Trivia

Mother of actress Viola Tree and grandmother of actor David Tree.

Veteran British actress who was a fixture on the London stage for well over 50 years.

In September 1883, now billed under her married name, Mrs Beerbohm Tree, she had what The Times called "her first big hit" as Hester Gould in G. W. Godfrey's The Millionaire. The reviewer in The Times wrote, "Another excellent impersonation is the Hester Gould of Mrs Beerbohm Tree, a lady who, although new to the stage, has manifestly the temperament and artistic sense of a fine actress. The viperine qualities of this mysterious mischief-maker ... are rendered by Mrs Beerbohm Tree with extraordinary incisiveness, and with a concentration of nervous force suggestive of Madame Sarah Bernhardt.".

A volume of correspondence between Helen Maud Holt and her literary, business and family contacts was edited and published by Susana Cory-Wright (nee Torrents dels Prats), the ex-wife of her great grandson, Anthony Jonathan Cory-Wright, titled Lady Tree: A Theatrical Life in Letters (2012).

She was educated at Queen's College, London, taking high honours in classics, and making her stage debut in a student production of a Greek drama.

After early stage appearances beginning in 1883, Mrs Tree married and established a theatrical partnership with her husband, in which they appeared in revivals of classic plays and productions of new plays, first at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket and then at Her Majesty's Theatre.

Her professional debut was in January 1883, playing Jenny Northcott in a revival of Sweethearts, by W. S. Gilbert, at the Gaiety Theatre, London.

After her husband's death in 1917, Lady Tree continued to act steadily for almost two decades more until towards the end of her life, in plays and some films, making her last stage appearance in 1935.

Her performances in serious roles were well received, but she was most celebrated for her work in comedy, from Shakespeare to new works by Wilde and others.

Helen Maud Holt, professionally known as Mrs Beerbohm Tree and later Lady Tree, was an English actress.