Vivienne Chatterton

Biography

Vivienne Chatterton had a remarkable radio career that lasted more than 50 years. She rarely appeared in other mediums after the 1930s. She was first heard as a soprano in a concert broadcast for the Marconi company in 1922. She also appeared in concerts and light opera for 2LO London, precursor of the BBC. She was Sarah Gamp in "A Pickwick Party", broadcast at Christmas 1926 and 1927. Also in 1927 she played the title role in the musical "Irene". By the mid-30s she was mostly in drama, mostly in character roles. She appeared in hundreds of editions of "Children's Hour". In 1936 she appeared with Tod Slaughter in "Sweeney Todd". She made a rare TV appearance in "Thomas or Sally or The Sailor's Return", first broadcast 10.4.37 and repeated 16.11.37. Back on radio she was typically cast as fussy spinster Miss Bourne in Arnold Ridley's "The Ghost Train" (1940). Occasionally in comedy, she was in "Much Binding in the Marsh" (1947) and later in "Dear Me" (1951) with Michael Howard and "Fine Goings On"(1958) with Frankie Howerd. Her longest-running role was Mrs Mountford in the daily soap opera "Mrs Dale's Diary", which she played from 1950 to 1963. In the re-vamped version, "The Dales", she played different characters from 1963-66. In 1963 she was rewarded by being cast away on "Desert Island Discs". As her luxury she chose insect repellent. Later important roles were in "Middlemarch" (1965), "The Crucible" (1970), as Florence Nightingale's mother in "The Lady with a Lamp" (1970), and Rudyard Kipling's "Kim" (1970). She appeared less frequently in the 1970s, but was notable in "L'Arlesienne" (1972), Noel Coward's "Waiting in the Wings" (1973) and "The Man Born to Be King" (1975). Her last radio appearance was in "Serjeant Musgrave's Dance" (1976), broadcast after her death.