London was very much the centre of the theatrical World during the Edwardian era, outstripping even New York's still developing Broadway in international importance. But there was at the time a very close link between the two centres, with many productions and performers crossing the Atlantic in both directions to win fame and fortune 'across the pond'. For Americans, the opportunity to 'make it big' in London was a chance to prove themselves in the greatest arena of all, whilst for the English the financial opportunities in the USA were not to be ignored. For many, transatlantic crossings became a regular part of their lives as they alternated seasons between London and New York. A few made such a success on the other side of the crossing that they maintained permanent homes there. Reproduced below are two chapters from a period publication describing the homes of two American actresses who permanently established themselves on English soil.
From EMINENT ACTORS IN THEIR HOMES
Personal Descriptions and Interviews by Margherita Arlina Hamm
James Pott and Co. New York, 1902.
Mary Anderson de Navarro - Mistress of the Court Farm, Broadway Worcestershire
England has long been the home of abdicated queens. Of the many ex-monarchs who have graced her shores, none came with a larger army of friends and admirers than Mary Anderson de Navarro, who for fifteen years was eminent upon the boards of both Great Britain and the United States. With singular appropriateness she selected for her home a district made immortal by Stratford-on-Avon, as well as by historical associations which reach from the present time back almost to the days of Boadicea and the Romans. The very name of the little town where she resides, Broadway, is an apparent allusion to the old Roman military road which ran from London northwest to Chester. Not far away is the ancient city of Worcester, with its beautiful cathedral, while almost visible from her windows is Evesham, where Simon de Montfort went down in battle while struggling to preserve the intolerable feudal rights against the growing power of civilization and social growth as represented by the Crown. For three hundred years Worcestershire has been famous in the theatrical world. Its histrionic capital, Stratford, is the Mecca of the members of the stage, while the roads which run through its quiet valleys and over its rounded hills have been trodden by long generations of players, musicians, and sightseers from every land.
Court Farm, the home of Mme. de Navarro, is a typical establishment of the olden time. Around the house are gardens gay with flowers; fields proverbial for their fertility; orchards which in the summer are laden down with fruit; shady groves and noble trees which have looked unmoved upon centuries. The climate is mild and equable. Worcestershire, being far away from the coast and the great manufacturing centres, has escaped most of the changing forces of modern industrial life, and preserves the features of long ago with delightful fidelity. The de Navarro home is a manor-house of the old school such as is never built to-day. In form it represents three sides of a rectangle, of which the court, or open space, fronts upon the Mary Anderson de Navarro road. It is shut off from the latter by a neat iron fence, and forms a picture of quaint impressiveness. In the olden time the main body of the house was tenanted by the lord of the manor, his family, relatives, and friends 5 while the extensions on either side were employed as barns and stables, and living quarters for the field hands. In the courtyard the cows and sheep were marshalled in the morning before they were driven out to the pasture, and here, in the evening, the cows were milked by the dairy maids ere driven into their stalls for the night. The windows of the extensions were doors to the pigeons' quarters, while one of the houses was devoted to the barnyard fowls which were so conspicuous a feature of farm life and industry in the ancient years.
It is all changed to-day. The courtyard is practically a foyer to the house, as neat and trim as any of the apartments within the building. Vines and flowers trail or creep upon the walls, while the slated roofs form a harmonious background to the stone work beneath, and to the green leaves and gayly tinted blossoms. The interior of the manor-house suggests an aristocratic inn of the eighteenth century. Overhead are massive beams dark with age and rich with the colors of the natural wood; strengthening these are transverse beams which might serve as the mainmast of a ninety-four battleship. The fireplace in the library is almost a room in itself, and the settles on either side are large enough to hold five or six persons apiece. The fireplace in the dining-room is on a larger scale, and may at some time in dead years have held the carcass of a roasting ox or a half dozen sheep, turning on spits, to supply food for a village festival.
The furniture is a pleasant mixture of different schools and periods. In the boudoir are Louis Quinze chairs and richly upholstered Voltaires, which invite the reader to wander from this world into the land of dreams. In the dining-room are carved chairs and tables representing the latest designs in English domestic art, while the library unites the substantial lines and surfaces of the eighteenth century with the graceful finish and artistic decoration of the present day.
In every room there is ornament. It is not lavish in amount, but is selected and placed with admirable feeling. Ten pieces of fine porcelain decorate one mantel, and eight another. A few appear here and there upon the wall surface, and at odd intervals are pictures of various kinds, ranging from small engravings and photographs to large oil paintings. It is evident that the mistress of Court Farm loves beauty, but is engrossed in other matters. Her life is that of an Englishwoman belonging to the landed gentry. She overlooks her estate, attends to the education of her children, performs the social duties incident to her position, drives or walks about the country, plays cards in the evenings with her neighbors, and keeps in touch with her professional past through music, reading aloud, and the study of dramatic and contemporary literature.
"After the endless labor of a busy stage life," said Mme. de Navarro, "the strain of constant travel, the care and worry of new plays and characters, the ceaseless excitement which marks existence behind the footlights, it is an unspeakable relief and joy to settle down in a quiet country place like this, and lead a life whose harmony and peace can hardly be described. In the beginning of my stage career I was fascinated by its brilliancy, and took delight in nothing outside of its confines; but as time passed I began to yearn for green fields, quietude, and rest. When the opportunity finally presented itself of retiring from the boards and entering into a happy Eden of my own, I accepted Fate's kind offer."
Mary Anderson may be summed up as a stage meteor. Born in 1859, sne ma(k ner debut as "Juliet at the age of sixteen, and sprang into immediate fame. In grace and beauty she was undoubtedly as near to ideal*womanhood as the present century has seen. Her acting at first was amateurish and weak; but it improved steadily, and in ten years had become so excellent as to receive the praise of the sternest critics in her own land, England, and France. Her leading roles were Bianca, in "Fazio"; Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet"; Lady Macbeth; Parihenia, in "Ingomar"; Berthe, in "The Daughter of Roland"; Julia, in "The Hunchback"; Paulinei in "The Lady of Lyons"; Meg Merrilies, in "Guy Mannering"; Evadne, in "Evadne"; Duchesse de Torrenueva, in "Faint Heart Ne'er Won Fair Lady"; Galatea, in "Pygmalion and Galatea," and the Countess in "Love."
From the beginning of her professional experience she exerted a singular fascination upon the great personalities of America, France, and England, who took a special delight in aiding her to accomplish her ambitions. Among these were General Grant, General Sherman, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Cardinal Manning, Henry W. Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, P. T. Barnum, William Winter, the Princess of Wales (now Queen Alexandra), Alma Tadema, Wilkie Collins, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Mrs. Kendall, Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Mrs. Humphry Ward, Edmund Gosse, Henry James, Jenny Lind, Madame Albani, Aubrey de Vere, Lady Martin, Salvini, Madame Schumann, Ristori, Dom Pedro III., Professor Max Muller, Gladstone, Laurence Hutton, Victor Hugo, Bernhardt, and Cardinal Newman.
It would be difficult to match this with the social triumph of any other professional. In her retirement she is devoting much of her time to musical culture. While upon the stage she had a dim ambition or desire to become a finished musician, and was often advised by such men as Longfellow and Brignoli to undertake that career. Now that she has the leisure and means, she is pursuing the study of the art with as much vigor as if it were to be her immediate profession. With her it is art for art's sake, and her progress in this field of aesthetic development gives no one more delight than it does herself.
Nat C. Goodwin and Maxine Elliott-Goodwin - Their Home on the Old Kent Road
What could be more humorous than a typical American such as Nat C. Goodwin and an ideal New England girl like Maxine Elliott settling down for the time being in the outskirts of London and becoming semi-domesticated Britons! It is thoroughly in touch with the quaint drollery which has made Mr. Goodwin one of the famous personages of the American stage. It is said that, when he was playing in London, he yearned so much for the home comforts of Uncle Sam's domain, that he determined to found an American establishment within hearing, if not sight, of Bow-Bells. The strains of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera must have been lingering in his memory, because he selected a property belonging to the Lords of Penzance. The place was known as Jackwood, and, according to Mr. Goodwin, had some historical connection with the ancient English poem respecting "The House that Jack Built."
The new owner furnished the house to suit his own notions of comfort, and provided an American buggy to drive from his front door to the railway station. There can be no doubt but what his nationality was recognized in that suburb before twenty-four hours had elapsed after his arrival.
The homestead dates from the fourteenth century. It is a low, irregular edifice with thick walls, roomy stairways, queer passages, and mysterious closets. It has been built piecemeal at various times, and while the softening hand of the years has united the various parts into a harmonious whole, yet both walls and roofs indicate the constructive efforts of different minds. Each part has a roof of a different design, so that an interesting chapter in domestic architecture could be drawn from the roofs alone. There is a stable near the house, surmounted by a cupola containing a clock which chimes the hours and quarters. From the road a circular driveway leads up to the main entrance of the house. Beyond the buildings are meadows into which the horses and cows of the establishment are turned every day.
Beyond the meadows are wooded hills in which are little caves, sluggish streams, and cultivated farmland. Jackwood is an estate as well as a home. The lords who formerly owned it used it as a shooting preserve, and Mr. Goodwin has kept up the old custom. The woods and thickets are full of birds, and the place seems alive with rabbits. The immunity they enjoy from the outside world makes them bold. As the visitor strolls along the paths, they spring up from beneath the feet and hurry away to the nearest quickset or thicket. When the actor secured the place, it was comparatively wild.
He went to considerable trouble and expense in improving and beautifying the grounds. The old paths were cleaned and widened; new ones cut to romantic spots; 5 kiosks erected upon picturesque sites; benches placed beneath shady trees, or on the sides of hills from which there were fine views of the landscape; and the gardens, which had been neglected, were restored to their former high state of cultivation.
One part known as Miss Elliott's rose garden is the fairest spot of all. In it are the plants presented to her by members of the nobility and royal family, and around these are specimens of nearly every rose known to horticulture. The old English tea-rose, both the white and the blush variety, grows here in perfection, as do the standard rose tree of France, the Jacqueminot, the Marechal Niel, the American Beauty of this country, and the climbing roses white, pink, and red of Kent and Surrey. Arbors and trellises afford shade to the visitor and support to vines, the peach and other wall trees. In England there is a quaint practice of training many fruit trees upon walls and trellises, which is almost unknown in the United States. It enables the gardener to secure a maximum of light and ventilation for the fruit, and to produce the fine specimens which carry off the prizes in the agricultural county fairs. It is near the rose garden that Miss Elliott holds tea-parties and levees in the afternoon, which are attended by the many friends American, English, and French of the host and hostess.
The interior of Jackwood Hall is as imposing in its way as the Tower of London. It was built at a time when the modern economical spirit had not come into vogue. The walls would stand a siege, while the beams seem large and strong enough to last a thousand years. The wainscoting is massive, and the floors have been worn by human feet, as well as by the hands of the cleaner, until they seem a work of art in themselves. The balmy climate of southern England permits the doors and windows to be kept open nearly all the year, and at many casements the vines and roses appear to have a mad desire to usurp the place of the curtains.
The furnishing of the house may be styled Anglo-American. It has English substantiality, style, and even luxury ; but through it run numberless suggestions of America. Both Mr. Goodwin and his wife are patriotic, and cany their feelings into their tastes and environment. In the former's "den," for example, are all sorts of odd Americana. Notable among these is his collection of Indian relics, including weapons, costumes, pipes, cooking utensils, birch-bark objects, basket-work, feather and quill ornaments, and even the trophies of war.
In another corner of the apartment is a matchless opium lay-out from Chinatown, in San Francisco. Here is an opium pipe, made of ancient wood, worth its weight in gold, finished in ivory, and embellished with snake-skin. Here are the scissors, needles, and other implements of the smoker, made of chased and burnished metal. The opium lamp is a marvel in crystal and metal, while the tray represents the finest workmanship of Canton. "I don't smoke myself," said the host, "but I keep the lay-out as a memento of the Golden Gate."
Numerous bookcases filled with books, and an extensive portrait gallery of friends, tell of the literary and sociable characteristics of the inmates.
The hostess's sanctum is French and American in its appointments. The furniture is antique, while the decorations tell of Paris and New York. Here are her own books, whose well-worn appearance indicates her studious habits. One of her friends calls the boudoir a "Portia room," on account of the many objects which are associated with that Shakespearean heroine.
"In studying the role," said Miss Elliott, "I was so much impressed by it that I wanted to obtain tangible expressions of its characteristics, as well as of my own sentiments; so, wherever I found them, I purchased little knickknacks or souvenirs which were connected with Portia (The Merchant of Venice,) or those parts of Italy where the play is located."
Statuettes and landscapes, photographs and engravings, Venetian jewelry and Italian filagree, Roman scarfs and stilettos, weapons and missals, are among the remembrances which carry the eye back to the days of Shylock. The drawing-room is a picture of old-time customs and elegance. The heavy chairs and capacious tables, rich upholstery and hangings, and the dark tone of the woodwork, impress one with the feeling that, if a group of eighteenth century gallants and patched and powdered belles came in through the wide doorway, it would be perfectly in keeping with the place.
The favorite apartment in Jackwood Hall is the billiard-room, where, every day when occupied, may be heard the click of the ivory balls. The game has a larger social vogue in England than in America, and women cultivate and enjoy it there to a greater degree than here. The hospitality of Jackwood Hall, generous in the days of the Lords of Penzance, reached its climax in the hands of its American owner. Its convenience to the world's metropolis renders it easy and pleasant of access, while its ample accommodations permit it to house a hundred as well as a few.
In their domestic life Mr. and Mrs, Goodwin make the most of the lighter and brighter phases of existence. "Some part of a man's daily life," said the host, "should be devoted to social enjoyment. All work and no play makes Jack at Jackwood a dull boy. Life has enough of the fortiter in re, and needs a little more of the suaviter in modo and in my own way I endeavor to conform myself to this principle."
Upon the stage Mr. Goodwin's first characteristic is versatility. He has enough talent to be great in any one of at least five different types of histrionic art. He began his career in 1874, and from that time on has moved steadily upward until to-day, when he occupies a place in the very front rank of the Anglo-American theatre. The first chapter of his stage life was as a burlesquer and vaudeville artist. Here he became very popular. In "Evangeline," he was famous as Captain Dietrich. He then delighted the country with "Hobbies," "Cinderella at School," and the light opera of "The Corsair." During the eighties he displayed himself in new lines, when he appeared in "The Member for Slocum," and "The Black Flag." In the same decade he demonstrated the possession of the qualities necessary in the presentation of serious parts by appearing as the Grave-digger in "Hamlet"; Modus in "The Hunchback"; Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar," and "A Royal Revenge."
In the nineties his performances in "A Gilded Fool," "In Mizzoura," "David Garrick," "Lend Me Five Shillings," "Ambition," "The Rivals," "An American Citizen," "Nathan Hale," and "The Cowboy and the Lady" were extraordinary, both for their admirable workmanship and for the new lights they threw upon the man's genius. His latest successes have been in "The Merchant of Venice" and "When We Were Twenty-one."
Beneath his varying roles may be detected the same poetic power and strong grasp which mark Joseph Jefferson, Frank Keenan, and John Hare. Jefferson made the Catskills vagabond into a character of exquisite sweetness; Keenan converted the humble backwoods lawyer, Grigsby, into a sublime hero; while Hare transformed the most commonplace parts into symbols of universal significance. Maxine Elliott labors under the advantage and disadvantage of being the most beautiful woman upon the stage. While beauty is one of nature's greatest gifts, it is too apt to act as a preventive of growth along mental and professional lines. She began her apprenticeship at the very bottom of the ladder, as a supernumerary in a New York company. She climbed step by step, improving in her art, and displaying a corresponding intellectual development.
By 1893 she had risen to be a recognized leading woman of more than average ability. Then came a pleasant surprise to the public when she appeared as Silvia in "Two Gentlemen of Verona"; Hermia, in "The Midsummer Night's Dream"; and Olivia in "Twelfth Night." In these she evidenced the possession of high ideals in her art and a strong power of poetic interpretation. Since that time her leading parts have been in "Nathan Hale," "The Cowboy and the Lady," "An American Citizen," "The Merchant of Venice," and "When We Were Twentyone." In their domestic, as in their professional, life, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin move along the same lines. They are enthusiasts in respect to dramatic art and its literature. Sociable and hospitable in nature, they attract and enjoy the society of the intellectual and cultured. They seem to be complementary to each other, Below the fun (and perhaps a part of it) which marks the husband is an underlying vein of melancholy; and beneath her poetic and pathetic qualities is a strong substratum of sunshine and optimism. The two qualities match in every respect.
Mr. Goodwin is still a young man, and his work in the past seems to promise still greater performance in the future. Whether this will be along Shakespearean, romantic, or native lines of characterization it is impossible to determine. Yet, whatever course his growth may take, it is certain that he is to become one of the leaders of the English-speaking stage.
Mary Anderson continued to live at Court Farm until her death in 1940. Maxine Elliott was divorced from Nat Goodwin in 1908 but continued to maintain a home in England as long as she continued her stage career. Later in life she took up residence in a villa at Juan-Les-Pins in Provence, on the French Côte d'Azur.