Marjorie Florence Lawrence (1907-1979), dramatic soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner’s operas. She was a native of Deans Marsh and lived there until she was fourteen. The family then moved to a property near Winchelsea. She returned to Deans Marsh in 1939 and took her old seat in the choir of St. John’s Church of England where she sang Handel’s ‘Largo’ and the ‘Lord’s Prayer’.
Marjorie was born on 17 February 1907 at Dean’s Marsh, the fifth of six children to William Lawrence, butcher and fiddler, and his wife Elizabeth, née Smith, church organist, who died when Marjorie was two.
Reared by her paternal grandmother until she too died, Marjorie was educated at Bambra School; from the age of ten she was a regular soloist in the choir at St. John’s Church of England.
Her interest in opera was sparked by gramophone records of Nellie Melba and Clara Butt. At 18, despite her father’s opposition, she left for Melbourne with her brother Cyril in search of work, paying Ivor Boustead to train her voice but had to return home due to financial hardship. Marjorie failed to gain a place at the Royal South Street competitions in Ballarat but went on to win the Sun Aria at Geelong in 1928. Australian baritone John Brownlee advised her to study in Paris with Cécile Gilly. Marjorie boarded with a French family and, under Gilly’s tuition, was able to extend her voice’s upper range.
In January 1932 Marjorie made her début as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Monte Carlo; it was acclaimed by critics as comparable with those of Chaliapin and Caruso.
Her triumph in New York (18 December 1935) introduced six seasons with the Metropolitan Opera at home and on tour (with her brother Cyril her manager), mostly in Wagnerian leads. Her physical grace enchanted audiences. She herself danced Salome’s erotic dance, and as Brunnhilde she scored another first by riding a horse on stage into the immolation flames of Götterdämmerung.
Marjorie Lawrence visited Australia in 1939, 1944, 1951, 1966 and 1976; she kept a promise in 1939 to perform first at Winchelsea, which honoured her with an escort of one hundred horsemen.
On 29 March 1941, at New York City’s City Hall, she married Dr. Thomas King, an osteopath and Christian Scientist.
During a performance in 1941 in Mexico, Marjorie found herself unable to stand—she had polio. She returned to the stage 18 months later, performing in a chair, reclining or on a special platform; although hampered by her lack of mobility, she continued to perform until 1952, after which she taught at Tulane, Southern Illinois, and Arkansas universities.In summer she ran opera workshops and sponsored children’s opera at her home Harmony Range, Hot Springs, Arkansas. Grateful students established the Marjorie Lawrence Lincoln Endowment Fund for handicapped people attending performances of ‘the Met’ at the Lincoln Center, New York.
During World War II, seated in her chair, she made extensive tours to entertain troops in Australia (1944), occupied Europe (1945, 1948) and Vietnam (1966), sang at Buckingham Palace and the White House. In 1946 she was awarded the cross of the Légion d’honneur for her work in France.
In 1949, Marjorie wrote her autobiography Interrupted Melody; by February 1950, Hollywood was interested in making a film and Marjorie indicated “If a film is made I will do the singing”. In 1955, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the film version, Interrupted Melody, starring Eleanor Parker as Marjorie who was not engaged to sing the lead herself. Parker’s singing was later dubbed in by soprano Eileen Farrell. Marjorie criticised the film as being untrue to her life.
In 1976 she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to the performing arts on the recommendation of the Australian Government.
Marjorie Lawrence died of heart failure on 13 January 1979 at St Vincent’s Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery.
WINCHELSEA DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 