The Home of
Dorothy Ward
Site Created by David Hartshorne
Miss Dorothy Ward was born in Aston near Birmingham on 26th April 1890. When she was 14 she was taken to see Jack and the Beanstalk with Ada Reeve as Principal Boy, and from there she was determined to make her name in Pantomime.
In 1905 she made her first stage appearance as Zenobia in Bluebeard at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. She was an overnight success and engaged by Robert Courtneidge to appear in London.
She never looked back!
On 13th May 1911 she married the Irish comedian Shaun Glenville, and a pantomime partnership was born. She was Principal Boy to his Dame and they played in pantomimes all over the country until they retired in 1957 after over 50 years in the business.
Their son, the famous actor and Director Peter Glenville, was born on 28th October 1913, and he went on to fame and fortune in his own right.
Dorothy and Shaun retired to London, where she had a glamorous life, always immaculately dressed in furs and diamonds, even into her 90s.
Shaun died in 1966, but Dorothy carried on until 30th March 1987.
Gallery
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This site is dedicated to the memory of Miss Dorothy Ward and contains most of my collection of photographs, postcards and other memorabilia.
The collection was started by my grandmother, Doris Ward Dale, who was Dorothy's cousin and this site is also dedicated to her memory.
If you have any information, articles or pictures that you wish to share or add to the site, please drop me a line here.
It's my belief that all of the materials displayed on this site are either out of copyright, or the copyright is held by me. If you know different, please do get in touch.
