Margaret Rawlings


Margaret Rawlings, Lady Barlow was an English stage actress, born in Osaka, Japan, daughter of the Rev. George William Rawlings and his wife Lilian Rawlings.

Personal life/affiliations

She was educated at Oxford High School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She first married Gabriel Toyne and then Sir Robert Barlow who pre-deceased her.
Her entries in Who's Who in the Theatre record her private address as 10 Duke Street, Adelphi, London WC2, Flat 12, 72 Westbourne Terrace, London W2, then finally Rocketer Farm, Wendover, Buckinghamshire.
She was a co-founder of Equity, serving as a Council member for 30 years and was twice appointed Vice-President, in 1973–74 and 1975–76.

Theatre career

While still at Oxford, Rawlings appeared at the Little Theatre with John Masefield's company. She made her professional debut in March 1927 with The Macdona Players as Jennifer in The Doctor's Dilemma at Croydon, and subsequently also played in The Philanderer, Arms and the Man, You Never Can Tell and The Dark Lady of the Sonnets.
She made her London stage debut on 22 January 1928 with the Venturers company as Louise in Jordan at the Strand Theatre, then toured as Gwen in The Fanatics and as Jill in Chance Acquaintance. In October 1928 at the Embassy Theatre she played Vivian Mason in The Seventh Guest and Moya in The Shadow, before touring with Maurice Colbourne and Barry Jones in Shaw repertory to Canada and the United States in 1929–30.

1930s

Roles included:
  • Nora Tanner in The Last Chapter, New Theatre May 1930
  • Minn Lee in the Edgar Wallace thriller On the Spot, Paris 1930
  • Title role in Oscar Wilde's Salome, Gate Theatre May 1931
  • Bianco Capello in The Venetian, Masque Theatre, New York debut, 31 October 1931
  • Elizabeth in The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Criterion, Sydney 23 April 1932; subsequently appearing as Lu in The Good Fairy and She in Happy and Glorious
  • Fabienne in I Hate Men co-starring with Hermione Gingold and Gabriel Toyne, Gate Theatre February 1933
  • Ricciarda in Night's Candles co-starring with Ernest Milton, Shilling Theatre, Fulham May 1933
  • Mary Fitton in This Side Idolatry co-starring with Leslie Howard as William Shakespeare, Lyric Theatre October 1933
  • Liza Kingdom in The Old Folks at Home, Queen's Theatre December 1933
  • Josephine in Napoleon to Edward Chapman as Bonaparte, Embassy Theatre September 1934
  • Jean in The Greeks Had a Word for It, co-starring with Hermione, Angela Baddeley and Robert Newton, Duke of York's Theatre November 1934 and subsequently Cambridge Theatre January 1935.
  • Loulou in Roulette with Robert Newton May 1935 and subsequently Cambridge Theatre June 1935.
  • Ann Whitefield in Man and Superman and Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion for the Macdona Players, Cambridge Theatre August 1935
  • Katherine "Kitty" O'Shea in Parnell, Ethel Barrymore Theatre New York November 1935 – 99 performances
  • Katherine "Kitty" O'Shea in Parnell, Gate Theatre April 1936 ; and New Theatre November 1936
  • Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra directed by Theodore Komisarjevsky, New Theatre October 1936
  • Lady Macbeth for the OUDS, Oxford February 1937
  • Mary Charrington and Lily James in Black Limelight, Q Theatre and St James's Theatre April 1937
  • Helen in The Trojan Women directed by Lewis Casson, Adelphi Theatre December 1937
  • Karen Selby in The Flashing Stream, Lyric Theatre September 1938; and appeared in the same role at the Biltmore Theatre New York, April 1939
  • Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion co-starring with Basil Sydney as Higgins, Embassy Theatre May 1939; Theatre Royal Haymarket June 1939
  • Stephanie Easton in You, Of All People co-starring with Leslie Banks and Lilli Palmer, Apollo Theatre, December 1939

    1940s

  • Verna Mountstephan in A House in the Square, St Martin's Theatre April 1940
  • Mrs Dearth in Dear Brutus, Theatre Royal Haymarket April 1946
  • Titania in The Fairy Queen, Covent Garden December 1946
  • Vittoria Corombona in The White Devil, Duchess Theatre March 1947
  • Marceline in The Unquiet Spirit, Arts Theatre February 1949
  • Germaine in A Woman in Love, Embassy Theatre April 1949

    1950s

  • The Countess in The Purple Fig Tree, Piccadilly Theatre February 1950
  • Lady Macbeth to the Macbeth of Alec Clunes, who also directed, Arts Theatre June 1950
  • Anna Sergievna in Spring at Marino directed by John Fernald, Arts Theatre February 1951
  • Zabrina in Tamburlaine the Great co-starring with Donald Wolfit in the title role and directed by Tyrone Guthrie, Old Vic September 1951
  • Lysistrata in The Apple Cart co-starring with Noël Coward as King Magnus, Theatre Royal Haymarket, May 1953
  • The Countess in The Dark is Light Enough, Old Vic 1955–56 season
  • Title role in Phedre, Theatre-in-the-Round November 1957 and tour

    1960s

  • Title role in Sappho, Edinburgh Festival August 1961
  • Alex Bliss in Ask Me No More, Theatre Royal Windsor May 1962
  • Title role in Phedre Arts Cambridge May 1963
  • Ella Rentheim in John Gabriel Borkman, Duchess Theatre, December 1963
  • Jocasta in Oedipus the King, Nottingham Playhouse November 1964
  • Gertrude in Hamlet, Ludlow Festival July 1965
  • Usula Maria Torpe in Torpe's Hotel, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford October 1965
  • Mrs Bridgenorth in Getting Married directed by Frank Dunlop, Strand Theatre April 1967
  • Carlotta in A Song at Twilight ? 1968

    1970s

  • Giza in Catsplay, Greenwich Theatre October 1973
  • Appeared in Mixed Economy, King's Head 1977
  • Empress Eugenie in a solo touring performance, Cambridge Festival July 1978; May Fair Theatre and Vaudeville Theatre February 1979; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre July 1979; and the Dublin Festival, October 1979

    Films/television

Films

  • The Way of Lost Souls – Woman
  • Roman Holiday – Countess Vereberg
  • Twist of Fate - Marie Galt
  • No Road Back – Mrs. Railton
  • Hands of the Ripper – Madame Bullard
  • Follow Me! – Mrs. Sidley
  • Jekyll & Hyde – Jekyll's Mother

    Television

  • The Plane Makers – Marion Brown
  • Wives and Daughters – Mrs. Hamley