MARJORIE STREETER PAIN - WordPress.com · 2018-05-17 · MARJORIE STREETER PAIN AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE: RESEARCH NOTES See last page for citation, copyright and last updated

MARJORIE STREETER PAIN

AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE: RESEARCH NOTES

See last page for citation, copyright and last updated details.

(1917-2003) Dancer, singer, comedienne, model, actress.

The only child of William Charles Streeter Pain and Elsie Florence May Pain (nee Foot), Marjorie was born at

Prahran, Melbourne in 1917 and trained as a dancer under prominent choreographer and teacher Jennie Brennan. She

travelled to America with her mother in 1927 and while in New York posed for fashion photographs and found work

as a "show girl." She also spent time in Hollywood and appeared in films for MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros,

Universal and Movietone. After returning home in 1928 Streeter Pain secured irregular engagements at vaudeville

houses and cinemas in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne before relocating to Britain. Between 1932 and 1936 she

worked mainly in London - appearing in vaudeville and in musical comedy. She briefly worked in the ballet/chorus at

the Windmill Theatre's before transferring to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane where she quickly established herself as a

regular member of its dance corps, and in 1934 was given a part in the British film Evergreen. One of the biggest

shows she was involved in at Drury Lane was Glamorous Night (1935), written and starring Ivor Novello.

• Streeter Pain's mother is recorded as having been a well-known Melbourne singer who worked under her maiden

name, Elsie Foot ["Wants to be a Film Star." See below - 1932]. Research conducted through Trove (the Australian

National Library's digital newspaper service, indicates that her involvement in entertainment was largely

confined to Victoria between ca. 1904 and the early 1910s.

• Streeter Pain and her mother returned to Australia on 3 February 1936 but may have relocated to the USA at some

stage over the coming years. In correspondence with the AVTA, Martin Foot (a relative) notes that her mother had

bought property there in the 1920s, possibly in anticipation of a future career for Marjorie. She also appears to

have married in the late-1930s.

• Streeter Pain's granddaughter indicates, too, that she did not return to the stage after her marriage. By the early

1940s she and her husband Frank had one child, a boy named William. This new research has further disproven a

long-held belief by the family that Streeter Pain perished during the war in a London blitz. She did come close to

death in 1942, however, while a passenger on the S.S. Ulysses. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat off

the coast of the Carolinas. All passengers, including her husband and son, were rescued and returned to England.

(Martin Foot emails - 17/11/2016 and 17/12/2014).

• The Foot family has further established that Streeter Pain does not appear in Australian Electoral Rolls as an

adult, although her mother does. She lived on into the 1960s and visited the UK at intervals (email, 17/12/2014).

• Streeter Pain is mentioned by Leslie Rees of the Era magazine at the time as an example of the talent drain

overseas due to the sad state of the Australian film industry in the thirties. She also rates a mention in the book To

Seek Her Fortune in London by Angela Woollacott (2001) for the same reason (email, 17/12/2014).

1928

USA

News (Adelaide) 14. Mar. 1928, 5.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/11079554

Sydney

Sunday Times (Sydney) 21 Oct. 1928, 24.




Sunday Times (Perth) 4 Nov. 1928, 9.


Brisbane

Brisbane Courier 12 Nov. 1928, 3.




1930 / 1932

1930

Recorder (Port Pirie, SA) 9 Jan. 1930, 3.


1932

Advertiser (Adelaide) 8 Jan. 1932, 10.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/73844778


http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/73844778

1932 cont...

England

"London's Latest."


News (Adelaide) 13 Sept. 1932, 5.


►



Daily News (Perth) 24 Sept. 1932, 14.




1933

"London's Latest." Table Talk (Melbourne) 9 Mar. 1933, 15.




1934

Sydney Morning Herald 8 May 1934, 3.



1936

Sunday Times (Perth) 2 Feb. 1936, 25.


"Women's Realm: Social News."




Ancestry overview (last updated January 2015)

Courtesy of Martin Foot.

º º º Thanks to Martin Foot and family for bringing Marjorie Streeter Pain to the AVTA's

attention and for providing additional information.

Australian Variety Theatre Archive: Research Notes

First published by Clay Djubal: 28/12/2014 • Last updated: 10/05/2018

NB: The URL for this PDF will change each time it is updated. If you wish to link to this record please use the following:

Australian Variety Theatre Archive • http://ozvta.com/practitioners-s/

The information within these pages should be considered a snapshot only. Its purpose is to serve as a basis for further

investigation and as a repository for online references that may eventually disappear.

Any works snagged or transcribed from other sources remain the copyright of their respective authors/publishers.

The authorship and/or original publication details are provided and these should be cited (not the AVTA).*

New information is continuously being made available as more newspapers are digitised by Trove (Australian National Library

Digitised Newspapers resource)

* Materials published in this entry will be removed if requested by the copyright owner. Please contact the AVTA.

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MARJORIE STREETER PAIN - WordPress.com · 2018-05-17 · MARJORIE STREETER PAIN AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE: RESEARCH NOTES See last page for citation, copyright and last updated