Cyril Maude

Cyril Maude (1862-1951) was a famous English actor-manager. From 1914 on, he appeared in several British and American films.


British postcard, no. 3345. Photo: La Fayette.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co., no. 184 D. Photo: Dover Street Studios. C. Aubrey Smith and Cyril Maude in the play 'The Flag Lieutenant' (1908).


British postcard. Cyril Maude as Captain Barley in the play 'Beauty and the Barge' (first performed in 1904). This card was mailed in 1905. In 1914 Maude would debut on screen in an eponymous adaptation of the play, directed by Harold M. Shaw.

Grumpy

Cyril Francis Maude was born in London in 1862. Maude was the eldest son of Captain Charles Henry Maude, a captain in the Indian Army, and the Honorable Georgina Hanbury-Tracy. His maternal grandfather was Thomas Hanbury-Tracy, 2nd Baron Sudeley. In 1881, Cyril was sent to Adelaide, South Australia, on the clipper ship City of Adelaide to regain his health. He returned to Britain without having regained his health but nursing the ambition to be an actor.

He studied theatre under Charles Cartwright and Roma Le Thiere but was again forced to leave Britain for ill-health and went to Canada. Afterward, he went to the US, where he debuted with Daniel Bandman's company in Denver, Colorado, in 1884. The same year he went back to Britain and had a long-lasting, glorious career.

From 1896 until 1905 he was co-manager of the Haymarket Theatre in London with Frederick Harrison. There he became known for his quietly humorous acting in many parts. In 1906 he went into management on his own account, and in 1907 he opened the Playhouse, also in London

Maude became very well known for his role in 'Grumpy' as a spoiled old man, who as a retired lawyer solves a crime to keep his loved ones happy. Maude took this play to Australia and toured Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney where it was immensely popular.

In 1923 he toured America with Lydia Bilbrook and Mabel Terry-Lewis in 'If Winter Comes', playing at Chicago in April and New York in the autumn.


British postcard by Rapid Photo Co., London, no. 1124.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. E.C. 1147 B. Photo: Biograph. Cyril Maude as Sir Joseph Lacy in 'Joseph Entangled', first performed in Britain in 1904.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. E.C. 1147 C. Photo: Biograph.


British postcard by AL, no. E.B.13. Photo: Bassano.

Paramount

In 1914, Cyril Maude debuted on-screen in an adaptation of his successful play Beauty and the Barge (Harold Shaw, 1914), in which he played an old barge captain who adopts the mayor's runaway daughter and she falls in love with his mate.

In the US he starred in the title role of the Henrik Ibsen adaptation Peer Gynt (Oscar Apfel, Raoul Walsh, 1915), with Myrtle Stedman as Solveig. The film was produced by the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company and distributed by Paramount. In the drama The Greater Will (Harry Knoles, 1915) Maude takes revenge on the man (Montague Love) who hypnotised his own daughter (Lois Meredith), whom he ruined and pushed to suicide.

For the Stage Women's War Relief Fund, Maude starred in Winning His Wife (George Terwilliger, 1919). Maude's last silent part was in the British comedy-drama The Headmaster (Kenelm Foss, 1921), in which he is the headmaster of a school who tries to persuade his daughter (Margot Drake) to marry the idiotic son of an influential figure in the hope of being promoted to bishop.

When sound cinema set in, Maude acted in several films, first of all, the adaptation of his famous play Grumpy (George Cukor (his debut), Cyril Gardner, 1930), filmed in the U.S. and released by Paramount Pictures. The film also featured Frances Dade, Philips Holmes, and Paul Lukas.

Afterward, he acted in the British Paramount film These Charming People (Louis Mercanton, 1931) with Godfrey Tearle, the British films Counsel's Opinion (Allan Dwan, 1933) starring Henry Kendall and Binnie Barnes, the comedy Orders Is Orders (Walter Forde, 1933) starring Charlotte Greenwood and James Gleason, the cross-dressing comedy Girls Will Be Boys (Marcel Varnel, 1934) starring Dolly Haas, and the musical comedy Heat Wave (Maurice Elvey, 1935). After an absence from the screen for over a decade, Maude played one final role as an old admiral in While the Sun Shines (Anthony Asquith, 1947). He was 85 at the time.

Cyril Maude died in Torquay, Devon in 1951, at the age of 88. From 1888 till 1924, he was married to the actress Winifred Emery, the daughter of Samuel Anderson Emery and granddaughter of John Emery, both well-known actors in their day. Their children included Margery Maude, who became an actress; Pamela Cynthia Maude (1893–1975); and John Cyril Maude, who became a barrister, judge, and Member of Parliament. Cyril Maude married Mrs. P.H. Trew in 1927. They remained together till his death.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. 1147.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co. Ltd., London, no. 184E. Photo: Dover St. Studios. Publicity still for the play The Flag Lieutenant with Cyril Maude as Lieutenant Richard Lascelles and C. Aubrey Smith as Major Thesiger at The Playhouse, 1908.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. E.C. 1260 A. Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Maude (Miss Winifred Emery).


British postcard in the Rotary Photographic Circle Plate Sunk Series. Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Maude (Miss Winifred Emery).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.