I suspect this one is going to be a bit more difficult than the
others. Let’s see how well you do.
The owner of this circa 1910 Belle poque diamond and ruby and pearl
necklace was born on the 18th of February, 1915. She died at the age
of 87 on October 8, 2002. At the age of 84 she made her final
television appearance in an episode of the TV series entitled
Midsomer Murders. This was a career and a half.
I have a picture of her wearing the necklace. She looks quite
elegant. The central ribbon of the necklace is tied in a foliate
plaque of lozenge design and is set throughout with circular and step
cut rubies with milgrain collets. It’s a delicate creation and hangs
about two inches or so below the collar bone.
She was born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, England. She had her
first film role at the age of 12 in The Arcadians… also known as
The Land of Heart’s Desire. She trained at the Mararet Morris School
of Dancing and began performing at the age of ten.
Suspended from the necklace are small baroque pearl drops. Above and
below the central ribbon are two additional foliate plaque ribbons
with a laurel leaf chain mounted in silver and gold. The value is
around $8500.00.
During the ten year period following 1939 she starred in many
romances such as Fanny by Gaslight with James Mason and Stewart
Granger. (Quick aside. Did you know Stewart Granger was considered
one the most intelligent actors of his day?)
Our star acted in over 40 films along with a successful stage and
television career from the 1960’s on. Some of the T.V. shows in which
she appeared were Ladykillers, Tales of the Unexpected and so on. She
was married to Peter Murray Hill… an actor and an antiquarian
bookseller. She died in London in 2002.
So here is it. Go look at the necklace. It has an old world
daintiness to it. Then… for you ripened ones… think back and see
if you can recall her. My bet–if you don’t go cheating on Google–is
that not one of you will get her name right. I will of course take
your word for it if you come back to me with the right answer.
However … if dozens of you do this… I will tend to have my
doubts. Okay. Ready? Go!
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and you will get to view an old world necklace
belonging to and old world star.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark