
Ni får ursäkta, men den här veckan blir det ett långt citat från en bok i Andrénsamlingen, helt enkelt för att det väcker nyfikenhet från första stavelsen och tecknar en bild av en brittisk stjärna för 100 år sedan.
”In the winter of 1921 a young war widow living in Chelsea noted in a newspaper that a Mrs. West of Ashfields, Ormskirk, Lancashire, needed an assistant for some literary work. Although ignorant of proof-correcting, Mrs. Whittall answererd the notice and soon was on the train to Ormskirk, feverishly studying the Clarendon Method as the fields and factories of the Midlands flashed by.
At Ormskirk she was met by car and driven out of town into the country, past the imposing gates of Lathom Park and into the drive of a large cottage set behind a privet hedge at the edge of the Lathom estate. The door was opened by a tall and handsome woman with dark masses of hair, a deep and resonant voice, and two griffon dogs yapping at her heels. These, Mrs. Whittall learned immediately upon stepping into the entrance hall, were Georgina and Sally. It was not until some moments later that she realized that the resident of Ashfields was not “a Mrs. West” at all, but the renowned actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell.
The literary work turned out to be the actress’s autobiography; but that was not the immediate task. Mrs. Campbell was leaving at once to give a lecture at Brighton. Would Mrs. Whittall mind spending the night at Ashfields alone? More important, could she be relied upon to give Georgina and Sally the delicate attentions they required? Sally would sleep in a basket, but Georgina (worth £100, confided Mrs. Campbell) preferred her mistress’s pillow, or-in an emergency – Mrs. Whittall’s. Furthermore, Sally had suffered a heart attack: it might be necessary to get up in the middle of the night and dose her with brandy. “God bless my soul!” exclaimed Mrs. Whitall under her breath, wondering what other duties might be extorted from her by the demanding Mrs. Campbell. But she had come a long way, she needed the money, she had mastered the Clarendon Method, and so she stayed. …
On occasion Mrs. Whitall would be pressed into service in the kitchen to make coconut icing. If there was anything Mrs. Campbell enjoyed more than a good Havana cigar, it was food – the richer and more plentiful the better.” (1984, s. 3-4)
Så här inleds boken Mrs Pat: the Life of Mrs. Patrick Campbell av Margot Peters när Mrs. Whittall möter den stora skådespelerskan för första gången. Whittall skulle komma att bli Campbells sekreterare och nedtecknare av aktrisens självbiografi.
Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner (född 9 februari 1865, död 9 april 1940), gick under artistnamnet Mrs Patrick Campbell, eller ”Mrs Pat”. Hon gjorde teaterroller i uppsättningar av bland andra William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw och J.M. Barrie, turnerade i USA och syntes på vita duken. Dessutom gjorde hon en roll i Oscar Wildes drama The Importance of Being Earnest och de två var goda vänner.
I Peters biografi får vi följa Mrs Pats levnadsbana som andas stjärnglans, elegans, lyx, cigarrer och små knähundar som onekligen ger liv åt bilden. Ett av de små liven hette Pinkie Panky Poo och att hundägare gärna porträtteras tillsammans med sina älsklingar är inget nytt påfund, om det vittnar bokens insamlade fotografier från början av 1900-talet.
Det är lätt att i detta sammanhang påminnas om John Andrén, som också hade en fäbless för små hundar, cigarrer och god mat. Alla har vi våra intressen som sätter guldkant på tillvaron!