Elsa Chauvel

Elsa Chauvel 18981983 actress and film maker was born on 10 February 1898 at Collingwood Melbourne and registered as Elsie May second of three children of Edward Wilcox a tinsmith from New South Wales and his Queenslandborn wife Ada Marie née Worrall When Elsie was a child the family went to South Africa where Wilcox under the stage name SilveniSylvaney formed a travelling troupe which included both Elsie Sylvaney and her elder brother whose stage name was Kyrle McAlister Later with her brother she joined other theatrical companies in Cape Town and Johannesburg and after a successful tour of Basutoland under Kyrles management returned to Australia in 1924 Elsie was petite and pretty with dark hair fair skin and blue eyes While playing in the musical Crackers in Brisbane she met the film director Charles Edward Chauvel who cast her as the lead in his second feature film Greenhide 1926 Elsa as she became known married Charles on 5 June 1927 at St Jamess Church of England Sydney Next year they sailed for the United States of America seeking to further Charless career in Hollywood Elsa Chauvel returned to the stage at San Francisco and Los Angeles in MidChannel On their return to Australia she performed only occasionally appearing in Brisbane 1929 at Stanthorpe 193031 and in Sydney 1939 At Stanthorpe she contributed to their income by giving elocution and dancing lessons Fourteen months after the birth 1930 of their daughter they moved to Sydney where they lived at Vaucluse then Pymble and finally Castlecrag Womens role was to charm men to love and to serve them Elsa explained in a 1934 magazine article and this role she played in her professional and personal partnership with Charles They made a further seven feature films together travelling to Pitcairn Island and Tahiti for In the Wake of the Bounty 1933 and to inland Australia for Jedda 1955 During World War II they produced documentaries and in 195657 they travelled through the outback filming a television series Walkabout for the British Broadcasting Corporation Charles was the public face of the company the name on the film credits as directorproducer After Charless death in 1959 Elsa continued to promote Australian film and collected prints of Chauvel films for preservation in the national film archive Appointed OBE in 1964 she served as vicepresident 196576 senior vicepresident 197778 and patron 197982 of the principal committee of the Royal New South Wales Institution Institute for Deaf Blind Children and worked for Dr Barnardos in Australia She wrote her memoirs My Life with Charles Chauvel 1973 In 1977 she moved from Sydney to Toowoomba Queensland where she died on 22 August 1983 and was cremated Her daughter survived her