General Chat

A STAR ACTOR SON OF A RAND PIONEER To the Editor of "South Africa" Dear Sir-The following may interest some of your readers: Mr. Basil Rathbone, son of Edgar P. Rathbone, a life member of the Rand Pioneers, is now playing the leading role with Marie Löhr at the Globe Theatre in Fédora, and on Friday last played at His Majesty's Theatre for the benefit of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund with Miss Fay Compton in the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. In the interval the performers were presented to the Queen of Spain. A notice in the Daily Telegraph said of the performance that "the one thing which would have made the whole performance worth while, even had the rest of the programme been as dry as dust, was an exquisite rendering of the balcony scene, in which Miss Fay Compton was 'Juliet' and Mr. Basil Rathbone 'Romeo.' We sincerely hope that somebody will realize that a piece of work of such quality must not be wasted. Our last Romeo and Juliet revival was a failure. The next, if only these two players can be secured for the name-parts, ought to be a triumph." This young actor was born at Johann! esburg in 1893, and has quite recently appeared with Constance Collier in Peter Ibbetson as "Alfred du Muset," with Mrs. Patrick Campbell, in Madame Sands, in the Unknown with Lady Tree, and in A Woman's Privilege with Marie Löhr. He is an old Bensonian, and was therefore trained in a splendid school. He is, in fact, a cousin of Sir Frank Benson. During the war he was in the 10th Scottish of the King's Liverpool, and won the M.C. for conspicuous bravery. Yours faithfully, Edgar P. Rathbone C/O Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue London, W.C. 2, November 24, 1920 THE LATE MRS. FRANCES HUDSON The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser reports the death of Mrs. Frances Hudson, mother of Dr. H. C. Hudson, and wife of the late Mr. Hougham Hudson, who was Resident Magistrate and Civil Commissioner of Graaff-Reinet from 1874 to 1890. Deceased, who had attained to the unusual age of 91 years, was married twice, her first husband being Mr. Joseph Currie of Albany. She was a daughter of Mr. John Carlisle, one of the British settlers of 1820. Mr. W. O. Coventry, Commander F. W. Girdler-Brown, Mr. D. H. Macarthur, Mr. T. W. Poole, Mr. R. D. Gilchrist, Mr. C. F. H. Henry, Captain Lionel Cohen, D.S.O., M.C., Mr. R. D. Jack, Mr. J. G. O. Wyse, Mr. R. M. Bradshaw, Mr. A. W. Fremantle, Mr. S. A. Hawkins, Mr. A. A. Smith, and Captain J. L. Berne, O.B.E., have joined the Royal Colonial Institute. Compliments of E:S:

Lindy - you are a star - Basil Rathbone was superbe wasnt he! - nice to know that his dad was as proud of him - thanks for sharing with us all :-)

She, I am glad that you enjoyed it ! I was sitting and thinking that maybe nobody was interested and that I should just delete the articles. lol.. Have you read the one about Cecil John Rhodes? ( page 3.) He was a remarkable man. Thank you! Lindy ;-)))