Norma Whalley

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Norma Whalley
On the cover of Broadcast Weekly, 8 September 1905
Born1882 or 1883
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died9 October 1954(1954-10-09) (aged 71–72)
Westminster, London, England
Other namesLady Clarke
OccupationActor
Spouses
  • Charles Verner
James Sheridan Mathews
(m. 1901; div. 1904)
Percival Clarke
(m. 1904; died 1936)
Parent(s)Henry Whalley
Mary Rayson

Norma Whalley (1882 or 1883 – 9 October 1954) was an Australian theatre and film actress active in the United States and Britain.[1][2][3]

Biography[edit]

Whalley was born in Sydney in 1882 or 1883, the daughter of doctor Henry Octavius Whalley.[4][5][6]

During the late 1890s she toured South Africa, meeting Paul Kruger, president of the Transvaal Republic soon after the Jameson Raid.[7]

In 1901 she was married to J. Sherrie Matthews,[8] an American vaudeville performer, who since mid-1900 had been prevented from working due to ill health,[9] and by 1902 was permanently disabled after a stroke of paralysis.[10]

In 1904 she divorced Matthews to marry barrister Percival Clarke (1872–1936), later Sir Percival,[11] son of Sir Edward Clarke.[1][6][12]

She died at Grosvenor Square on 9 October 1954.[5][13]

Acting career[edit]

Theatre[edit]

Whalley was brought to the United States for a production by George Edwardes.

She worked in the Chicago and New York for several years from the late 1890s. Whalley appeared in the Broadway production of The Man in the Moon between April and November 1899.[14][15]

Selected filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Norma Whalley Weds". The Evening Telegraph. London. 6 August 1904. p. 4. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Google News Archive.
  2. ^ "Whalley, Norma". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Miss Normah i.e. Norma Whalley picture / Johnston & Hoffmann". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  4. ^ London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597–1921. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Ancestry.com.
  5. ^ a b "Norma Whalley". The Stage. No. 3838. 4 November 1954. p. 15. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b "Sir Percival Clarke Dead". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 7 October 1936. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Thinks Kruger's Manners Bad – Norma Whalley, a Vaudeville Actress Tells of Her Experiences in South Africa". Chicago Daily Tribune. 30 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Miss Whalley was introduced to President Kruger...She was in Johannesburg just after the Jameson Raid
  8. ^ "Sherrie Matthews A Benedict". Toledo Bee. 7 April 1901. p. 27. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "Benefit for J. Sherrie Matthews" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 May 1901. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Benefit for J. S. Mathews" (PDF). The New York Times. 1 June 1902. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  11. ^ "No. 33675". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1931. p. 2.
  12. ^ "Notes". The Queenslander. Brisbane. 8 October 1904. p. 26. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Deaths". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 October 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Norma Whalley Theatre Credits". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  15. ^ "Norma Whalley". IBDB.com. Retrieved 21 June 2011.

External links[edit]