Not on display

Beryl Reid in The Killing of Sister George

Caricature
11 June 1965 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This caricature shows Beryl Reid (1920-1996) as June Buckridge, ‘Sister George’ in The Killing of Sister George by Frank Marcus at the Oxford New Theatre in June 1965. It was drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad (1904-1976), a rehearsal pianist and orchestral violinist at the Brighton Theatre Royal from 1932 until 1936, and at the Oxford New Theatre from 1936 for over forty years. Sommerlad sketched the stars on stage when he wasn’t needed in the orchestra pit, compiling the sketches in a series of albums.

Beryl Reid was a comic actress from Manchester whose first big success came as the naughty girl Monica in the BBC radio show Educating Archie, and later as the 'Brummie' character, Marlene. She won a Tony award when she repeated her performance as Sister George in the 1968 film of the play.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBeryl Reid in <i>The Killing of Sister George</i> (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink and wash on paper
Brief description
Pencil, pen and ink and wash caricature on paper of Beryl Reid in The Killing of Sister George at the New Theatre Oxford, by Gilbert Sommerlad, 11 June 1965.
Physical description
Pencil, pen and ink and wash caricature on paper of Beryl Reid in The Killing of Sister George at the New Theatre Oxford. Dated 11 June 1965. From a hard-backed sketch book containing caricatures of theatrical performers and entertainers drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25cm
  • Width: 17cm
Credit line
Given by Michael Sommerlad
Object history
This caricature comes from an album of caricatures of theatrical performers and entertainers drawn by Gilbert J.Sommerlad (1904-1976) between October 1957 and October 1965 at the Oxford New Theatre. Gilbert Sommerlad moved from Brighton to the recently built New Theatre, Oxford, to join his brother Roy (violin and clarinet) as resident pianist in 1936. He continued with his caricatures until his retirement.
Subject depicted
Summary
This caricature shows Beryl Reid (1920-1996) as June Buckridge, ‘Sister George’ in The Killing of Sister George by Frank Marcus at the Oxford New Theatre in June 1965. It was drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad (1904-1976), a rehearsal pianist and orchestral violinist at the Brighton Theatre Royal from 1932 until 1936, and at the Oxford New Theatre from 1936 for over forty years. Sommerlad sketched the stars on stage when he wasn’t needed in the orchestra pit, compiling the sketches in a series of albums.

Beryl Reid was a comic actress from Manchester whose first big success came as the naughty girl Monica in the BBC radio show Educating Archie, and later as the 'Brummie' character, Marlene. She won a Tony award when she repeated her performance as Sister George in the 1968 film of the play.
Collection
Accession number
S.133:74-2002

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Record createdDecember 12, 2003
Record URL
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