Collins, born in 1887, started her music-hall career at the tender age of ten. She later told an interviewer at the New York Times, that her mother wanted her to learn French, the piano, and domesticity. Lottie Collins wanted her to do this so that Jose would make a good marriage.
Jose Collins had other ideas, however. She asked her step-father, James Tate, if she could appear in one of his productions. He let her do that. Soon the young singer was on her way to becoming a star of the music-halls like her mother, who was notorious for her song, 'Ta-ra-Boom-de-re'.
Jose Collins’s Stage Career
When she was only 13, Collins danced in a tartan skirt in Scotch Bluebell. She also sang at the London Pavilion in 1904. Her success there enabled her to embark on a tour of the U.S. where she appeared in many Broadway hits. These included Vera Violetta, in which she sang a duet with the famous jazz-singer, Al Jolson, and The Merry Countess.
Tall, dark-haired and graceful, Jose Collins was a good singer, and became very popular in America. However, she returned to Great Britain eventually. Her biggest hit there was her starring role as Teresa, the gypsy bandit maid, in The Maid of the Mountains. This musical comedy lasted for three years in London, but failed after a month on Broadway! Collins was so successful in this that she was nicknamed ‘the maid of the mountains’.
The pretty, exotic-looking singer, starred in many other shows, including White Birds. She also appeared in several silent films, including The Light that Failed, which was based on a poem by Kipling, and A Woman of Honour. Collins had trouble obtaining roles in musical comedies and films after she turned forty, however, so she returned to the music-halls and revues.
Jose Collins’s Marriages
The dark-haired actress married three times. Her first marriage was to Leslie Chatfield, who was the nephew of an admiral. She met Chatfield, who had a lot of property in Australia, while she was playing at the Alhambra Theatre in London.
Collins’s second marriage was to Robert Innes-Kerr. He was the brother of the Duke of Roxburghe. This marriage was also unhappy and the couple divorced in 1935.
Collins’s third marriage was to a Doctor Kirkland. Luckily, this marriage was happy. Jose Collins died in1958.
Sources
- Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly, Vaudeville, Old & New: an Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Routledge Press, U.S. 2000
- Actress Finds A Father
- Lord Robert-Innes Kerr Weds Jose Collins
Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
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