Louise Browne
(1906-1996), Actress, dancer and singerSitter in 73 portraits
A dancer and musical comedy star, who went on to encourage many young dancers in Britain. American-Born, Browne's career began in the Ziegfield Follies. She starred in many musicals at the Gaiety Theatre, London, including The Girl Friend in 1927. In the 1930s she held the world record for pirouettes (over 80 consecutive spins). Browne married an English diplomat, and began a long association with the Royal Academy of Dancing, initiating scholarships and directing the prestigious summer school.
by Apeda
cream-toned glossy bromide print, circa 1926
NPG x127040
by Hixon Studio
bromide print, circa 1926
NPG x127051
by Strauss-Peyton Studio
cream-toned bromide print, 1926-1927
NPG x127093
by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x126739
by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x127033
by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x127034
by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x127035
by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x127036
possibly by James Abbe
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1927
NPG x127037
by Janet Jevons
cream-toned bromide print on tissue and card mount, 1927
NPG x127052
by Janet Jevons
cream-toned bromide print on tissue and card mount, 1927
NPG x127053
by Mishkin
cream-toned bromide print, late 1920s
NPG x127073
by White Studio
toned bromide print, circa 1929
NPG x127098
by H. Richardson Trenner (?)
cream-toned bromide print, 1932
NPG x127072
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Harry Ferguson
09 April 2018, 13:10
She was also a spy! She married Captain Keith Liversidge who was an MI6 officer. He was a senior officer in Section V (Counter espionage) during World War II. Keen to do her bit, Louise became his secretary in 1940 and together they ran counter-espionage operations in Scandanavia during the war. Her husband was a Yorkshireman and, following a posting to Oslo 1945-50, they returned to live in Yorkshire where she established the Louise Browne Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre. It still exists today. Her work as a spy was betrayed to the Russian KGB by the traitor Kim Philby who was also an officer in Section V.
Louise Palmer née Liversidge
02 February 2022, 11:08
Obviously my parents are no longer alive to answer Mr Ferguson's allegation. Thus I wish to state that neither Keith Liversidge or Louise Browne were ever spies. They did indeed work for MI6 during the war at its St Albans' base but I can assure him that my mother was no Mata Hari! On a less contentious issue, after my parents moved to York in the mid 1950s, the Royal Academy of Dance (under the Presidency of Dame Margot Fonteyn) transferred its scholarship centre from Leeds to York. Considerably later and only after the RAD had closed its regional scholarship centres, was it renamed as Mr Ferguson described