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Catherine Rodger Ball (born Catherine Rodger Campbell; 1877 – 1957), known professionally as Marion Fawcett, was a British actress and theatre producer and director.

Life

Fawcett was born in Toxteth Park in Liverpool (although one source says Aberdeen). Her name was Catherine Rodger Campbell. Her mother was also named Catherine and her father Peter Campbell was a marine engineer. She became a stage actress and adopted the name "Marion Fawcett".

After the first world war Lena Ashwell was delivering subsidised theatre around London. By 1923 there was a "Friends of the Players" with members receiving the "Lena Ashley Players Magazine". Ashwell formed the Lena Ashwell Players Ltd in April 1923. The directors were Ashwell, Fawcett, Esme Church and Cicely Hamilton. The first three of these were to be the company's theatre managers and Fawcett was also the first manager of the new company. The players continued to appear throughout London and Laurence Olivier was later to become a member. In 1926 Fawcett was producing plays at the Theatre Royal in Huddesfield. She produced two "International Masterpieces Seasons" which included The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya by Chekov and The Wild Duck by Henry Ibsen. Notably she produced a play in which Pierre Fresnay of the comedie Francais delivered his lines in French. The play was "Game As He Played It" and it was delivered in the 1927 season.

In 1931 she was producing plays in Malta.

She directed the play Royal Romance at the end of 1947. The play told the story of Queen Victoria from her 21st birthday to her marriage. She played the role of Boppy in the play.

In 1954 she was appearing at the St James's Theatre in London in Terence Rattigan's successful play Separate Tables where she played "Mabel" with a cast led by Margaret Leighton and Eric Portman. The play was directed by Peter Glenville.

References

1. Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Yorkin Publications. 2007.
2. "Fawcett, Marion [real name Catherine Rodger Campbell; married name Catherine Rodger Ball] (1877–1957), actress and theatre director". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56057. Retrieved 2020-06-13. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. Room, Adrian (2014-01-10). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5763-2.
4. ^ Leask, Margaret (2012). Lena Ashwell: Actress, Patriot, Pioneer. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 1914. ISBN 978-1-907396-64-9.
5. "The Twentieth Century Theatre, 21 Archer Street, Bayswater, London (Now 291 Westbourne Grove)". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
6. "Theatre Royal: The Romance of the Huddersfield Stage (1941) by Stanley Chadwick". huddersfield.exposed. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
7. Wearing, J. P. (2014-08-22). The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-9306-1.
8. "St James's Theatre", The Times, 23 September 1954, p. 10

• 1877 births
• 1957 deaths
• People from Toxteth
• British theatre managers and producers
• British actors