OLIVE MORRELL : ENGLISH ACTRESS : GAIETY GIRL : PLAYING CARDS : POPULAR MODEL

This vintage real photo postcard features English actress and Gaiety Girl, Olive Morrell (1877-1937). In this portrait postcard, she is holding playing cards. Morrell is most associated with her roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Olive was raised in Highgate, near London. An introduction by her singing teacher, led her to theatrical producer George Edwardes. The introduction opened a path for her to perform at London’s Gaiety Theater. Olive was a gaiety girl. Gaiety Girls was the name given to the chorus girls acting in the musical comedies at the theater. The “girls” were beautiful and they danced and modelled bathing suits and the latest fashions onstage. The gaiety girls were considered more respectable than the women performing at London’s burlesque houses. Morrell was a very popular real photo postcard model. Reviewers of her stage performances often commented about her beauty. In 1908, Olive was married to an Australian politician, Willie Kelly. The publisher of this postcard was a London firm (B. B.). Olive’s photo portrait was taken by R. W. Thomas. The postcard dates back to about 1906. This vintage postcard is in very good condition (see scans).

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Buy this original Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #5329

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$12.48

olive morell_0001

Buy this original Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes international shipping outside the US) #5329

To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below

$24.48

Published in: on March 23, 2025 at 8:23 pm  Leave a Comment  
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BEAUTIFUL BRITISH STAGE ACTRESS: OLIVE MORRELL (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features a very beautiful British stage actress named Olive Morrell. She was a successful enough actress to merit having six portraits of her included in the United Kingdom’s National Portrait Gallery. She performed in England and toured in Australia. She was  born as Olive Miller; Morrell was her stage name. In 1908, she married Willie Kelly (1877-1960), an Australian politician. The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (1905) highlights her career including her role in “The Spring Chicken” at the Gaiety Theatre. In researching the play, I was struck by the number of well known actresses appearing alongside her. The cast included Kitty Mason, Kate Cutler, Gaynor Rowlands, Ethel Oliver, and Gertie Millar. This was certainly an all star lineup and any collector of theatrical postcards will be familiar with these actresses. Collectors will also note that these women were  quite pretty and their postcard images were, and still are, very collectible. Miss Morrell is also the subject of an article in The Play Pictorial (1905) which mentions her appearance in a theatre production called “The Talk of the Town”. This postcard was produced by Rotary Photo as part of the Rotary Photographic Series (no. 1547 C). It is truly a special portrait of Miss Morrell. After viewing many postcard images of this actress; I believe this portrait is one of the finest portraits of Olive Morrell that a postcard collector can find. This photograph captures her beauty as well as provides a close look at fashion during the turn of the century.

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Published in: on August 4, 2016 at 4:17 pm  Comments (2)  
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