Maureen Potter
Maria Philomena Potter (1925 - 7 April 2004), known as Maureen Potter, was an acclaimed Irish singer, actor, comedian and performer.
The daughter of a commercial traveller, born in Fairview, Dublin, Ireland and educated at St. Mary’s, Fairview, on Dublin’s Northside, she had a long career in the Irish theatre, mainly as a comedian, but also as a straight actress. She was a regular feature at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and for many years starred in the Christmas Pantomime. A bronze cast of her hand prints is featured outside the theatre.
Her first professional engagement was at the age of seven, after she became the junior Irish dancing champion. She went on to distinguish herself as a comedienne and as an outstanding actress in plays by O’Casey, Shaw, Sheridan and Beckett. She starred in roles including Maisie Madigan in Juno and the Paycock among many others. While still a teenager, she toured abroad before World War II as a singer and dancer with Jack Haylton (aka Jack Hylton) and his orchestra. On a tour of Germany they once performed in front of Hitler and other Nazis. Enchanted by her performance, Hitler sent her a handwritten note, which she proudly showed to her mother, who promptly threw it in the waste bin.
In September 1938 Maureen appeared on the pre-war BBC Television Service with Jack Hilton and his Band. Film of her performance is currently held by the Alexandra Palace Television Society. In 2001 the Archivist of the Alexandra Palace Television Society gave Maureen a copy of her 1938 television appearance and she recalled her memories: “I was 13 years of age when I appeared with the Jack Hylton Band in RadiOlympia, a programme that went out on television all those years ago. What I remember most is the heavy ochre make-up the performers had to wear. I was excused the make-up for some reason; maybe mine was such a long shot that it was not deemed necessary. If you blink you miss me! However, June Malo, the Henderson Twins, Peggy Dell, Bruce Trent and Freddie Schweitzer had this heavy ochre make-up plastered on them. Plastered is the only word! Having toured with them for over 12-months and used to seeing them in stage make-up they looked very strange. Mr Hylton was excused also. He was always Mr Hylton to me. He called me “Morine”, (the American pronunciation, and was a kind man who made such a difference to my career. He always wore those two-tone shoes that were so popular at the time. It is wonderful to see him so trim and dapper in the tape, which Simon Vaughan has sent me.”
She first appeared professionally with Jimmy O’Dea in pantomime in 1935, and their association continued until his death 30 years later. The humour of her native city was reflected in decades of pantomime and the ‘Gails of Laughter’ shows and she appeared frequently on television and in cabaret.
She was a fine singer and tap-dancer, but what captivated the public were her comic characters, like the exasperated mother of the 14-year-old Christy, and the Dublin “auld wan”, a version of the duologues she had performed with Jimmy O’Dea as Dolores And Rose.
In the 1960s she began to work in Irish television, sometimes with O’Dea and, after his death in 1965, with dancer and comedian Danny Cummins, who had been a regular in the Gaiety pantomimes. From 1955 to 1970 she headlined every summer at the Gaiety in a revue called ‘Gaels of Laughter’, built around her and showcasing her various talents (including mimicry and dancing). In the early ’90s, despite claiming to have retired from the stage (she was suffering from arthritis), she began a series of hour-long one-woman shows at Clontarf Castle, Dublin. She also wrote children’s books.
Maureen appeared on TV & in a number of movies including “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” (1977), “Ulysses” (1967), “Jackanory”, “Gideon’s Day” (1958), “The Rising of the Moon” (1957) and “Mrs Mulligan’s Private Hotel” (1948).
In 1984 she was conferred with the Freedom of the City of Dublin, and was later awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin. In January 2004 she appeared on a special Late Late Show to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Abbey Theatre.
She died in Clontarf in her native Dublin on 7 April 2004, at the age of 79. She is survived by her husband, Jack and her sons, John and Hugh. Her funeral prayer service took place at St Brigid’s Church in Killester and she was laid to rest in Clontarf Cemetery.
Maureen Potter audio
Maureen Potter discussing her early years with John Quinn
Michael Colgan, Fred O’Donovan and Jim Bartley pay tribute to Maureen Potter
July 5th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
[...] Maureen Potter grew up off Philipsburgh Avenue, and attended St. Mary’s Primary School for girls, also off Philipsburgh Ave. [...]