Constance Collier - 14533

Distinguished British actress who enjoyed a career spanning six decades. Groomed extensively in singing, dancing and elocution, Collier began her career as a member of George Edwardes-Hall's famous Gaiety Girls dance troupe. Her lucky break came in 1901 when she was invited to join the theatre company of the great Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who had been searching for a comparably tall leading lady to play opposite him. She remained with his company at His Majesty's Theatre for six years, proving a fine Shakespearean with her Olivia, Viola, Portia and (especially) Cleopatra at the top of the list. She scored a notable hit on Broadway in 1908 playing opposite William Gillette in Samson at the Garrick Theatre. Though she appeared in a number of early silent films (including D.W.Griffiths' Intolerance in 1916, as an extra), it wasn't until Collier's later years that she had any real success, usually in stately supporting roles, in films such as Shirley Temple's Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Stage Door (1937), An Ideal Husband (1947) and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948). Collier's greatest Hollywood success came elsewhere. By helping the transition of established silent film stars into talkies, she became Hollywood's foremost drama and voice coach. In later years, one of her students was one Marilyn Monroe. This is a fine early vintage Rotary postcard, boldly signed in black ink across the lower image. The postcard was sent in 1906. There are some very light marks on the left of the image, probably caused by the postal franking machine. Overall condition is very good.