Fay Compton, actress (1941)

Post date: Oct 22, 2013 3:4:15 PM

Extract from Evening post (NZ ) of 25 January 1941. Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie (1894-1978) was a stage, TV and film actress.

OUT OF WORK

STAGE STARS SUFFER

FAY COMPTON'S DWINDLED SALARY

Miss Fay Compton, the actress, who was ordered at Westminster County Court to pay £3 a month on £9 7s 6d owing to a firm of Mayfair dressmakers, said when interviewed by an English daily at her home at Wateringbury, Kent: "The war has put most stage stars out of work. "Some of us, who can get £4 or £5 a week on tour In the provinces, with a hope of a share of the profits, think ourselves jolly lucky. When you see that someone is appearing in a star part, don't dream that a big salary is necessarily being paid. The star is just lucky to get the job, and have work to do. "Everyone in the profession has been affected by the war. There are hundreds and hundreds of chorus girls out of work, and many more are in uniform or on the land. STARS HARD HIT. "But the stars have been hit hardest of all. In peacetime they had to live up to their -incomes. They are still tied to expensive homes. They still have heavy income tax to pay, and still have dependants, although nearly all work has stopped. "As soon as war was declared, salaries slumped. We knew it was almost the end of us as a profession until peace comes. I did a long tour last year, but it was for a war-time salary. "The 8.8.C. has not cut payments to artists. I'm broadcasting on Sunday, and I shall get my usual fee. I'm not grumbling about conditions. These are just the facts we have to face." Mr. Felix Aylmer, member of the Council of British Actors' Equity—the actors' trade union—said: "It is as bad as Miss Compton says. It need not have happened, for we foresaw it. "We urged that small temporary theatres should be put up- in the evacuation areas, where the public demand for entertainment is considerable. I am one of the lucky ones, for, apart from broadcasting, I have at present an entirely different job."