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Rene Almond
A young white woman wearing a felt hat low on her brow, and a fur collar.
Irene Mulvany-Gray from a 1927 Australian publication.
Born
Irene Clarice Mulvany-Gray

9 August 1894
Brentwood, Essex, England
Died13 January 1972(1972-01-13) (aged 77)
NationalityCanadian [citation needed]
Occupation(s)dancer, dance educator, actress, mime
Years active1920s-1960s
ChildrenPaul Almond

Irene Mulvany-Gray Almond (9 August 1894 – 13 January 1972), known as Rene Almond, was a UK-born Canadian dancer, actress, and educator.

Early life

Irene Clarice Mulvany-Gray was born in Brentwood, Essex. She trained at the Ginner-Mawer School of Dance in England.[1][2] She also appeared on the London stage, with Sybil Thorndike.[3]

Career

Mulvany-Gray performed and taught dance and mime in Christchurch, New Zealand from 1924 to 1926,[4][5][6] and Sydney, Australia from 1927 to 1929.[7][8] In speaking to a group in Sydney in 1927, she explained that "The greatest asset of dancing is that, both mentally and physically, it is a natural form of expression, and for this reason gives great pleasure to the performer."[9]

She moved to Canada and was on the faculty of the Montreal Repertory Theatre's school. With her sister, she ran the Almond-Gray School of Dance, Drama, and Mime in the 1930s.[10][11][12] She taught mime and other theatre arts at workshops for children.[1] She also acted in stage and radio plays in Montreal, especially with the Trinity Players,[13] including the title role in Medea,[14] and supporting roles in Hay Fever by Noel Coward,[15] The Petrified Forest by Robert E. Sherwood,[16] and The Bridge by Joseph Schull.[17]

A young white woman wearing loose white draped cloths and a headwrap, barefoot, posed in front of a curtain.
Irene Mulvany-Gray in a dance pose, from a 1927 Australian newspaper.

Her older sister Hilda Mulvany Gray was also a theatre professional, and they often lived, worked, taught, and traveled together.[18][19][20] Both sisters were active in the Montreal Play-Reading Club in the 1940s.[21][22]

Personal life

In 1927, Irene Gray married a Canadian clergyman and World War I veteran,[23] Eric Almond (1895-1953), in Australia.[24][25] Her son was Canadian-born filmmaker and writer Paul Almond (1931-2015).[26][27] In 1968, she and her sister traveled to London and Morocco;[28] in 1971, they traveled to Tangiers, Gibraltar, and Malta.[29] She died in 1972 at age 77. Her grave is next to her sister's, in Shigawake, Quebec.[30][31][32]

References

  1. ^ a b "Enrolment Starts in Play Workshop". The Gazette. 7 November 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Free Demonstration Talks". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Reviving the Greek Dance in Sydney" The Home (1 August 1927): 91. via Trove.
  4. ^ "Dance Recital; Pupils of Peters-Gray School". Press. 3 November 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Papers Past.
  5. ^ "Dance Culture". Press. 2 May 1925. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Papers Past.
  6. ^ "Dance Recital". Press. 16 October 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Papers Past.
  7. ^ "Life-Saving Society; Matinee at YWCA". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 October 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "The Art of the Dance!". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "THE ART OF DANCING". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 17 March 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Stage, Screen and Concert; Almond-Gray School". The Gazette. 9 May 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Dance Recital Tonight; QMCF Winners Appear in Almond-Gray Performance". The Gazette. 27 May 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Plans Varied Program". The Gazette. 4 May 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Archer, Thomas (20 February 1941). "Trinity Players do Irish Comedy". The Gazette. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "To Present Medea". The Gazette. 16 February 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Archer, Thomas (15 October 1942). "Trinity Players Offer Thriller". The Gazette. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Trinity Prepares Play by Robert E. Sherwood". The Gazette. 4 February 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Whitehead, Harold (25 January 1951). "Canadian Play by Local Group". The Gazette. p. 12. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Almond-Gray Recital". The Gazette. 7 May 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Personals". The Gazette. 24 December 1962. p. 19. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Personals". The Gazette. 16 April 1969. p. 41. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Play Reading Planned". The Gazette. 26 November 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Play-Reading Club to Meet". The Gazette. 7 February 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Remembering Paul Almond: Anglican author, film/TV producer and lay minister". Anglican Church of Canada - CEP online. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Social and Personal". The Gazette. 11 September 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Family Notices". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 15 October 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Trove.
  26. ^ "Personals". The Gazette. 20 December 1961. p. 18. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Creative Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-century Creative and Performing Artists. University of Toronto Press. 15 December 1972. ISBN 978-1-4426-3784-9.
  28. ^ "Personals". The Gazette. 2 January 1968. p. 19. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Personals". The Gazette. 15 May 1971. p. 10. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Obituary for Hilda Eliza GRAY Mulvany". The Gazette. 26 April 1978. p. 23. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Two Memorials to Honour Filmmaker". The Gazette. 30 July 2015. p. 32. Retrieved 8 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ An image of the joint memorial bench for Irene and Hilda Mulvany-Gray, in Shigawake, Quebec; from Cemeteries of the Gaspe Area by Morris Patterson (2015).
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