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Hermione Gingold; Hermione Baddeley

2 of 40 portraits of Hermione Gingold

Angus McBean Photograph. © Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University.

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Hermione Gingold; Hermione Baddeley

by Angus McBean
bromide print, 1949
11 3/8 in. x 9 3/8 in. (291 mm x 239 mm)
Purchased, 2001
Primary Collection
NPG P896

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Angus McBean (1904-1990), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 283 portraits, Sitter in 79 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pepper, Terence, Angus McBean Portraits, 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 July to 22 October 2006), p. 73 Read entry

    Hermione Gingold first appeared on stage as a child in 1908, but became best known for her appearance in the revue Sweet and Low (1943), which was followed by several sequels including Sweetest and Lowest (1946). One of her last performances was in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Hermione Baddeley also made a name for herself in revue, appearing in Nine Sharp (1938), for which McBean made one of his surreal portraits, before turning to serious roles. In the 1960s she appeared in America in Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey (1961) and Tennessee Williams's The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1964). The friendly rivalry between the two Hermiones required a theatre poster which could show that both stars had top billing in a revival of Noël Coward's play, Fallen Angels. McBean’s ingenious solution was to make a photograph of them lying down head to head, which could be printed either way up.

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Events of 1949back to top

Current affairs

Following the Republic of Ireland Act in 1948, the Irish Free State becomes the Republic of Ireland and leaves the Commonwealth. The functions previously given to the King were handed to the President of Ireland.
The Second Parliament Act diminishes the power of the House of Lords, reducing their authority to delay bills from two years to one.

Art and science

George Orwell publishes his dystopian novel, 1984. The book imagines a future where totalitarian governments rule; their power based on continual war abroad, and overwhelming propaganda and surveillance at home. With 'Big Brother' keeping a constant check on the citizens' actions and thoughts, the individual loses the faculties of free will and independent thought.

International

The People's Republic of China is created after the Communist Party wins the Civil War. China became a communist country under Mao Zedong.
Cold War tensions increase as Germany is split into the democratic Federal Republic of Germany in the west (a union of the post-war British, French and American sectors), and the communist German Democratic Republic, in the east.

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