Eleanor Smith, amateur actor of Cheltenham

Play scripts

Theatre programmes

Other papers of Eleanor and Stanley Smith relating to the Cheltenham Civic Players

Papers of Stanley Smith relating to the establishment of the Cheltenham Theatre and Arts Club

Scrap books

Newsletters, bulletins and magazines

Photographs

Posters advertising productions of amateur drama in Cheltenham

Other documents

Documents bequeathed by Eleanor Smith of Cheltenham per Mrs K M Hall

Eleanor Smith (nee Adams) was born at Eye in Suffolk in 1923. Her father was the headmaster and organist at the local primary school and ran the local musical society.

She began to act as a young child, persuaded by a cousin who presented plays and charged half an old penny for admission.

In 1941 Eleanor began a degree in botany at Bristol University. Her collection of theatrical memorabilia dates from the following year, when she played her first role with the Bristol University Players in Noel Coward's The Young Idea. She later became their president and performed with them on many occasions. Whilst at Bristol she was also a student at the Old Vic Theatre School.

After graduating, she taught for three years at a Bristol school. It was also at Bristol that she met her husband, Stanley Smith of Cheltenham. They were married in 1948 and settled in Stanley's home in Priory Street, Cheltenham. It is not clear from the collection, whether she held any further teaching posts.

Stanley Smith was a keen member of the Cheltenham Civic Players, one of several groups sharing the use of the Civic Playhouse. He became their chairman in 1954 and was also a member of the Playhouse Society's Advisory Panel until 1957.

Soon after arriving in Cheltenham, Eleanor also joined the Cheltenham Civic Players. She made her first appearance with them in 1949.

The Corporation of Cheltenham was responsible for the running of the Civic Playhouse until December 1957. This responsibility was then passed to the Cheltenham Theatre and Arts Club. The Club was established in 1955 with Stanley Smith as its first chairman. At the same time the Playhouse Management Committee replaced the Society's Advisory Panel.

Eleanor was chairman of the Management Committee for a while and for the opening production under the new management she produced and took the title role in the pantomime Aladdin.

At that time the theatre took part in the Cheltenham Festival. In 1952, Eleanor played Mary Fitton in the Festival's production of Will Shakespeare. The press commented; 'by turn, the warm, always beautifully clear tones of her voice held deliciously mocking enticement, passion and black hate'.

Eleanor Smith participated in many other Civic Players productions not only as a member of the cast but also as stage manager, producer or director.

During the 1960s and 1970s, she was also part of several productions by the Cheltenham Operatic and Drama Society and was connected with plays produced at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.

(For these and other details see D8782/9/7)