Maud Evelyn Craven Jeffries ( December â€" September ) was an
American actress. A popular subject for a wide range of theatrical
post-cards and studio photographs, she was noted for her height,
voice, presence, graceful figure, attractive features, expressive
eyes, and beautiful face.She married wealthy Australian grazier, Boer
war veteran, and former aide-de-camp to New Zealand's
Governor-General, James Bunbury Nott Osborne (-). Osborne was so
enamoured of Jeffries that he joined her theatrical company in late
in order to press his suit. Engaged in May , they married in October ,
and had two children together (one of whom died as an infant).
Jeffries left the stage in , and continued to live a quiet, very happy
life, devoted to her family and her beautifully designed gardens, on
their family property, "Bowylie", at Gundaroo, NSW, until her death,
at years, of cancer.An audience favourite wherever she went,
Jeffries' performances over a decade in New York, London, Australia,
and New Zealand met wide critical acclaim; especially in the role of
Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello and, in particular, for her
creation of the role of Mercia in Wilson Barrett's masterpiece The
Sign of the Cross. On viewing Jeffries' performance (when just ) as
Almida in Claudian, one critic observed:
American actress. A popular subject for a wide range of theatrical
post-cards and studio photographs, she was noted for her height,
voice, presence, graceful figure, attractive features, expressive
eyes, and beautiful face.She married wealthy Australian grazier, Boer
war veteran, and former aide-de-camp to New Zealand's
Governor-General, James Bunbury Nott Osborne (-). Osborne was so
enamoured of Jeffries that he joined her theatrical company in late
in order to press his suit. Engaged in May , they married in October ,
and had two children together (one of whom died as an infant).
Jeffries left the stage in , and continued to live a quiet, very happy
life, devoted to her family and her beautifully designed gardens, on
their family property, "Bowylie", at Gundaroo, NSW, until her death,
at years, of cancer.An audience favourite wherever she went,
Jeffries' performances over a decade in New York, London, Australia,
and New Zealand met wide critical acclaim; especially in the role of
Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello and, in particular, for her
creation of the role of Mercia in Wilson Barrett's masterpiece The
Sign of the Cross. On viewing Jeffries' performance (when just ) as
Almida in Claudian, one critic observed:
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