Madge Elliott

Leah Madeleine (Madge) Elliott (12 May 1896 – 8 August 1955) was a UK born Australian dancer and actor who had success in a partnership with Cyril Ritchard.

Leah Madeleine (Madge) Elliott
Born12 May 1896
Sydney
Died8 August 1955 (1955-08-09) (aged 59)
Lenox Hill Hospital
NationalityUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Known forDancing in the UK and Australia
Spouse(s)Cyril Ritchard
Childrenone (died as an infant)

Life

Elliott was born in Fulham in London in 1896, but her family soon emigrated to Australia. Her mother Frances Selina Curtis (born Heighton) and her father, Nicholas Phillipps Elliott, lived in Toowoomba in Queenland where her father was a surgeon and she went to Grammar School.[1]

Her family moved to Sydney and there she was taught by dancing teacher, Minnie Hooper. By 1911 she was trained and working in the children's ballet at the Melba-Williamson Opera Co.[2]

Her dance teacher, Minnie Hooper, tried to pair her up with Cyril Ritchard who was a handsome actor, but he couldn't dance. Elliott rejected him but they later teamed up and were known as "Madge and Cyril" and they went on a tour of New Zealand.[1]

Wind catches the bride's veil and train at Cyril and Madge's wedding
Madge Elliott in her Peter Russell gown "the finest ever worn in Australia"

The pair then appeared in Yes, Uncle![1] and Going Up, both in 1918. They went their separate ways and Ritchard shared an apartment with Walter Pidgeon in New York while he appeared there and Madge made her first West End appearance in 1925. Ritchard joined her in London and they reestablished the dancing partnership. In 1927 Laddie Cliff booked them to star in Lady Luck at the Carlton Theatre in 1927.[1]

In 1932 they returned to Australia where they became very popular. Madge was the centre of attention, with Ritchard as her partner. They appeared in a number of musicals in Australia including Blue Roses.

Elliott and Ritchard married at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, in September 1935.[1][3] There were said to be 5,000 onlookers at the wedding, with Elliott's four-yard veil have a starring role.[1] The veil was reputed to have cost £400 and had been sent from London.

Cyril Ritchard's career took off in 1954. Elliott died in Lenox Hill Hospital, New York of bone cancer in 1955.[1]

References
  1. "Ritchard, Cyril Joseph (1897–1977), dancer, actor, and theatre director". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73290. Retrieved 2020-04-12. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Rickard, John, "Elliott, Leah Madeleine (Madge) (1896–1955)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2020-04-12
  3. "Madge Elliott and Cyril Ritchard".
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