May Fortescue

May Fortescue (9 February 1859[1] – 2 September 1950) was an English actress, singer and actor-manager of the Victorian era and a protégée of playwright W. S. Gilbert.

When the company transferred in October 1881 to the new Savoy Theatre, Fortescue moved with it, creating the small role of Celia in Iolanthe when it received its premiere in November 1882.

When W. S. Gilbert learned of this, he found the man and forced him to sign a public apology admitting that the rumour was false and to pay the costs of a lawsuit by Fortescue.

The case generated a great deal of publicity for Fortescue,[9] although much of it was adverse after she announced that she intended to resume her stage career.

[10] Gilbert cast her in her first major role, as Dorothy, in a revival of his play, Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith, at the Court Theatre in March 1884.

[13] In 1899, she created the role of the Duchess of Strood in Arthur Wing Pinero's play The Gay Lord Quex at the Globe Theatre in London, in a starry cast led by John Hare and Irene Vanbrugh.

The same afternoon, after lunch with W. H. Kendal, Gilbert died of heart failure while trying to rescue a young lady swimming in the lake at his home, Grim's Dyke.

On wet nights and when rehearsals were late and the last buses were gone, he would pay the cab-fares of the girls whether they were pretty or not, instead of letting them trudge home on foot.