Lena Ashwell Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Lena Margaret Ashwell was born on September 28, 1872, aboard the training ship Wellesley on the River Tyne near North Shields, England, was a British actress, theatre manager, producer and writer.

She spent part of her childhood in Canada and studied music in Lausanne and at the Royal Academy of Music in London before pursuing an acting career.

Ashwell made her professional stage debut in The Pharisee in 1891. In 1895, she played Elaine in J. Comyns Carr’s King Arthur at the Lyceum Theatre, appearing with Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. Her notable roles included Lady Jean in Bonnie Dundee and Lygia in Quo Vadis. She achieved wider recognition as Mrs. Dane in Henry Arthur Jones’s Mrs. Dane’s Defence in 1900 and later appeared in The Darling of the Gods, Leah Kleschna and Irving’s production of Dante.

In 1907, Ashwell assumed management of London’s Kingsway Theatre, where she presented contemporary drama, including Cicely Hamilton’s Diana of Dobson’s in 1908 and J. B. Fagan’s The Earth in 1909. She was also associated with the Actresses’ Franchise League and the British Drama League.

During the First World War, Ashwell organized companies of actors, singers and musicians to entertain British troops in France and Belgium. By the end of the conflict, 25 concert parties were performing under the program. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1917 for this work.

Ashwell founded the Lena Ashwell Players in 1923 to bring theatrical productions to audiences outside London’s West End. The company later operated from the Century Theatre in Bayswater and included a young Laurence Olivier. Her books included Modern Troubadours (1922), The Stage (1929) and the autobiography Myself a Player (1936).