Jessie Matthews, 1928

Jessie Matthews (1907-1981) was a British singer and actress. As a child, she danced in the street to music; by the 1930s she was one of the most famous musical film stars in Britain.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Jessie Matthews, 1928
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Dame Gladys Cooper, 1933

Actor Dame Gladys Cooper starred in her first film in 1913, aged 24. She was a postcard beauty of the First World War, and starred in theatre productions in the 1920s and 1930s. She became a full-time film actor in her 50s after starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940).

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Dame Gladys Cooper, 1933
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Cecil Beaton in ‘All the Vogue’, 1925

Cecil Beaton (1904-1981) is best known as a British fashion and portrait photographer, but he also worked as an illustrator, and a set and costume designer (among other artistic pursuits).

In 1925, a 21-year-old Cecil travelled to London from Cambridge to be photographed in costume for his part in the Cambridge Footlights revue All the Vogue. He described Dorothy as being ‘very motherly, smart and amusing’ and the results ‘simply marvellous just as I had expected them to be’.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Cecil Beaton in 'All the Vogue', 1925
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Cecil Beaton in 'All the Vogue', 1925
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Heather Thatcher, 1929

Heather Thatcher was a British dancer and actor. She was clearly close to her two terriers, as not only are there two photographs of her with them from 1929 in the National Portrait Gallery collection, but she also appears photographed with them in Tatler magazine, 18 March 1936. Heather was so famous in her time that Margaret Thatcher's colleagues nicknamed her 'Heather' for the shared surname.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Heather Thatcher with her dogs Duster and Winkie
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Maurice Chevalier, 1935

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Maurice Chevalier, 1935
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Poise (Rhoda Beasley), 1932

One of Dorothy’s figure studies, Poise shows Chelsea model Rhoda Beasley (1911-1935) framed against an idealised backdrop of trees painted by Tom Leighton Pearce, Dorothy’s husband. The print was entered into the 13th Annual Competition of American Photography, where it won third prize.

© Courtesy of the Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection

Poise (Rhoda Beasley), 1932
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Edna Best, 1934

British actor Edna Best (1900-1974) worked in theatre and film both in Britain and the US. She is best known for her role as the mother in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much.

© Courtesy of the Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection

Edna Best, 1934
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Helen Wills Moody, 1933

Another American tennis player, Helen Wills Moody (1905-1998), was a celebrity athlete of the 1920s and 1930s. She won a total of 31 Grand Slam tournaments, including women’s singles at the French Open four times, at Wimbledon eight times, and at the US Open seven times.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Helen Wills Moody, 1933
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Helen Hull Jacobs, 1935

American tennis player Helen Hull Jacobs (1908-1997) was the top-ranking US player from 1932 to 1935. At Wimbledon in 1933 she caused controversy by wearing shorts without stockings, and advocated changes to the attire of women players, wearing a pair of man-tailored shorts on the cover of Time Magazine in September 1936.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Helen Hull Jacobs, 1935
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Diana Wynyard, 1937

Diana Wynyard (1906-1964) was primarily a theatre actor, although she did appear in some films. In 1934, she became the first Brit to be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her performance in Cavalcade (1933).

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Diana Wynyard, 1937
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Lady Marguerite Strickland, 1937

Lady Marguerite Strickland (1913-2002) was a well-known society beauty and model of the 1930s. A lifelong vegetarian, she cared deeply about the welfare of animals and was a member of the Animal Defence League.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Lady Marguerite Strickland, 1937
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Tallulah Bankhead, 1939

American actor Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968) features in two portraits in this room. She was a regular sitter for Dorothy, and in 1939 she visited Dorothy’s New York studio for portraits while preparing to star as the venomous Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman’s play The Little Foxes.

© National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Tallulah Bankhead, 1939
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Tallulah Bankhead, 1939
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Glen Byam Shaw, 1930

Actor and director Glen Byam Shaw (1904-1986) was a close friend of John Gielgud, and they worked together many times. Byam Shaw directed a range of contemporary and Shakespearean plays, as well as opera.

© Courtesy of Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection.

Glen Byam Shaw, 1930
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Jessie Ruth Gordon nee Ruth Gordon Jones

Ruth Gordon, 1943

American actor Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) starred in film, television, and on stage, as well as having a successful writing career. In 1968 she won the award for Best Supporting Actress at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for her performance in Rosemary's Baby.

© National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Ruth Gordon, 1943
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Betsy von Furstenberg, 1951

Betsy von Furstenberg (1931-2015) was a German-born baroness who had a successful acting career in America, performing on stage and television from 1951 until 1984.

© National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Betsy von Furstenberg, 1951
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Yul Brynner, 27 April 1951

Yul Brynner (1920-1985) was a Russian actor best known for his performance in The King and I, which he performed 4,651 times on stage. He appeared not only in the original production of 1951, but also in multiple touring productions and revivals. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the 1956 film version of the play.

© National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Yul Brynner, 27 April 1951
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Harry Belafonte, 25 February 1954

American singer Harry Belafonte (b. 1927) was the first artist to sell over one million copies of an album within a year with his LP Calypso. He was actively involved in the Civil Rights’ Movement and has continued to be a political activist. In 2017, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States, Belafonte was co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington protest.

© National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Harry Belafonte, 25 February 1954
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Claire Bloom, 1952

Claire Bloom (b. 1931) is a British actor. Her London theatre debut was in Christopher Fry’s play The Lady’s Not For Burning (1947), which also starred John Gielgud. In 1952, the year this portrait was taken, Bloom starred in Limelight alongside Charlie Chaplin, who also directed the film.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Claire Bloom, 1952
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John Gielgud, c.1933

Sir John Gielgud (1904-2000) was best known as a Shakespearean actor and director. Ellen Terry, who famously played Lady Macbeth in 1888, was his great-aunt. Gielgud’s career spanned more than 75 years, and he is one of the most renowned British theatre actors of the 20th century.

© Courtesy of the Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection.

John Gielgud, c.1933
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Anna May Wong, 1929

Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American Hollywood film star. Often facing type-casting and being relegated to supporting roles, she nevertheless became an international star and fashion icon of the 1920s and 1930s. Her best-known film is Shanghai Express (1932), in which she starred opposite Marlene Dietrich.

© Courtesy of Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection

Anna May Wong, 1929
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Alice Nikitina and Anton Dolin in The Ball

Anton Dolin and Alice Nikitina in ‘The Ball’, 1929

Dancers in the Ballets Russes, this photograph shows Anton Dolin (1904-1983) starring as the Young Man, and Alice Nikitina (1900-1978) as the Lady, in The Ball.

© Courtesy of the Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection.

Anton Dolin and Alice Nikitina in ‘The Ball’, 1929
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The Bat, 1927

Dorothy’s early work included artistic photographs. In this example, she experiments with movement, sheer material, shadow, and form to create a striking composition.

© Courtesy of the Sisters of the Lens/Private Collection

The Bat, 1927
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Gwen Farrah and Norah Blaney, 1931

Jessie Matthews (1907-1981) was a British singer and actress. As a child, she danced in the street to music; by the 1930s she was one of the most famous musical film stars in Britain.

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Gwen Farrah and Norah Blaney, 1931
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Gwen and Norah on Pillars Charlotte Wright version

Gwen Farrah and Norah Blaney, 1931

Revue stars Gwen Farrah (1897-1944) and Norah Blaney (1893-1983) were a lesbian couple famous for their flirtatious and humorous performances of songs onstage. Friends with Noel Coward and guests at the parties of the Bright Young Things, they were at the centre of London’s social scene in the 1920s and 1930s.

© Courtesy of Alison Child

Gwen Farrah and Norah Blaney, 1931
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Dorothy Wilding

Welcome to our virtual Gallery based on the first exhibition of Dorothy’s work in the city where she was born.

Born in Longford in 1893, Dorothy Wilding left Gloucester for the bright lights of London, where she established her own studio by the age of 21. This virtual exhibition features iconic portraits of some of Dorothy’s famous sitters, including Tallulah Bankhead, Cecil Beaton, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, Harry Belafonte and Anna Mae Wong.

The original exhibition Dorothy Wilding: 130 Photographs ran from 8th March to 8th July at the Hundred Heroines Museum in Gloucester. It was curated by Sisters of the Lens, comprising some of Dorothy’s iconic portraits reprinted in a large, contemporary style alongside smaller original prints and ephemera including books, magazines, coins and stamps featuring Dorothy’s work.

Find out more about Dorothy …