Pauline Chase: The Original Peter Pan

 

Pauline Chase as Peter Pan, ca. 1910, presumably at London's Duke of York's Theatre. Image courtesy of the British Theatre Museum Association. 

On this day in 1885, stage actress Pauline Chase was born. Originally a child actress, then member of the chorus including Peter Pan (pre-1906), the celebrated actress became familiar to the public as 'The Pocket Venus of New York' due to her delicate beauty, and as 'The Pink Pajama Girl' after her role in the sensational hit Liberty Belles. Her first stage appearance was in Rounders at the Casino Theatre NY, 1898, followed by other performances. In July 1900, Pauline established herself in The Cadet Girl at the Herald Square Theatre on Broadway. The success of the play The Girl From Up There (opened in January 1901), brought her over to London's West End in April of that year. Although an American at birth, her heart resided in England where she mostly performed. She once remarked, "The roads are so much better for motoring in England." 

Pauline may have had ties to a theatrical family considering she debuted very young and her godmother was none other than Ellen Terry. 

After a brief comeback in New York, she returned to London to appear in The School Girls at Prince of Whales, ca. 1903. In December 1904 she was cast in a minor role in Peter Pan with Nina Boucicalt in the title role at Duke of York's. During the Liverpool tour in 1906, she switched to the lead since Cissie Loftus, the main actress at the time, fell ill. Peter Pan was a grand slam and premiered for eight consecutive years straight both in London, on Broadway, and twice in Paris.  

In 1914 she retired from the stage after the final run of Peter Pan and married Captain banker, Alexander Victor Drummond. The only time she stepped out of retirement was to appear in The Real Thing at Last (1916), her only film, for a YMCA benefit which was scripted by her good friend J.M. Barrie.       

When not performing, she spent much of her time in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, with affluent circles. After marrying, she moved to East Sussex and raised three children. Pauline was often described as someone who had a love for children. On March 15, 1962, she passed away in Royal Tumbridge Wells.  

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"I doubt if any play of modern times has so thoroughly gripped the heart of the youngster as 'Peter Pan,' and this is not hard to understand when you stop to consider how surprisingly it gripped adults, if it seemed real to them. I do not wonder that the children took it to be the gospel truth." -- The Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1908, (pg.16).