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Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart)

(1896-1918), Actress

Sitter in 3 portraits
Billie Carleton's fame, such as it was, concerned her demise, rather than her stage career. Charles B. Cochran and André Charlot, the leading impresarios of musical plays and revues during the First world War, both gave her leading roles; Cochran in Watch Your Step (1915) and Charlot in Some (1916). She was part of a fast-living, drug-taking set. After an all-night party following a Victory Ball at the Albert Hall in November 1918, she was found dead in bed, the victim of a drugs overdose. Her cocaine supplier was sent to jail. Her death inspired several plays and films most notably Nöel Coward's The Vortex (1924).

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Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart), by Bassano Ltd - NPG x83675

Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart)

by Bassano Ltd
bromide print, 10 January 1916
NPG x83675

Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart), by Bassano Ltd - NPG x101052

Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart)

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 10 January 1916
NPG x101052

Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart), by Bassano Ltd - NPG x101053

Billie Carleton (née Florence Lenora Stewart)

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 10 January 1916
NPG x101053

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