Ellaline Terriss

Who was Ellaline Terriss?

Ellaline Terriss, born Mary Ellaline Lewin, was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. She met and married the actor-producer Seymour Hicks in 1893, and the two collaborated on many projects for the stage and screen.

The daughter of well-known leading man William Terriss, Ellaline Terriss made her London stage debut at the age of 16 in Cupid's Messenger at London's Haymarket Theatre. Impressed with her performance, producer Charles Wyndham gave her a three-year contract, under which she first played Madge in Why Women Weep. In 1892, Terriss starred in Faithful James and the following year, she starred in the title role of Cinderella, produced by Henry Irving. She was featured in W. S. Gilbert's His Excellency in 1894, followed the next year by a starring role in the George Edwardes production of the musical The Shop Girl, playing alongside her husband. The next year she starred in another musical hit, The Circus Girl.

In 1897, her father was murdered. As a result, she received much public sympathy, returning to the stage to star in A Runaway Girl in 1898, one of her most successful shows.