Anita Martell Famous Juggler

[HazelDavidson]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to find out what happened to Anita Martell after 1957. Her name on her marriage certificate is down as Nita Janette Davidson her father was John Davidson stage name Jack Martell i think, he was a Music Hall Artist as well but was never as famous as his daughter.
She was a juggler and told jokes during her act. She was in shows in Australia, America and the UK.

She married twice once in 1940 to Len Young and then in 1951 to Roger Price they got divorced in 1951 she was on his radio show called "How To" during 1951.

She appeared in two films called:
The Private Wore Skirts or Never Wave at a WAC (1953)
Botany Bay (1953).

She came back to London in 1957 and was planning on staying for a year but i can't find anything about her after her arrival or even if she went back to America.

Has anyone ever heard of her?

Thanks Hazel

[GrahamSimons]

Try The Stage archive (it's a subscription site) - I found a few hits including one in 1984

http://archive.thestage.co.uk/

[HazelDavidson]

Hi

Thank you for that site i got a lot of information from it. I also found out about some of her cousins which i was trying to find out and more about her father as well. I can't find anything about her now after 1984 in America. I will keep searching.

Thank you again for your help.

Hazel

[HazelDavidson]

Hi everyone

So i found out a bit more about the Martell's. I have been trying to find out about Anita's cousins i found some information on The Stage and wondered if anyone maybe knows anymore about them or knows about the family.

Starting with Veronica Martell (Veronica Wynne born in Ireland) I'm not sure if her first name is Veronica they liked to change their names. She travelled around doing her juggling act in the UK then she joined the John Ringling North Circus in 1951 and travelled around with them. She appeared n the film "The Greatest Show on Earth(1952)" which was about the circus she was with. She was also in a short documentary called "Jugglers and Acrobats(1964)".

Christine Martell (Christine Wynne born in Ireland). She was part of The Martell Sisters which was her, her sisters Moira and Rita. She went round the UK doing their juggling act with her sisters and other places, then they went their seperate ways. I found something on Desoreilly.com about her saying she was on the show called "No Strings" which was a CSE tour of Cyprus, North Africa and Malta in 1965.

Moira Martell (Moira P Martell, Mary Pauline Wynne born in Ireland). She was in The Martell Sisters, she travelled around Europe and India. She met Ronald Mapes and they got married in 1953, she then travelled with her husband and settled in Biloxi. She died in 2000.

Rita Martell (Rita Wynne born in Ireland). She was part of the Martell Sisters. She carried on juggling and i found things about her up until 1972, then it goes quiet.

Would love to know if anyone has ever heard of any of the Martell's i've mentioned.

Hazel

[Nick29]

In case you haven't seen her in action - http://www.britishpathe.com/video/anita-martell

[Nick29]

On Moira's obituary, it said that she was survived by three sisters.  So it appears that Anita may well have been alive in 2000.  But where ?

http://www.genealogybuff.com/ms/state/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/263

[HazelDavidson]

Hi Nick

As far as i know Anita was in New York in 1984 and i think she may have stayed in the area the problem is i don't know if she changed her name back to Davidson or stayed Martell.

[HazelDavidson]

I have found out a bit more about Anita's mother and father John Davidson or as he was known Jack Martell was a Music Hall Comedian he appeared with Veronica Martell when she was part of an American circus, he was also a member of The Water Rats, he was quite popular and seems to have done a lot of traveling during his career. Anita's mother Mona Anderson or Mary Monica Anderson or her stage name Mona O'Leary, she was an irish singer, she was in a group called the Three O'Leary Girls which doesn't seem to have lasted very long after death in 1925. I would love to find out more about her but it looks unlikely that i will.
I still can't find out what happened to Anita or her sister Monica so I might just need to end my search for them now unless I can find that the both had children but it is not looking like they did.
If anyone has heard any mention of some of these names in Music Hall I would be grateful for any information.

Hazel

[Kenneth Fraser]

Hi
My name is Kenneth Fraser and Jack Davidson was my grandmothers brother.I saw him and the Martell Sisters many times at the Glasgow Empire.I would love to contact you .I stay in South Africa but my email address is (*)

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