Photography — C. 1917
Gelatin silver print
Rita Martin's photo of Gertie Millar is glued into an album containing another 35 prints showing the actress in various roles. This photo probably shows the actress in her own clothes, rather than in theatrical costume.
The large mastiff, called 'Chum', appears in a number of Rita Martin's photos of Gertie Millar. The actress always liked dogs. James Jupp, stage door-keeper at the Gaiety for more than 30 years, recalled:
Miss Gertie Millar is an example of what talent and personality will do on the stage. There was a time when police had to marshal the crowds that gathered round the theatre to catch even a fleeting glimpse of her, as with her Pekingese, she darted from stage-door to motor-car. (The Gaiety Stage Door, 1923, p. 55 )
In 1934, no other than P G Wodehouse, then Millar's neighbor in Le Touquet in France, mentioned in a letter that he had been asked to ‘exercise her spotted carriage dog occasionally’.
- Category:
- Photography
- Object ID:
- IN23318
- Object name:
- gelatin silver print
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- Martin, Rita
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- c. 1917
- Material:
paper
- Measurements/duration:
- H 290 mm, W 297 mm (page), H 277 mm, W 225 mm (image size)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Permanent collection
- Copyright holder:
National Portrait Gallery
- Image credit:
© NPG/courtesy Museum of London
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.