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4 unusual facts about Lilian Baylis


Lilian Baylis

Pete Townshend asserted that it was an old photograph of Lilian Baylis that inspired the song Pictures of Lily by the English pop group The Who.

After a long illness, Baylis died of a heart attack on 25 November 1937, aged 63, the night before the Old Vic was to open a production of Macbeth starring Laurence Olivier and Judith Anderson.

She also scored a casting coup by featuring Charles Laughton at the theatre in 1933 after he had become a worldwide name in the film The Private Life of Henry VIII.

They toured for some time but eventually settled in Johannesburg, where Baylis earned a good living as a music and dance teacher.



see also

The English Opera

The English National Opera, an English opera company founded by Lilian Baylis