Albert Brandon-Cremer

From his start as an actor in Auckland[1] to his heyday in the early 1900s as a company manager and owner, he toured virtually every town in Australasia with the Brandon-Cremer Players.

Brandon-Cremer was born on 7 November 1871 in Newry, County Down, Ireland, to parents Gustav Caesar Antonin Cremer and Saretta Frances Brandon.

The model Victorian Brandon-Cremer parents instilled a tradition of music and literature in their children, many of whom would go on to perform on stage.

[7] The couple registered the births of three children - Dorothy Saretta, born 1893;[8] Ernest Gustav, 1895; and Leonore Frances, 1896.

Albert returned to New Zealand in September 1898; in the same year he began touring there with the Robert Henry Theatrical Company.

By this time Albert had already met Isora ‘Dolly’ Grey (an actress, stage name - Kathleen ‘Nora’ Arnold), a member of his new acting troupe, the ‘A.

Over the next 20 years Albert and Isora would have great success leasing theatres and running a repertory company across Australia and New Zealand.

In 1929, Albert made another short silent film entitled, ‘Nursery Rhymes’, shot by his son Ernest on Bronte Beach, which was shown across Australia.

Some of the many other plays he was involved with were: 'The Fatal Wedding', 'Old Bill' with Sir Seymour Hicks, 'Sweet Nell of Old Drury' and 'Tons of Money' with Nellie Stewart.

In his final years, Albert continued to act in such plays as ‘Charlie’s Aunt’, 'A Worm's Eye View',[19] 'One Wild Oat', and 'Seagulls Over Sorrento' with the Australian actor Gordon Chater.

Albert and Isora were laid to rest in the Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park, Hadfield, Victoria (North Melbourne), with no markers.