{{Short description|British actress (1871–1951)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Sybil Carlisle | image = Sybil Carlisle. J. Caswall Smith|300px | alt = Portrait of Sybil Carlisle between circa 1895 and circa 1900 | caption = Portrait of Sybil Carlisle between circa 1895 and circa 1900 | birth_date = 10 February 1871 | birth_place = Cape Colony, South Africa | death_date = 1951 | death_place = England | occupation = Actress | parents = {{hlist|Mr. Carlisle|Mrs. M A Carlisle Carr}} | relatives = {{hlist|Mary Helen Carlisle (sister)|Lieutenant Carlisle (brother)|General Sir John Bisset (grandfather)}} }} '''Sybil Carlisle''' (10 February 1871 – 1951) was a British actress born in South Africa who was active in both England and the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries.
== Early life == Carlisle was born on 10 February 1871 in Cape Colony, South Africa, daughter of Mr Carlisle and Mrs M.A. Carlisle Carr, a singing instructor and musician.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news|date=28 November 1900|title=Miss Sybil Carlisle|page=205|work=The Sketch|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001860/19001128/006/0003|url-access=subscription|access-date=9 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Gindin|first=James|url=https://archive.org/details/johngalsworthysl00gind/page/59/mode/2up?q=sybil+carlisle|title=John Galsworthy's life and art : an alien's fortress|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1987|isbn=0-472-10075-0|location=Ann Arbor|pages=59|access-date=7 July 2021|via=The Internet Archive}}</ref> She was the sister of Lieutenant Carlisle, who gained fame during the Second Boer War,<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|date=15 December 1900|title=Miss Sybil Carlisle|page=602|work=Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001857/19001215/028/0016|url-access=subscription|access-date=9 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> and of painter Mary Helen Carlisle.{{Sfn|Gindin|1987|p=58}}<ref name=":7">{{Cite news|date=17 January 1894|title=Miss Sybil Carlisle|page=643|work=The Sketch|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001860/18940117/031/0025|url-access=subscription|access-date=9 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> Her grandfather was General Sir John Bisset.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=1901|title=From the Stalls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C29EAQAAMAAJ|magazine=The Royal Magazine|volume=6|page=8|access-date=11 July 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Carlisle's parents had moved to South Africa from England after they got married and before Carlisle was born. After her father died, Carlisle and her mother moved back to England. Her mother remarried and supported her daughter by giving singing lessons.{{Sfn|Gindin|1987|p=58}}
Carlisle appears to have been unwilling to share details of her early life once her stage career started, forgoing any mentions of her origins in early editions of ''Who's Who in the Theatre''. It was only in later editions where she shared her date and place of birth.<ref name=":2" /> == Career == Carlisle's first dramatic appearance was in January 1891 playing Emily Pettibone in ''All the Comforts of Home''. The performance took place at the Globe under the management of Norman Forbes.<ref name=":11">{{Cite news|date=11 June 1898|title=Player of the period. Miss Sybil Carlisle.|page=11|work=The Era|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000053/18980611/018/0011|url-access=subscription|access-date=10 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> She then was an understudy at the Royal Court Theatre with Mrs. John Wood until July 1891 when she began her engagement with Charles Wyndham.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite news|date=8 October 1892|title=Miss Sybil Carlisle|page=143|work=Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001857/18921008/032/0015|url-access=subscription|access-date=9 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> Wyndham appointed her as the understudy of Mary Moore in all of her parts at the Criterion Theatre for at least two years.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":7" /> Wyndham also assigned Carlisle the title role in ''Miss Decima'' during the absence of lead actress Juliette Nesville, and Carlisle went on to tour the play with the Criterion company for three months.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11" /> She served under Wyndham for nearly two years.<ref name=":6" />
After playing the main part of Persis Harrison in ''Gudgeons'' in 1893 at Terry's Theatre, she was offered training by the playwright Augustin Daly, which lasted for two years.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=12 August 1899|title=Comments of a Countess|page=46|work=The Outlook|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_the-outlook_1899-08-12_4_80/page/46/mode/2up?q=%22Sybil+Carlisle%22|access-date=7 July 2021|via=The Internet Archive}}</ref> Daly saw promise in Carlisle's skill at playing small characters with "buoyancy and attractiveness".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Boyle|first=Lawrence|url=https://archive.org/details/celebritiesofsta00lawruoft/page/n13/mode/2up?q=sybil+carlisle|title=Celebrities of the stage|publisher=George Newnes|year=|location=London|pages=4|access-date=7 July 2021|via=The Internet Archive}}</ref> He encouraged Carlisle to join his company and she subsequently took part in many notable revivals of Daly's revivals, both in England (including the 1896 London season) and United States (beginning in the New York City 1894–5 season).<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":3" /> These included ''The School for Scandal'', Lucetta in ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'', Oberon in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', and ''Love on Crutches.'' Lawrence Boyle described these performances as bringing "an English winsomeness to the smart and spruce American surroundings".<ref name=":3" /> Carlisle then joined George Edwardes's company where she appeared in ''My Girl'' at the Garrick Theatre.<ref name=":11" /> As a result of her successful performances in the United States, Carlisle earned the description of "The Maude Adams of England".<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 March 1903|title=The Maude Adams of England|page=2|work=The Spokane Press|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085947/1903-03-25/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1777&index=0&rows=20&words=Carlisle+CARLISLE+Sybil+SYBIL&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=sybil+carlisle&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|access-date=11 July 2021|via=Chronicling America}}</ref> Carlisle's subsequent theatrical appearances included Madame Polenta in ''Betsy'', and Poppy Jannaway in ''My Friend the Prince.''<ref name=":11" />
Carlisle was a vocalist as well as an actor, having studied the voice with her mother.<ref name=":9" /> In 1889 she performed in a concert held by her mother under the patronage of Princess Christian at Prince's Hall.<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 June 1889|title=Mrs. Carlisle Carr's concert|page=7|work=The Era|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000053/18890629/008/0007#|url-access=subscription|access-date=10 July 2021|via=The British Newspaper Archive}}</ref>
== Personal life == Carlisle first met novelist and playwright John Galsworthy whilst they acted together in a production of T. W. Robertson's ''Caste'' when Carlisle was around 16 years old.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Dupré|first=Catherine|url=https://archive.org/details/johngalsworthybi0000dupr_b8l0/page/30/mode/2up?q=sybil+carlisle|title=John Galsworthy : a biography|publisher=Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. Inc.|year=1976|location=New York City|pages=30|access-date=7 July 2021|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gindin|1987|p=572}} It was reported that after this meeting, Galsworthy fell in love with Carlisle, although she did not return his feelings.<ref name=":5" />{{Sfn|Dupré|1976|p=35}} It is possible that Galsworthy's romantic feelings towards Carlisle resulted in his detachment from his career in law and prompted his father to send him abroad.{{Sfn|Dupré|1976|p=36-38}}
== Death == Carlisle died in the summer of 1951. At the time she was living in Kensington and suffering from arthritis.<ref name=":2" />
== References == <!--- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags, these references will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, Sybil}} Category:1871 births Category:1951 deaths Category:19th-century English actresses Category:20th-century English actresses Category:English stage actresses Category:Cape Colony people