Ada Reeve who first went on stage in 1878 at the age of 4
was still acting in her early 80s. Here she is on a tinted postcard at the
height of her career.
The eldest daughter of an actor and a dancer, she appeared in many
pantomimes as a child and she went on to perform in Edwardian musical comedies
and Variety shows. She toured Britain
but also appeared in Australia and was very popular in America.
At the age of 21 she married Gilbert Joseph Hazlewood, an
actor of the same age. In 1894 she starred in the title role of The Shop Girl at the Gaiety Theatre, opposite Seymour Hicks, but her advancing pregnancy meant the she was replaced by Ellaline Terriss. The couple had two daughters but within a few years it
was an unhappy marriage. In 1900, Ada petitioned for a divorce citing her
husband for cruelty and adultery with Mildred Cobb, Dolly Daintree “and various
other women." She was given custody of her daughters.
Later that year while appearing as Cleopatra at The Comedy
Theatre in London she slipped out during the first act, catching a “hansome to
the Palace Theatre of Varieties” where she put on a turn before completing the
next act back at the Comedy Theatre!
In 1902 Ada remarried, this time to Wilfred Cotton, an actor and manager, and he moved into her apartment in Buckingham Gate. Soon Ada and Wilfred bought a property on the Isle of
Wight and Ada subsequently toured South Africa in 1906, returning in 1909 due to
her popularity.
In 1908 she appeared in the musical comedy Butterflies at
the Apollo theatre in London.
In 1917 Ada appealed to the courts in Australia to remove her
husband Wilfred as her Manager. This was only one of many court cases involving
disputes between Ada and other agents in England and Australia.
Ada continued touring South Africa and Australia until 1929. She then remained in Australia, where both her daughters had settled, until 1935.
Back in England she acted on stage and in films throughout
the 1940s and 50s. In 1957 she appeared on TV in a production of Nicholas Nickleby.
Ada Reeves died in 1967 at the age of 92 and in the following year Judi Dench unveiled a memorial plaque at St Paul's Covent Garden, The Actors Church.
Details of birth, marriages and divorce from Ancestry.com
Newspaper reports from FindMyPast.co.uk
Postcards from my Grandmother's collection
