The pretty actress in this risque vintage real photo postcard is Mabel Poulton (1901-1994). She was a popular English film actress during the silent film era. Poulton was born in England. Her family was poor. Her father worked as a “clicker”, someone who cuts patterns for shoes and boots. Her father belonged to a social club and took Mabel to see a play. After the experience, Mabel became determined to become an actress. Before entering films, she worked as a secretary at London’s Alhambra Theatre. While employed at the theatre, she was asked to impersonate actress Lillian Gish, dead on stage. She was Gish’s double in a death scene in the play’s prologue. It was noted that Poulton had theatrical talent. As a result, she was given a screen test and aced it. Her debut role was in “Nothing Else Matters (1920)”. Noted actress Betty Balfour also made her debut in this film. The film was a success. Over the next several years Poulton appeared in many films. She tended to land parts playing feisty and mischievous characters. She was blonde and petite. Poulton became a major celebrity of her time and was noted for her fashion sense. In 1928, she starred in “The Constant Nymph” and was highly acclaimed for her performance. By the end of the 1920’s, she and Betty Balfour were considered Britain’s leading film actresses. It is said that “all good things come to an end”, That was especially true for many successful silent film performers with the arrival of “talking pictures”. Mabel Poulton was one of those victims. Her cockney accent did not fit for the roles she tended to play. An attempted comeback in the mid 1930’s was a failure. Her last significant film appearance was in 1938. She spent her final years working on a script about a young British starlet who gets raped by a film director and due to the trauma, becomes an alcoholic. Sadly, the plot appears to have been autobiographical. In fact, she eventually wrote in the character’s real names. She accused director Thomas Bentley of the crime. The pair had worked together on two films. The first of these films was shot in 1921, when Mabel Poulton was about twenty years old. Poulton was married in 1939 to an oil engineer. The IMDB credits Poulton with 29 film roles between 1920 and 1943. This vintage portrait postcard was published by Iris Verlag/Amag and is part of a series (no. 5887). Iris Verlag was a popular Austrian postcard producer. Amag (Albrecht & Meister) was a publisher located in Berlin. The company took over Aristophot in 1909. Amag ceased production in 1920.The photo was taken while she was working for Gaumont Film. She is scantily dressed (for her time) and smoking a cigarette. This risque vintage postcard is in very good condition. A glance at the reverse of the postcard indicates that it formerly resided in someone’s postcard album. This postcard portrait of Mabel Poulter is uncommon. (SOLD)
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Meet Elsie Cook. I wish there was something I could tell you about her. I assume that she is a performer of some kind. Most likely she is an actress that did not receive much acclaim as my initial research into her background found nothing. Perhaps a visitor to the Cabinet Card Gallery can provide us with some information about this pretty young woman. This vintage real photo postcard was published by Stewart & Woolf. The firm was located in London, England. The postcard is part of a series (115, no. 42). (SOLD)
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This real photo postcard features a pretty performer named Miss Marjory Moore. She looks quite young, possibly in her teenage years. My preliminary research into the background of Miss Moore produced “bupkis”. Perhaps a visitor to this blog can provide some biographical details about this performer. Miss Moore’s portrait was taken by Lewis R. Protheroe who operated a studio in Bristol, England. He was working as a photographer, at least between 1901 and 1917. His father, Thomas Protheroe found the studio between approximately 1876 and 1900. I was unable to locate any other photographs of Marjory Moore. This rare photo postcard was published by Rotary Photo. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features Miss Phillida Terson (1892-1977). She is better known as Phyllis Neilson-Terry. Phyllis was a member of the third generation of a well know English theatrical family (the Terry family). In her early career years, she was a successful classics actress. She played leading roles in several Shakespeare productions. She then spent four years in the United States appearing in lighter theater. She returned to England in 1919 where she showed a great deal of versatility by appearing in Cabaret, Pantomime, and Variety roles. She still found time to appear in Shakespeare and other classic theater. During her career, she also appeared on Broadway. The IDBD states that she appeared in three Broadway shows between 1915 and 1957. Her last appearance on the Broadway stage was in “Separate Tables” for which she was nominated for an Emmy. Phyllis also appeared in films. The IMDb reports that she had 15 credits between 1915 and 1960. Phyllis was born in London. Her mother was famed actress Julia Neilson and her father was celebrated actor, Fred Terry. She had one brother; and he became an actor. Part of her education was in Paris and later she was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music, in London. She was training to become a singer. Her stage debut was in 1909 as part of her parent’s touring stage company. In that production she used the name Phillida Terson in order to hide her connection to the Terry family. The ploy failed and in about a year, she returned to her real name. She received enthusiastic reviews in her early career. Her later career did draw some criticism. It was thought that she took less challenging roles upon her return from the US to England. Phyllis was married twice, and both husbands were actors. This should be no surprise considering her parents were major theater stars, and her brother, niece, aunt (Ellen Terry), and cousin (John Gielgud) were all stage actors. This vintage postcard was published by Rotary Photo as part of the Rotary Photographic series (no.11716). Given the name on the postcard is “Phillida Terson”, this postcard was published 1909 or 1910. An inscription on the reverse of the postcard dates the card to 1910. The inscription also has the name “His Majesty’s Theatre”. There are theaters by than name in Aberdeen, Scotland (opened 1906) and Perth, Australia (opened circa 1904). This vintage postcard portrait is in very good condition (see scans).
This vintage real photo postcard features child actress Miss Estelle Dudley. A search for information about Miss Dudley yielded little biographical data. She appears to be most famous for her role as Alice in the play, “Alice in Wonderland”. Britain’s National Portrait Gallery has 13 photographs of the young actress. All of the images were photographed in 1917 and are from the production of “Alice in Wonderland”. The photograph of Miss Dudley seen on this postcard was taken by well known female celebrity photographer Rita Martin. She was considered one of the best British photographers of her time. She opened her studio in 1906. Martin’s sister, Lallie Charles was an esteemed society photographer. 
