Violet Hopson: Difference between revisions
m →Career |
|||
Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
Her first British film was ''Mr Tubby's Triumph'' made in 1910. From 1912 she worked for [[Cecil Hepworth]], along with [[Alma Taylor]], [[Chrissie White]], [[James Carew]], [[Gerald Ames]] and [[John MacAndrews]]. Hepworth famously promoted her as a "Dear Delightful Villaness."<ref>Brian McFarlane(2003) ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' p.318, BFI Methuen, ISBN 0 413 77301 9</ref> |
Her first British film was ''Mr Tubby's Triumph'' made in 1910. From 1912 she worked for [[Cecil Hepworth]], along with [[Alma Taylor]], [[Chrissie White]], [[James Carew]], [[Gerald Ames]] and [[John MacAndrews]]. Hepworth famously promoted her as a "Dear Delightful Villaness."<ref>Brian McFarlane(2003) ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' p.318, BFI Methuen, ISBN 0 413 77301 9</ref> |
||
In early 1919 Hopson announced she was setting up her own production company - Violet Hopson Productions.<ref>Cecil Hepworth (1951) Came The Dawn; Memories of a film pioneer. p.168, Phoenix House, London</ref> Her first film was the sports drama ''Heart and Saddles'' (aka ''The Gentleman Rider''), with [[Stewart Rome]]. Other features with Stewart Rome followed which included ''Snow in the Desert'', ''A Great Coup'', ''A Daughter of Eve'', ''The Romance of a Movie Star'', ''The Case of Lady Camber'', ''Her Son'', ''The Imperfect Lover'', and ''When Greek Meets Greek''. These films were almost all directed by [[Walter West (director)|Walter West]] for the company Broadwest and later for Walter West Productions.<ref>http://filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Stewart%20Rome</ref> |
In early 1919 Hopson announced she was setting up her own production company - Violet Hopson Productions.<ref>Cecil Hepworth (1951) ''Came The Dawn; Memories of a film pioneer.'' p.168, Phoenix House, London</ref> Her first film was the sports drama ''Heart and Saddles'' (aka ''The Gentleman Rider''), with [[Stewart Rome]]. Other features with Stewart Rome followed which included ''Snow in the Desert'', ''A Great Coup'', ''A Daughter of Eve'', ''The Romance of a Movie Star'', ''The Case of Lady Camber'', ''Her Son'', ''The Imperfect Lover'', and ''When Greek Meets Greek''. These films were almost all directed by [[Walter West (director)|Walter West]] for the company Broadwest and later for Walter West Productions.<ref>http://filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Stewart%20Rome</ref> |
||
==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
Revision as of 01:58, 4 April 2017
Violet Hopson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 21 July 1973 Kensington, London, England | (aged 85)
Nationality | British |
Years active | 1910–1933 |
Violet Hopson (16 December 1887 – 21 July 1973) was an actress and producer who achieved fame on the British stage and in British silent films. She was born Elma Kate Victoria Karkeek in Port Augusta, South Australia on 16 December 1887.[1] Violet Hopson was her stage name, while in childhood she was known as Kate or Kitty to her family.[2]
Career
Hopson's earliest stage experiences were several performances with Pollard’s Lilliputian Opera Company in Australia and New Zealand from 1898 - 1900. Her sisters Zoe Karkeek and Wilmot Karkeek were long standing members of this company from 1892. In the early 1900s she travelled to the United States with her older sister Zoe, and later to Britain.[3]
British film historian Rachael Low has noted that Hopson was the first British actress to be exploited as a glamorous film star, despite a personality that made "little real impact" on the screen.[4]
Her first British film was Mr Tubby's Triumph made in 1910. From 1912 she worked for Cecil Hepworth, along with Alma Taylor, Chrissie White, James Carew, Gerald Ames and John MacAndrews. Hepworth famously promoted her as a "Dear Delightful Villaness."[5]
In early 1919 Hopson announced she was setting up her own production company - Violet Hopson Productions.[6] Her first film was the sports drama Heart and Saddles (aka The Gentleman Rider), with Stewart Rome. Other features with Stewart Rome followed which included Snow in the Desert, A Great Coup, A Daughter of Eve, The Romance of a Movie Star, The Case of Lady Camber, Her Son, The Imperfect Lover, and When Greek Meets Greek. These films were almost all directed by Walter West for the company Broadwest and later for Walter West Productions.[7]
Personal life
Her career suffered following the end of her marriage to actor Alec Worcester, whom she had married in Luton on 7 June 1909 when aged 21.[8] Her marriage certificate gives her name as Elma Kate Victoria Hopson.[9] The couple divorced in February 1919 on the grounds of his adultery and desertion.[10] The couple had two children; Nicholas born 1910 and Jessica born 1913.[11] Hopson later married Walter West[12]
She died 21 July 1973 in Princess Louise Hospital, Kensington, London,[13] the records naming her as Elma Kate Worster. She was cremated in Kensal Green Crematorium on 26 July 1973.
Selected filmography
- The Vicar of Wakefield (1913)
- The Chimes (1914)
- The Heart of Midlothian (1914)
- Barnaby Rudge (1915)
- Sweet Lavender (1915)
- The Man Who Stayed at Home (1915)
- The Nightbirds of London (1915)
- Her Boy (1915)
- Molly Bawn (1916)
- A Bunch of Violets (1916)
- Sowing the Wind (1916)
- The Grand Babylon Hotel (1916)
- Trelawny of the Wells (1916)
- The Ware Case (1917)
- A Gamble for Love (1917)
- The American Heiress (1917)
- The Ragged Messenger (1917)
- Her Marriage Lines (1917)
- The Woman Wins (1918)
- Missing the Tide (1918)
- Sisters in Arms (1918)
- A Fortune at Stake (1918)
- The Soul of Guilda Lois (1919)
- Snow in the Desert (1919)
- The Gentleman Rider (1919)
- The Irresistible Flapper (1919)
- A Daughter of Eve (1919)
- Her Son (1920)
- Kissing Cup's Race (1920)
- The Case of Lady Camber (1920)
- The Imperfect Lover (1921)
- A Sportsman's Wife (1921)
- Son of Kissing Cup (1922)
- The Scarlet Lady (1922)
- When Greek Meets Greek (1922)
- The Lady Owner (1923)
- Beautiful Kitty (1923)
- What Price Loving Cup? (1923)
- The Great Turf Mystery (1924)
- The Stirrup Cup Sensation (1924)
- A Daughter of Love (1925)
- Widecombe Fair (1928)
- Self Made Lady (1932)
- One Precious Year (1933)
Bibliography
- Sweet, Matthew. Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema. Faber and Faber, 2005.
Further reading
- Cinema - practical course in cinema acting in ten complete lessons Lesson 9 written by Violet Hopson [London] : Standard Art Book Co., [1920?][14]
- Women and silent British cinema[15]
- Brit Movie[16]
- Cyranos website[17]
- Reframing Women in 1920s British Cinema: the Case of Violet Hopson and Dinah Shurey[18]
External links
References
- ^ Genealogy South Australia. Note: Her birth name is incorrectly entered as Karkeck Accessed 3 April 2017
- ^ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/13036
- ^ Otago Witness,"Theatrical and Musical Notes", Issue 2401, 8 March 1900 Accessed 3 April 2017
- ^ Rachael Low (1948 and 1985) History of British Film, 1918-1929, Volume 4. P263. Routledge.ISBN 0047910216
- ^ Brian McFarlane(2003) The Encyclopedia of British Film p.318, BFI Methuen, ISBN 0 413 77301 9
- ^ Cecil Hepworth (1951) Came The Dawn; Memories of a film pioneer. p.168, Phoenix House, London
- ^ http://filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/search/label/Stewart%20Rome
- ^ Sweet p.34
- ^ England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
- ^ http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/actors-actresses/104472-violet-hopson.html
- ^ England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
- ^ Pictures and Picturegoer, January 1924, page 64 Accessed 3 April 2017
- ^ England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005
- ^ http://www.worldcat.org/title/cinema-practical-course-in-cinema-acting-in-ten-complete-lessons/oclc/026470749
- ^ http://womenandsilentbritishcinema.wordpress.com/the-women/violet-hopson/
- ^ http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/actors-actresses/104472-violet-hopson.html
- ^ http://www.cyranos.ch/sphops-e.htm
- ^ http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/JBCTV.2007.4.1.1