Viola Tree (17 July 1884 – 15 November 1938) was an English actress, singer, playwright and author. Daughter of the actorHerbert Beerbohm Tree, she made many of her early appearances with his company atHis Majesty's Theatre. Later she appeared in opera,variety, straight theatre and film.
Tree made her London debut in 1904 as Viola inTwelfth Night, and for the next four years she appeared in her father's productions at His Majesty's Theatre, often in Shakespeare roles. She yearned to have an operatic career, and studied in Milan, but sang only two opera roles; she then resumed her career in plays and in variety. In 1919, she became manager of theAldwych Theatre, while continuing her acting career.
In 1930–31 she played onBroadway and on tour in drama and appeared in theZiegfeld Follies. In London in the 1930s, she played in comedies and tried her hand at directing. Her last West End role was inThe Melody that Got Lost in 1938. She also appeared in four films between 1920 and 1938, wrote two plays and several books, including a novel and a book of etiquette.
Tree was born in London, the eldest of three daughters ofHerbert Beerbohm Tree and his wife, the actressHelen Maud Tree,née Holt.[1] Her aunt was authorConstance Beerbohm and an uncle wasMax Beerbohm. She was educated privately in London and in Europe. Her sisters wereFelicity Tree andIris Tree. She also had seven illegitimate half-siblings, the products of her father's many infidelities, among them the directorCarol Reed and Peter Reed, whose son became the actorOliver Reed.[2]
Originally, Tree planned a career as a singer, but entered the family profession in 1904. She made a very successful London debut in March 1904 as Viola inTwelfth Night.[3] For the next four years she appeared in her father's productions atHis Majesty's Theatre. Her otherShakespeare roles included Hero inMuch Ado about Nothing, the Queen inRichard II, Ariel inThe Tempest, Anne Page inThe Merry Wives of Windsor, Ophelia inHamlet and Perdita inThe Winter's Tale, in whichEllen Terry played Hermione.[1][4]
Tree continued to plan an operatic career, and after making a success in the title role ofIphigénie en Tauride and as Euridice inOrfeo ed Euridice at theSavoy Theatre in 1910,[5][6] she went toMilan to study. On her return, however, she did not pursue her operatic ambitions, except for playing Euridice again in 1912. Instead, she continued to build her stage career in plays and invariety.[1] In 1912, Tree married a drama critic, Alan Parsons, who died in 1933, aged 44. They had two sons, includingDavid Tree, and a daughter Virginia Penelope Parsons (1917–2003), wife of David Tennant and then the6th Marquess of Bath.[1][7]
In 1919, Tree took over the management of theAldwych Theatre, scoring particular success with the works ofSacha Guitry.[1] Her last Shakespeare role was Helena inA Midsummer Night's Dream in 1923.[8] In 1930–31 she was in the US, appearing on Broadway and on tour in drama and also appeared in theZiegfeld Follies.[1] Through the 1930s, Tree continually played in light comedies in the West End, varied with occasional unorthodox undertakings. In 1930 she directed an Italian play,La Piccola byMassimo Bontempelli, in the original Italian,[9] and in 1934 she directedJean-Philippe Rameau's operaCastor et Pollux for the Oxford University Opera Club.[10] In 1931 she starred in the play with musicFor the Love of Mike, and starred in the works' film adaptation in 1932.[11]
Tree's last West End appearance was inThe Melody that Got Lost, "a comedy with music", in January 1938.[12] She was an early and strong supporter of the foundation of aNational Theatre.[13][14]
Tree also played in four films between 1920 and 1938,[8] the last of which,Pygmalion, byGeorge Bernard Shaw (1938), completed three generations of the Tree family's connection with premieres of versions of the play: Tree's father created the role of Henry Higgins in the London stage premièrein 1914;[15] Viola Tree revived the play in 1920;[16] and she played a cameo role in the film, in which her son David Tree played Freddy.[17][18]
In 1923The Dancers, a play written by Tree in collaboration with the actor-managerGerald du Maurier under the joint pen name of Hubert Parsons, opened atWyndham's Theatre, starringTallulah Bankhead in her London début.[19] It ran for 349 performances and subsequently transferred to theBroadhurst Theatre onBroadway, where it lasted for 133 performances.[20] She wrote a second play,The Swallow, about decent people coping with the rise of Italian Fascism, produced in London in 1925.[21] Tree published several books: her memoirs,Castles in the Air (1926); a book of etiquette advice,Can I Help You? (1937); a novel; a biography of her husband; and an anthology,Alan Parsons' Book (1937).[22]
Tree died ofpleurisy in London, aged 54.[1]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | Masks and Faces | Member of Rich's Company #4 | |
| 1920 | Unmarried | ||
| 1932 | For the Love of Mike | Emma Miller | |
| 1933 | The Private Life of Henry VIII | Nurse | |
| 1935 | Heart's Desire | Lady Bennington | |
| 1938 | Pygmalion | Perfide Social Reporter | (final film role) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
