whataboutbobbed
Jessie Matthews, Alhambra Theatre, London, 1917
Jessie Matthews was a British superstar in the 1930s. Described by one critic as ‘a rogue in porcelain’ she was a pretty and vivacious dancer with a gift for light comedy. At only twenty one years old she was the star of Noël Coward’s revue This Year of Grace, and cheered from the royal box by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). During this show Jessie became close to one of her co-stars, Sonnie Hale. But both Jessie and Sonnie were already married, Sonnie to the much loved musical star Evelyn Laye. The divorce case became a scandal and when some of Jessie’s love letters were read out in court she fainted. Jessie was blamed for the divorce and was very unpopular. She felt that she carried the psychological scars of this case with her all her life.
if this photo is indeed from 1917, Jessie would be only 10 years old!
