Ellis Jeffreys

Minnie Gertrude Ellis Jeffreys (12 May 1868 – 21 January 1943)[1] was an English actress born in Colombo, in what is now Sri Lanka, the daughter of Captain Dodsworth Jeffreys. She was in more than 75 stage productions and 11 films. Her first performance was with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1889.[2]

Ellis Jeffreys

Jeffreys married the diplomat Frederick Graham Curzon (a son of the 3rd Earl Howe) from 1894 to 1903, which ended in divorce,[3] and later the actor Herbert Sleath Skelton.[4] With Curzon, she had two children, Evelyn Ellis Isabella Curzon-Howe and the actor George Curzon.

Selected filmography

• Birds of Prey (1930)
• Raise the Roof (1930)
• Leap Year (1932)
• Two White Arms (1932)
• Where Is This Lady? (1932)
• The Barton Mystery (1932)
• Lilies of the Field (1934)
• While Parents Sleep (1935)
• Limelight (1936)
• Eliza Comes to Stay (1936)
• Sweet Devil (1938)

References

1. Deaths. The Times (London, England), Friday, Jan 22, 1943; pg. 1; Issue 49450
2. David Stone. "(Miss) Ellis Jeffreys (1889)". Gives birthyear as 1868 without source, as does Who's Who on the Stage, 1908; Library of Congress quoting Internet Broadway Database, and the Stage Beauty website have 1872, but Victorian actresses used birthdates that made them appear a few years younger.
3. "Actress's Divorce Suit", West Gippsland Gazette (Warragul, Victoria), 21 July 1903, accessed 20 January 2015
4. Gillan, Don. "Ellis Jeffreys (1872-1943)", Stage Beauty, accessed 20 January 2015

Further reading

Several of Jeffreys's roles are noted in Adams, W. Davenport (1904) "A Dictionary of the Drama", Chatto & Windus

External links

• Ellis Jeffreys on IMDb
• Ellis Jeffreys at the Internet Broadway Database
• Photos of Jeffreys at the National Portrait Gallery