DELLA SINCLAIR

adele sinclair was born to mabel and hugh sinclair one warm summer day in june 1893 in dudley. the family was well to do and lived a relatively quiet life. hugh was an estate manager for one of the wealthy families in the area and well paid. adele, affectionately called della by her family was the second of two children. she had an elder brother lewis who was three years her elder.

they lived in a large home on the edge of town. lewis enjoyed sports and did well in school. he was the perfect elder brother. he had a bit of a mean streak that was often covered up by a thick layer of charm. only other children really saw how mean and arrogant lewis could be. he put on a good show for teachers and parents. della adored him though, he was very protective over her. she did decently in school and her teachers certainly liked her, but she really thrived when she found the theater. she took to dancing and acting instantly. she knew that was what she wanted to do and she was determined to work for it. by the time she was thirteen she had been in multiple plays. her first truly major role was when she was 14 and played the younger version of the lead in a play on the west end. following that she went on to play juliet in romeo and juliet on the west end when she was just seventeen years old. from that point on, she lived in london and traveled around the united kingdom as an actress. she was becoming well known for her dramatic roles.

in 1913 at 23 years old she married archibald 'archie' avery, a member of the aristocracy. they had been publicly courting for two years and made their love official at his family's home. every member of della's family was invited, and the pictures were published widely. 

she was solidly a star and in high demand when the war began in 1914.  archie served in the british royal navy and knew the moment britain joined the war that he would be shipping out. della's brother joined the air force as well. when london came under threat, della returned briefly to dudley. archie died in 1915 and della received the news at her childhood home. she was devastated as was her family. she would not be safe back home for long and after surviving one bombing, she fled with her family to bath. it was here they received the news two years later that lewis had died as well.

when the war ended in 1918, della returned to a destroyed london and tried to find her career again. as the theater scene tried to revive itself after the war, della took a few more roles on stage before she branched off into film. she did one decently successful thriller called 'derby day' leading up to a horse race. she did some shakespeare, but what really secured her position in the upper eschelon of the london theater scene after the war was staring in the world premier of 'darkest nights.' the play wasn't inspired by della's experiences during the war, but it did feature the main character marrying an aristocrat who died. it required her to tap into incredibly raw emotions surrounding the death of her husband. the play won awards, and she won her most prestigious acting award yet. she did a few more films following the success of 'darkest nights.'

she was able to maintain her career momentum until she was caught with another woman. betty worked at one of the theaters della had done a play at and they had become fast friends. that friendship became something more in secret. their relationship was revealed in early 1922. there were pictures, and it threatened to ruin both women's careers. she acted in one more play after that, but the scandal was too much for her. it was brought up in interviews and impacted ticket sales.

della took a break from acting at twenty nine years old. she spent a few months wallowing in her london flat, barely leaving the house except when she absolutely had to. she had enough money that she could live comfortably for a long time, but eventually she had to reckon with the fact that her money would not be able to hide forever. 

della eventually found a job as a secretary. she didn't hate it, but it didn't compare to what she had been doing prior. she was mourning a life she had loved and been so proud of. every so often someone would come into the office and recognize her and her heart would sink.