Billie Carleton (4 September 1896 – 28 November 1918) was an English musical comedy actress during the First World War. She began her professional stage career at age 15 and was playing roles in the West End by age 18. She appeared in the hit musical The Boy (1917), which led to a starring role in The Freedom of the Seas in 1918. At the age of 22, she was found dead, apparently of a drug overdose.
Born Florence Leonora Stewart in Bloomsbury, London, daughter of a chorus singer named Margaret Stewart and an unknown father, Carleton was raised by her aunt, Catherine Joliffe.[1] Carleton left home at 15 to work on the stage and received her first break when the impresario C.B. Cochran promoted her from the chorus to a role in his 1914 revueWatch Your Step. According to Cochran, despite having a weak voice, Carleton had a good stage presence, and her delicate beauty charmed the audience.[2] When he was informed during the run of the show that Carleton was attending opium parties, Cochran fired her.[1] He gave her another chance in 1917, when she took over the leading role from Gertie Millar in his show Houp La![3] She made little impression in the part,[1] which she took on only a week before the show closed.[3]
Carleton soon appeared for André Charlot in another revue Some More Samples![1] Although the critics again noted her weak voice,[4] she had better success in this, and was engaged for the part of Joy Chatterton, a flapper in the hit musical farce The Boy when it opened at the Adelphi Theatre in August 1917.[1] In May 1918, she appeared in Fair and Warmer, this time playing a maid to Fay Compton's flapper.[1] Then in August, she took the starring role of Phyllis Harcourt in The Freedom of the Seas at the Haymarket Theatre, briefly becoming the youngest leading lady in the West End.[1]
Death and scandaledit
On 27 November 1918, she left the theatre after performing and, wearing a daringly diaphanous outfit designed by her friend Reggie de Veulle, attended the Victory Ball at the Royal Albert Hall.[5] It was one of many such events held to commemorate the end of the war earlier in the month, but being under the patronage of a large number of aristocratic ladies, it was a particularly long and splendid affair, lasting into the small hours. The next day Carleton's maid found her dead in bed in her Savoy Hotel suite,[6] apparently killed by an overdose of cocaine.[7]
A coroner's inquest found that Carleton had died of a cocaine overdose "supplied to her by Reginald de Veulle in a culpable and negligent manner".[8] De Veulle was charged with manslaughter and conspiracy to supply a prohibited drug under Regulation 40b of the Defence of the Realm Act 1914, which had been passed in 1916 and made possession of both cocaine and opium illegal for the first time in Britain.[9][10] The trial was held before Mr Justice Salter, with Sir Richard Muir for the prosecution. De Veulle was acquitted of the first charge but pleaded guilty to the second, and was sentenced to eight months in prison.[8][11]
Reports of the trial exposed details of Carleton's private life and those of her friends, particularly de Veulle, who previously had been involved in a homosexual blackmail case and had dressed in women's clothes.[5][12] Although the milieu in which she moved was stigmatised as immoral and sordid, and although she had been the kept mistress of a man twenty years her senior, Carleton was seen largely as an innocent victim.[13]
Ada Song Ping You was a Scotswoman who had married a Chinese man (Song Ping You) from whom she learned to use opium.[14] After Carleton's death, You was sentenced to five months in jail with hard labour for preparing opium for smoking and supplying it to Carleton.[15] The author Marek Kohn, however, argues that Carleton did not die from cocaine but from legal depressants taken to deal with her cocaine hangover.[5][7]
In art and literatureedit
Noël Coward, who had known both Carleton and de Veulle, acknowledged her story as a source for his first successful play, The Vortex.[1][5] In Sax Rohmer's novel Dope, the character Rita Dresden is based on Carleton.[16]
^ abcdefghHoare, Philip. "Carleton, Billie (1896–1918)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 31 January 2012
^Cochran, p. 209: "Despite her inexperience and her tiny voice, she pleased the audiences. A more beautiful creature has never fluttered upon a stage. She seemed scarcely human, so fragile was she".
^ ab"Theatres", The Times, 15 February 1917, p. 8 and 17 February 1917, p. 8
^Hoare, ODNB: "By then Billie Carleton had become a symbol of the drug-threatened and wronged female abused by older, usually foreign, men; behind her lurked the spectre of the opium den and the white slave trade. The more complicated story of her own manipulativeness was lost in the publicity that surrounded her very public demise."
^"Drug Traffic in London", Daily Express, 14 December 1918, p. 1.
^Newark, Tim. (2011). Empire of Crime: Organised Crime in the British Empire. Edinburgh: Mainstream. p. 40. ISBN978-1-78057-152-2.
^Baker, Rob. "Chinatown, the Death of Billie Carleton and the 'Brilliant' Chang", Another Nickel in the Machine, 25 October 2009, accessed 2 November 2014
Referencesedit
Cochran, C. B. (1925). The Secrets of a Showman. London: Heinemann. OCLC 2660160.
Hoare, Philip (1997). Oscar Wilde's Last Stand: Decadence, conspiracy, and the most outrageous trial of the century. London: Duckworth. ISBN0-7156-2737-6.
Kohn, Marek (1992). Dope Girls: The birth of the British drug underground. London: Lawrence & Wishart. ISBN0-85315-772-3.
McLaren, Angus (2002). Sexual Blackmail: A modern history. Harvard: Harvard University Press. ISBN0-674-00924-X.
External linksedit
Listen to this article (5 minutes)
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 26 September 2023 (2023-09-26), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
The Museum of Drugs: The Billie Carleton Exhibition
October 27, 2023
billie, carleton, september, 1896, november, 1918, english, musical, comedy, actress, during, first, world, began, professional, stage, career, playing, roles, west, appeared, musical, 1917, which, starring, role, freedom, seas, 1918, found, dead, apparently, . Billie Carleton 4 September 1896 28 November 1918 was an English musical comedy actress during the First World War She began her professional stage career at age 15 and was playing roles in the West End by age 18 She appeared in the hit musical The Boy 1917 which led to a starring role in The Freedom of the Seas in 1918 At the age of 22 she was found dead apparently of a drug overdose Billie CarletonCarleton in The Freedom of the Seas 1918BornFlorence Leonora Stewart 1896 09 04 4 September 1896 Bloomsbury LondonDied28 November 1918 1918 11 28 aged 22 LondonKnown forActing Contents 1 Life and career 2 Death and scandal 3 In art and literature 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksLife and career editBorn Florence Leonora Stewart in Bloomsbury London daughter of a chorus singer named Margaret Stewart and an unknown father Carleton was raised by her aunt Catherine Joliffe 1 Carleton left home at 15 to work on the stage and received her first break when the impresario C B Cochran promoted her from the chorus to a role in his 1914 revue Watch Your Step According to Cochran despite having a weak voice Carleton had a good stage presence and her delicate beauty charmed the audience 2 When he was informed during the run of the show that Carleton was attending opium parties Cochran fired her 1 He gave her another chance in 1917 when she took over the leading role from Gertie Millar in his show Houp La 3 She made little impression in the part 1 which she took on only a week before the show closed 3 Carleton soon appeared for Andre Charlot in another revue Some More Samples 1 Although the critics again noted her weak voice 4 she had better success in this and was engaged for the part of Joy Chatterton a flapper in the hit musical farce The Boy when it opened at the Adelphi Theatre in August 1917 1 In May 1918 she appeared in Fair and Warmer this time playing a maid to Fay Compton s flapper 1 Then in August she took the starring role of Phyllis Harcourt in The Freedom of the Seas at the Haymarket Theatre briefly becoming the youngest leading lady in the West End 1 Death and scandal editOn 27 November 1918 she left the theatre after performing and wearing a daringly diaphanous outfit designed by her friend Reggie de Veulle attended the Victory Ball at the Royal Albert Hall 5 It was one of many such events held to commemorate the end of the war earlier in the month but being under the patronage of a large number of aristocratic ladies it was a particularly long and splendid affair lasting into the small hours The next day Carleton s maid found her dead in bed in her Savoy Hotel suite 6 apparently killed by an overdose of cocaine 7 A coroner s inquest found that Carleton had died of a cocaine overdose supplied to her by Reginald de Veulle in a culpable and negligent manner 8 De Veulle was charged with manslaughter and conspiracy to supply a prohibited drug under Regulation 40b of the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 which had been passed in 1916 and made possession of both cocaine and opium illegal for the first time in Britain 9 10 The trial was held before Mr Justice Salter with Sir Richard Muir for the prosecution De Veulle was acquitted of the first charge but pleaded guilty to the second and was sentenced to eight months in prison 8 11 Reports of the trial exposed details of Carleton s private life and those of her friends particularly de Veulle who previously had been involved in a homosexual blackmail case and had dressed in women s clothes 5 12 Although the milieu in which she moved was stigmatised as immoral and sordid and although she had been the kept mistress of a man twenty years her senior Carleton was seen largely as an innocent victim 13 Ada Song Ping You was a Scotswoman who had married a Chinese man Song Ping You from whom she learned to use opium 14 After Carleton s death You was sentenced to five months in jail with hard labour for preparing opium for smoking and supplying it to Carleton 15 The author Marek Kohn however argues that Carleton did not die from cocaine but from legal depressants taken to deal with her cocaine hangover 5 7 In art and literature editNoel Coward who had known both Carleton and de Veulle acknowledged her story as a source for his first successful play The Vortex 1 5 In Sax Rohmer s novel Dope the character Rita Dresden is based on Carleton 16 See also editBrilliant ChangNotes edit a b c d e f g h Hoare Philip Carleton Billie 1896 1918 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press 2004 accessed 31 January 2012 Cochran p 209 Despite her inexperience and her tiny voice she pleased the audiences A more beautiful creature has never fluttered upon a stage She seemed scarcely human so fragile was she a b Theatres The Times 15 February 1917 p 8 and 17 February 1917 p 8 Tatler 26 September 1917 cited in Kohn p 74 a b c d Hoare pp 38 39 De Castella Tom 100 years of the war on drugs BBC News 24 January 2012 a b Kohn p 40 a b Kohn p 95 The Defence of the Realm Act Regulation 40b 1916 Kohn p 44 De Veulle sent to prison a charge of conspiracy plea of guilty The Times 8 April 1919 p 7 McLaren p 126 Hoare ODNB By then Billie Carleton had become a symbol of the drug threatened and wronged female abused by older usually foreign men behind her lurked the spectre of the opium den and the white slave trade The more complicated story of her own manipulativeness was lost in the publicity that surrounded her very public demise Drug Traffic in London Daily Express 14 December 1918 p 1 Newark Tim 2011 Empire of Crime Organised Crime in the British Empire Edinburgh Mainstream p 40 ISBN 978 1 78057 152 2 Baker Rob Chinatown the Death of Billie Carleton and the Brilliant Chang Another Nickel in the Machine 25 October 2009 accessed 2 November 2014References editCochran C B 1925 The Secrets of a Showman London Heinemann OCLC 2660160 Hoare Philip 1997 Oscar Wilde s Last Stand Decadence conspiracy and the most outrageous trial of the century London Duckworth ISBN 0 7156 2737 6 Kohn Marek 1992 Dope Girls The birth of the British drug underground London Lawrence amp Wishart ISBN 0 85315 772 3 McLaren Angus 2002 Sexual Blackmail A modern history Harvard Harvard University Press ISBN 0 674 00924 X External links editListen to this article 5 minutes source source nbsp This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 26 September 2023 2023 09 26 and does not reflect subsequent edits Audio help More spoken articles The Museum of Drugs The Billie Carleton Exhibition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Billie Carleton amp oldid 1177238058, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
