Biography
Born Marjorie Robertson on 20 October 1904 in Forest Gate, London, England, the artist died on 3 June 1986 in Surrey, England. Across more than six decades, Neagle stood among the most cherished and enduring figures in British entertainment as an actress, dancer and singer who moved between West End stages and domestic cinema screens. Childhood dance instruction led to early chorus appearances in Charlot’s Revue and Tricks during 1925. Later in the decade she continued in similar ensemble roles through Rose Marie, The Charlot Show Of 1926, The Desert Song and a pair of London Pavilion revues, listed among “Mr Cochran’s Young Ladies.” Primarily known as a dancer until 1931, she advanced that year by taking the ingénue role opposite Jack Buchanan in the successful musical comedy Stand Up And Sing, where the pair performed the duet “There’s Always Tomorrow.”
Herbert Wilcox produced and directed her screen musical debut, Goodnight Vienna, in 1932 and handled the majority of her subsequent features; the pair married in 1943. While she earned praise for several dramatic pictures throughout the 1930s, Neagle also maintained a presence in musical films that included The Little Damozel, Bitter Sweet, The Queen’s Affair, Limelight and London Melody (1939). Between 1940 and 1941 she and Wilcox worked in the United States on Irene, in which she performed “Alice Blue Gown,” along with No, No, Nanette and Sunny. Upon returning to Britain they concentrated on a string of buoyant romantic comedies that occasionally incorporated a musical sequence, among them Spring In Park Lane, The Courtneys Of Curzon Street and Maytime In Mayfair (1949). Michael Wilding served as her co-star in these productions, whose chemistry helped secure top box-office rankings for British releases of the period.
During the 1950s Neagle revisited the stage in The Glorious Days (1953), then appeared opposite Errol Flynn in the film adaptation Lilacs In The Spring and in the screen version of King’s Rhapsody. She next partnered with singer Frankie Vaughan for The Lady Is A Square (1958). Although that marked her final screen credit, she produced three further Vaughan vehicles: These Dangerous Years, Wonderful Things! and Heart Of A Man.
Wilcox’s film company and additional joint enterprises collapsed in the early 1960s, resulting in bankruptcy; relief arrived with David Heneker’s long-running musical Charlie Girl (1965). Neagle remained with the production, aside from brief absences, throughout its more than 2,000 performances and later tours. On the day her appointment as a Dame of the British Empire was announced, the Charlie Girl company surprised her by performing “There Is Nothing Like A Dame” at the close of the evening. When the Broadway revival of No, No, Nanette reached London in 1973, Neagle assumed the part originated by Ruby Keeler. Wilcox died in 1977, yet Neagle sustained her career, returning to the West End in Maggie (1977), touring as Henry Higgins’ mother in a 1978 revival of My Fair Lady and appearing in the 1982 pantomime Cinderella at Richmond Theatre. Her last stage performance came as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the London Palladium during the 1985 Christmas season. Weeks after the run ended she entered a Surrey nursing home for rest and died there the following June.
Herbert Wilcox produced and directed her screen musical debut, Goodnight Vienna, in 1932 and handled the majority of her subsequent features; the pair married in 1943. While she earned praise for several dramatic pictures throughout the 1930s, Neagle also maintained a presence in musical films that included The Little Damozel, Bitter Sweet, The Queen’s Affair, Limelight and London Melody (1939). Between 1940 and 1941 she and Wilcox worked in the United States on Irene, in which she performed “Alice Blue Gown,” along with No, No, Nanette and Sunny. Upon returning to Britain they concentrated on a string of buoyant romantic comedies that occasionally incorporated a musical sequence, among them Spring In Park Lane, The Courtneys Of Curzon Street and Maytime In Mayfair (1949). Michael Wilding served as her co-star in these productions, whose chemistry helped secure top box-office rankings for British releases of the period.
During the 1950s Neagle revisited the stage in The Glorious Days (1953), then appeared opposite Errol Flynn in the film adaptation Lilacs In The Spring and in the screen version of King’s Rhapsody. She next partnered with singer Frankie Vaughan for The Lady Is A Square (1958). Although that marked her final screen credit, she produced three further Vaughan vehicles: These Dangerous Years, Wonderful Things! and Heart Of A Man.
Wilcox’s film company and additional joint enterprises collapsed in the early 1960s, resulting in bankruptcy; relief arrived with David Heneker’s long-running musical Charlie Girl (1965). Neagle remained with the production, aside from brief absences, throughout its more than 2,000 performances and later tours. On the day her appointment as a Dame of the British Empire was announced, the Charlie Girl company surprised her by performing “There Is Nothing Like A Dame” at the close of the evening. When the Broadway revival of No, No, Nanette reached London in 1973, Neagle assumed the part originated by Ruby Keeler. Wilcox died in 1977, yet Neagle sustained her career, returning to the West End in Maggie (1977), touring as Henry Higgins’ mother in a 1978 revival of My Fair Lady and appearing in the 1982 pantomime Cinderella at Richmond Theatre. Her last stage performance came as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the London Palladium during the 1985 Christmas season. Weeks after the run ended she entered a Surrey nursing home for rest and died there the following June.