Dora Lilian Tulloch (5 November 1878 – 30 December 1945) was an English stage performer, actor and playwright known as Dora Tulloch, Dora Senior and Dora Clement Salaman. She appeared in the 1899 film King John, adapted by Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the first film adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

Dora Tulloch
A young white woman, wearing hair long and loose, wearing a wide white circle collar.
Dora Tulloch as a young woman, from an 1893 publication.
Born
Dora Lilian Tulloch

5 November 1878
Maida Vale, Middlesex
Died30 December 1945
Treborough, Somerset
NationalityEnglish
Other namesDora Senior, Dora Clement Salaman
Occupation(s)Actress, playwright

Early life edit

Dora Tulloch was born in Maida Vale, Middlesex, London, the daughter of Conrad William A. Tulloch and Kate Wentworth Tulloch. Her father was a chartered accountant born in India.[1] Her sisters Edith, Olive, Ada, and Beryl were also performers.[2][3]

Career edit

As a girl "still in the period of loose hair and comparatively short frocks",[4] Tulloch recited poetry in performances with her sisters, especially Edith.[5][3][6] An 1892 review referred to her as "most interesting" and "a very clever child".[7] In 1895 she was a speaker on the program for the Proms.[8] Stage appearances by Tulloch included roles in The Little Minister (1898),[9][10] King John (1899), and The Weavers (1901). She was billed as "Dora Senior" when she played Prince Henry in a short silent film version of King John in 1899, directed by and starring Herbert Beerbohm Tree; this was the first film adaptation of a Shakespeare play.[11][12]

Dora Senior (Dora Tulloch) as Prince Henry, second from left in this film clip from King John (1899).

After she left the London stage, Dora Salaman continued working in theatre as a playwright, founder and director of the Roadwater Players, and as a judge in theatrical competitions.[13] Published works by Salaman included The Lesson (1928),[14] The Tale of a Cat, and Other Plays (1931),[15] The Haunted Road, or Dead Woman's Ditch (1931),[16] Flood Time (1936),[17] A Pottle o' Brains (1938), Son for the Sea (1938), The Three Sillies (1939),[18] and Always a Prisoner (1939).[19][20]

Personal life edit

Dora Tulloch married Clement Isaac Salaman in 1901[21] and retired from acting. She had five children: Barbara, Bettie, Adam, Sebastian, and Oliver. She was widowed in 1935, lost her son Adam in World War II in 1942,[22] and she died in 1945, in Treborough, Somerset, aged 67 years.[23]

Her grandson Clement Salaman (1932–2018) was a translator and expert on philosopher Marsilio Ficino.[24] Her nieces included actress Merula Salaman (1914–2000), wife of Sir Alec Guinness.[25]

References edit

  1. ^ "Person Page: Dora Lilian Tulloch". The Peerage. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. ^ "A Quintette of Talent: The Misses Tulloch at Home" The Sketch (11 October 1893): 564.
  3. ^ a b "London Concerts". Musical News. 3: 581. 16 December 1892.
  4. ^ "The Misses Tulloch's Recital". The Era. 20 February 1892. p. 12. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The Grindelwald Conference, 1894". The Review of the Churches. 6: ii. 1894.
  6. ^ "Our Holiday Conference in Switzerland". The Young Man: 150. May 1894.
  7. ^ "Concert Record". The Saturday Review. 73: 657. 4 June 1892.
  8. ^ "Prom 31". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Theatrical Gossip". Sketch. 23: 221. 24 August 1898.
  10. ^ "Amusements in Plymouth". The Era. 15 October 1898. p. 8. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Watch King John". BFI Player. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ^ Parrill, William B. (8 June 2015). European Silent Films on Video: A Critical Guide. McFarland. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-1-4766-1021-4.
  13. ^ Wallis, Mick. (2006) "Drama in the Villages: Three Pioneers" in Paul Brassley, Jeremy Burchardt, Lynne Thompson, eds., The English Countryside Between the Wars: Regeneration Or Decline? Boydell Press. p. 108. ISBN 9781843832645
  14. ^ "History of the Players". Roadwater Players. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ^ SALAMAN, Dora Clement (1931). The Tale of a Cat, and Other Plays. G. Allen & Unwin.
  16. ^ Salaman, Dora Clement (1931). The Haunted Road Or Dead Woman's Ditch. George Allen & Unwin.
  17. ^ "Praise is Given Director of Play in Ottawa Group". The Ottawa Journal. 28 February 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Salaman, Dora Clement (1939). The Three Sillies.
  19. ^ "One-Act Plays Featured at Armstrong". The Province. 30 May 1947. p. 17. Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures. New Series. 1938. pp. 94, 103, 147, 299.
  21. ^ Holroyd, Michael; John, Rebecca (4 May 2017). The Good Bohemian: The Letters of Ida John. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4088-7360-1.
  22. ^ "Pilot Officer SALAMAN, ADAM HERBERT BASIL CLEMENT". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Dora Tulloch". IMDb. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Clement Salaman, authority on the philosopher Ficino – obituary". The Telegraph. 21 May 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Lady Guinness". The Telegraph. 23 October 2000. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

External links edit