]]), 1974 – ''[[Vreemde Wêreld]]'' (Director: [[Jürgen Goslar]]), 1977 – ''[[Golden Rendezvous]]'' (Director: [[Ashley Lazarus]]), 1979 – ''[[Follow That Rainbow]]'' (Director: [[Louis Burke]]), 1984 – ''[[Torn Allegiance]]'' (Director: [[Alan Nathanson]]), 1999 – ''[[Heel against the Head]]'' (Director: [[Rod Stewart]]).
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'''Television'''
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1976 – ''[[You’re so good to me Jonesy]]'' (TV short) (Director: [[Cecil Jubber]]), 1976 – ''[[The Wonderful World of Dr. Monk]]'' (TV short) (Director: [[Alan Nathanson]]), 1980 – ''[[Hospital]]'' (TV series) (Director: [[Douglas Bristow]]), 1982 – ''[[Moving]]'' (TV Play) (Director: [[Peter Bode]]), 1983 - ''[[Hamlet, Prince of Denmark]]'' (TV play) (Director: [[Ken Leach]]), 1985 – ''[[In Broad Daylight]]'' (TV short), 1986 – ''[[Heroes]]'' (TV series) ((Director: [[Manie van Rensburg]]), 1986 – ''[[Orpen House]]'' (TV series), 1987 – ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'' (TV movie, only transmitted in 1991) (Director: [[Peter Goldsmid]]), 1987 – ''[[The Soldier’s Tale]]'' (narrator) (Director: [[Roy Sargeant]]), 1993 – ''[[Daisy]]'' (TV series) (Director: [[Annie Basson]]), 1995 – ''[[Tales of Mystery and Imagination]]'' (TV series) (Director: Hugh [[Whysall]]).
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'''Awards'''
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She won a Best Actress award for ''[[The Secretary Bird]]'' and ''[[A Lesson from Aloes]]'' and was nominated for ''[[A Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' and ''[[Wings]]''.
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== Sources ==
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[[Cape Times]], 8 June 2010
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[[Rand Daily Mail]], 6 June 2010 (and many other issues)
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[[Sunday Times]], 14 March 1993 (and many other issues)
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[[SACD]] 1973; 1974; 1977/78; 1978/79; 1979/80.
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0391075/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
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== Return to ==
 +
 
 +
Return to [[ESAT Personalities H]]  
  
 
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Personalities|South African Theatre Personalities]]
 
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Personalities|South African Theatre Personalities]]
 +
 +
Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
  
 
Return to [[Main Page]]
 
Return to [[Main Page]]

Latest revision as of 14:06, 10 August 2022

Shelagh Holliday (1930-2010) was a South African actress.

Biography

Born Shelagh Kerry Wright in Johannesburg on 20 October 1930, actress Shelagh Holliday was educated at and matriculated from Parktown Convent for Girls, today known as Holy Family College. Always keen on acting, at the age of seventeen she was sent to England to study with Rose Bruford, who taught drama at the Royal Academy of Music . After four years she returned to South Africa and in 1953 married Robin Holliday, whom she had met when she had a job at the library of the University of the Witwatersrand. They had continued to date in England while he was studying at Cambridge University. He later became the Chairman of GNK SA and the couple had four children.

Tall and elegant, Holliday was a versatile actress, at home in everything from farce (often for Rex Garner) and the sophisticated comedies of Noel Coward (amongst them Private Lives, Hay Fever and Blithe Spirit), to Shakespeare (Queen Eleanor in King John for PACT and Gertrude in a television version of Hamlet), and modern classics like Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day's Journey into Night and Athol Fugard’s A Lesson from Aloes. Though her professional career started with dancing in the chorus of Anthony Farmer productions for £5 a week, by 1980 she was nominated alongside the likes of Frances Delatour, Joan Plowright and Glenda Jackson for the Society of West End Theatre’s Best Actress Award (later the Laurence Olivier Awards) for A Lesson from Aloes, which had been produced at the National Theatre. The staging of this production was filmed for the BBC’s Arena slot by Ross Devenish and also featured Marius Weyers and Bill Curry.

Especially during the first half of her career, Holliday was primarily based in Johannesburg, but as her children grew up, her work also took her to other centres. Though she featured in a number of films, she never had any major roles in important productions and television didn’t attract her much either. She was dismissive of a series like Hospital (1980), though she received good reviews for her performance as Gertrude in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1983), directed by Ken Leach. She also did a lot of radio work. She died after suffering a stroke at her home in Bryanston on 28 May 2010. Her husband had predeceased her in October 2003. Their daughter, Cassandra Holliday, followed her mother onto the stage.

Credits

Theatre

1957 – The Housetop (Director: Pat Causton for YMCA), 1958 – Ever Since Eve (Director: Anthony Farmer), 1959 – I Spy (Director: Anthony Farmer), 1961 – Platonic Nymph (Director: Brian Brooke), 1961 – Women of Twilight (Director: Stuart Brown), 1963 – Private Lives (Directors: Margaret Inglis & Robert Langford), 1965 – Busybody (Director: Hugh Goldie), 1965 – The Tender Trap (Director: Ricky Arden), 1967 – Night Must Fall (Directors: Margaret Inglis & Robert Langford), 1968 – A Flea in Her Ear (Director: Albert Ninio), 1968 – Finger Trouble (Director: Robert Kirby), 1969 – The Secretary Bird (Director: Kerry Jordan), 1970 – King John (Director: Francois Swart), 1971 – Impossible People (Director: Margaret Inglis), 1971 – Applause (Director: Otto Pirchner for JODS), 1971 – Move Over Mrs. Markham (Director: Ray Cooney), 1972 – Miss Adams Will Be Waiting (Director: Rex Garner), 1973 - Charley’s Aunt (Director: Frank Shelley for PACT), 1973 – Two and Two Make Sex (Director: Rex Garner), 1974 – Hay Fever (Director: John Hussey for PACT), 1975 – Adam Scrapes the Barrel (Director: Adam Leslie), 1976 – Double Edge (Director: Anthony Sharp), 1977 – London Assurance (Director: Michael Atkinson for PACT), 1977 – Blithe Spirit (Director: Rosalie van der Gucht for PACT), 1978 – Dear Daddy (Director: Nigel Patrick), 1978 – A Long Day's Journey into Night (Director: Barney Simon), 1978 – Separate Tables (Director: Malcolm Farquhar), 1978 – A Lesson from Aloes (Director: Athol Fugard), 1979 – Present Laughter (Director: John Hussey), 1980 – Spider’s Web (Director: Charles Hickman), 1981 – Wings (Director: Hilary Blecher), 1981 – The Glass Menagerie (Director: Lucille Gillwald), 1981 – Moving (Director: Rex Garner), 1982 – The Dresser (Director: Leonard Schach), 1982 – 84 Charing Cross Road (Director: Leonard Schach), 1982 – Fallen Angels (Director: Michael Atkinson), 1982 – The Importance of Being Earnest (Director: John Hussey), 1983 – The Hollow (Director: Kim Grant), 1984 – Other Places (Director: Bobby Heaney), 1985 – The War at Home (Director: Lucille Gillwald), 1985 – Equus (Directors: Rex Garner & Robert Whitehead), 1985 – Murder at the Vicarage (Director: Rex Garner), 1986 – Uncle Vanya (Director: Richard Haines), 1988 – Legends (Director: Rex Garner), 1990 – Mrs Klein (Director: Robert Whitehead), 1992 – Gigi (Director: Francois Swart for PACT), 1993 – The Best of Friends (Director: Mark Graham), 1994 – A Far Country (Director: John Carson), 1995 – An Old Lady’s Guide to Survival (Director: Maralin Vanrenen), Agnes of God (Director: Murray McGibbon).

Film

1971 – Die Banneling (Director: David Millin), 1972 – The Winners / My Way (Directors: Emil Nofal & Roy Sargeant), 1973 – Vinkel en Koljander / Oh Brother..! (Director: Roy Sargeant), 1974 – Vreemde Wêreld (Director: Jürgen Goslar), 1977 – Golden Rendezvous (Director: Ashley Lazarus), 1979 – Follow That Rainbow (Director: Louis Burke), 1984 – Torn Allegiance (Director: Alan Nathanson), 1999 – Heel against the Head (Director: Rod Stewart).

Television

1976 – You’re so good to me Jonesy (TV short) (Director: Cecil Jubber), 1976 – The Wonderful World of Dr. Monk (TV short) (Director: Alan Nathanson), 1980 – Hospital (TV series) (Director: Douglas Bristow), 1982 – Moving (TV Play) (Director: Peter Bode), 1983 - Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (TV play) (Director: Ken Leach), 1985 – In Broad Daylight (TV short), 1986 – Heroes (TV series) ((Director: Manie van Rensburg), 1986 – Orpen House (TV series), 1987 – A Lesson from Aloes (TV movie, only transmitted in 1991) (Director: Peter Goldsmid), 1987 – The Soldier’s Tale (narrator) (Director: Roy Sargeant), 1993 – Daisy (TV series) (Director: Annie Basson), 1995 – Tales of Mystery and Imagination (TV series) (Director: Hugh Whysall).

Awards

She won a Best Actress award for The Secretary Bird and A Lesson from Aloes and was nominated for A Long Day's Journey into Night and Wings.

Sources

Cape Times, 8 June 2010

Rand Daily Mail, 6 June 2010 (and many other issues)

Sunday Times, 14 March 1993 (and many other issues)

SACD 1973; 1974; 1977/78; 1978/79; 1979/80.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0391075/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Return to

Return to ESAT Personalities H

Return to South African Theatre Personalities

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page

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