Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
(1893-1980), ActressSitter in 90 portraits
Singer and actress. Courtneidge's first starring role was in The Mousmé (1911) as Miyo ko San, singing 'Little Japanese Mama'. Many roles followed, most often with her husband, Jack Hulbert. They came to the Gaiety Theatre in 1926 in Rodgers and Hart's Lido Lady, in which she introduced 'A Tiny Flat Near Soho Square'. After 1930 she divided her time between stage and screen, her films including Soldiers of the King and Under Your Hat. Wartime successes Full Swing, (1942) and Something In the Air (1943) led to Under the Counter which she took to Broadway. In Ivor Novello's final show, Gay's the Word (1951) she found her signature tune, 'Vitality!'. She was created a Dame in 1972.
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 12 October 1923
NPG x122726
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 June 1924
NPG x127848
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 June 1924
NPG x127849
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 June 1924
NPG x127850
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 June 1924
NPG x127851
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge in 'Lido Lady'
by Sasha (Alexander Stewart)
bromide print, 27 May 1925
NPG x28330
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Claude Harris
vintage bromide print, circa 1925
NPG x9078
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge in 'By The Way'
by Florence Vandamm
bromide press print, 1926
NPG x194418
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Janet Jevons
bromide postcard print, late 1920s
NPG x198097
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Janet Jevons
hand-coloured bromide postcard print, late 1920s
NPG x198098
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge in the cabaret scene during the making of 'Aunt Sally'
by James Jarché, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 19 September 1933
NPG x135043
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by General Photographic Agency
cream-toned bromide print, 1933
NPG x135830
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge and Vivien Leigh on the set of 'Things Are Looking Up'
by George Woodbine, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 24 August 1934
NPG x135030
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge and Vivien Leigh on the set of 'Things Are Looking Up'
by George Woodbine, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 24 August 1934
NPG x135031
Jack Hulbert; Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 1936
NPG x34613
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge; Jack Hulbert
by Unknown photographer
gelatin silver print, 1939
NPG x198463
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Michael Boys
bromide press print, 1956
NPG x184123
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative
NPG x19293
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
published by The Lawrence Wright Music Co, after Unknown photographer
halftone reproduction, published 1933
NPG D46413
Dame (Esmerelda) Cicely Courtneidge
issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills
colour relief halftone cigarette card, 1934
NPG D47202
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