Dear Listers I am researching Oscar Asche who was born in Australia and died on 23rd March 1936. Evidently Oscar Asche was an actor, producer and author. I understand that he wrote/produced Chu Chin Chow earlier last century. I have got his detail from the UK 1901 Census (he was living in London) but am interested in where he may be buried. Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks Nigel Hewitt

Big big entry on him in the 1930 Who's Who in the Theatre: ASCHE, Oscar (John Stanger Heiss Oscar Asche), actor and dramatic author; b Geelong, Australia, 26 Jan 1871; e at Melbourne Grammar School; m Lily Brayton; is of Norwegian descent, and studied for the stage at Christiania; made his first appearance on the stage at the Opera Comique Theatre, 25 Mar 1893, as Roberts in "Man and Woman", with the late Arthur Dacre and Amy Roselle; subsequently joined F R Benson, with whom he remained for eight years, playing numerous parts in the varied Shakespearian and Old Comedy repertory presented by that manager; appeared with Benson during the season at the Lyceum, opening on 15 Feb 1900, as Pistol in "Henry V"; also appeared with him, during his season at the Comedy, 1901; made a pronounced success at the Garrick Theatre , 21 Sept, 1901, when he appeared as Frederick Maldonado in"Iris", and appeared at the Criterion Theatre, New York, the following year in the same part; joined Sir Herbert Tree, 1 Feb 1902, and appeared as Antinous in "Ulysses", and 10 June, Ford in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; 21 June, 1902, played Talbot Wynne in "Trilby"; 17 Feb 1903, played Vladimir Simonson in "Resurrection"; at the Imperial, Apr 1903, with "Ellen Terry", played Sigurd in "The Vikings", and in May Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing"; also appeared as His Majesty's in "Flodden Field", and as Bolingbroke in "King Richard II"; in 1904 toured with Sir Herbert Tree's company, playing Marcus Brutus in "Julius Caesar", Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", Antonio in "Twelfth Night", etc.; in conjunction with Otho Stuart assumed the management of the Adelphi Theatre, opening 19 Sept, 1904, as Braccio Scorla in "The Prayer of the Sword"; subsequently appeared there as Christopher Sly and Petruchio in "The taming of the Shrew", Claudius in "Hamlet", Col. Eversdale in "Under Which King?"; Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Angelo in "Measure for Measure", Thomas Frankland in "The Lonely Millionaire", Mark in "Tristram and Iseult", Haephestion in "The Virgin Goddess", entered into the management of His Majesty's Theatre, Sept 1907, producing Laurence Binyon's "Attila", and appearing in the title role; in Oct produced "As You Like It", and appeared as Jaques; during his tenancy also produced "Othello" and revived "The Taming of the Shrew"; produced "The Two Pins" at the Aldwych, 1908; at Bristol, Mar 1909, played Count Hannibal in the play of that name; subsequently proceeded to Australia, opening at the T.R. Melbourne, 17 July , 1909, in "The Taming of the Shrew"; during the tour appeared for the first time as Shylock, and as the Duke Aranza in "The Honeymoon"; reappeared in London at the New Theatre, 20 Oct, 1910, in "Count Hannibal"; at the Garrick, 25 Feb 1911, appeared as Falstaff, and 19 Apr 1911 as Haaj in "Kismet"; in 1912-13 again visited Australia, subsequently proceeding to South Africa; during his South African tour, played Antony in "Antony and Cleopatra" for the first time; reappeared in London, at the Globe Theatre, mar 1914, as Haaj in a revival of "Kismet"; same theatre, Sept 1914, played Saduka in "Mameena", of which he was also the adaptor; made his first appearance on the variety stage, at the Hippodrome, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 8 Feb 1915, as Haaj in a short play of that name, appearing in the same part at the Palace, London, 22 Feb, 1915; at Stratford-on-Avon, Apr 1915, played Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice"; at Wimbledon Theatre, 6 Sept 1915, played Captain Patrick O'Gorman in "The Spanish Main", subsequently appearing in the same part at the Apollo Theatre, 21 Dec 1915; in Jan 1916, revived "The Taming of the Shrew"; at Drury Lane, 2 May 1916, on the occasion of the Shakespearean Tercentenary celebration, appeared as Casca in "Julius Caesar"; on 31 Aug 1916, entered on a season at His Majesty's theatre, with his own play "Chu-Chin-Chow", in which he appeared as Abu Hasan; the success of the play was remarkable, and the play ran until 22 July 1921, when it was played for the 2238th time; at the same theatre, Oct 1921, appeared as Ali Shar in his own play "Cairo"; went on another Australasian tour in July 1922, playing "Chu-Chin-Chow", "Cairo", "The Taming of the Shrew", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Othello", "Iris", "The Spanish Main", and "The Skin Game", in which he appeared as Hornblower; reappeared in London at His Majesty's Theatre, Sept 1924, as Boudier in "The Royal Visitor"; at the Gaiety, Oct 1925, played the Earl of Jawleyford in "The Good Old Days", of which he was the author; at Golder's Green, Apr 1926, Theodore Travers in "Big Business"; toured in this, and as Orlando Da Costa in "What Shall It Profit?" 1926-27; at the Vaudeville, May 1928, played William Swan in "Who's Who?"; Gaiety, June 1928, Brooke Hoskyn in "Marjolaine"; Regent, Dec 1928, again played Chu-Chin-Chow, in which he subsequently toured, at the Haymarket and Apollo, July 1929, played Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (in modern dress); is part-author, with F Norreys Connell, of the play "Count Hannibal", 1910; author of "The Spanish Main", under the nom de plume of Vasco Marenas, 1915; "Chu-Chin-Chow", 1916; "Eastward Ho!" (with Dornford Yates), 1919; "Mecca", 1920, produced at His Majesty's, 1921, as "Cairo"; he also produced "The Maid of the Mountains", at Daly's Theatre, Feb 1917, which ran 1352 times; "A Southern Maid", at Daly's, June 1920; "Frasquita", Prince's, 1925; "Cleopatra", Daly's, 1925; "The Good Old Days", Gaiety, 1925; "Who's Who?", Vaudeville, 1928; "The White Camellia", Daly's, 1929; his autobiography, "Oscar Asche, his Life", was published in 1929. Recreations: Swimming, boating, golf, and cricket. Clubs: Savage and Green Room. Address: Savage Club, Adelphi Terrace, WC2. Phew! What a prolific man. This, of course, only goes up to 1930, so nothing on where he's buried!. As a (probably unrelated) aside, I think my father was in a production of Chu-Chin-Chow, but I think this was probably after 1930 (but during the 30s), so I've no idea whether it was one of Oscar Asche's own productions. I don't have any details to hand, unfortunately. Hope this is all useful, and doesn't cross over too much with what Joanna sent. Cheers -- Neal ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nigel Hewitt" <nigel.f.hewitt@talk21.com> To: <THEATRE-UK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 1:32 PM Subject: [THEATRE-UK] Oscar Asche > Dear Listers > > I am researching Oscar Asche who was born in Australia and died on 23rd > March 1936. > > Evidently Oscar Asche was an actor, producer and author. I understand that > he wrote/produced Chu Chin Chow earlier last century. > > I have got his detail from the UK 1901 Census (he was living in London) but > am interested in where he may be buried. > > Any help would be appreciated. > > Many thanks > > Nigel Hewitt >