Frederick Lonsdale

Hélène Catsiapis (École Centrale de Lille)
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The author of 15 comedies and of as many musical plays, Frederick Lonsdale was the son of a tobacconist on the Isle of Jersey. He began his career with a series of librettos for musical comedies, the most famous of which were

The Maid of the Mountains

(1917); and

Monsieur Beaucaire

(1919) which was based on Booth Tarkington’s novel with music by André Messager. In 1923, Evelyn Laye played the title-role in his

Madame Pompadour

, a musical written in collaboration with Harry Graham and set to music by Leo Fall.

After 1923, Frederick Lonsdale turned mainly to social comedies dealing with the problems of marriage in high society. His works have often been compared with those of Somerset Maugham. In fact, his light comedies, with their epigrammatic wit and elegance, are more similar, albeit

332 words

Citation: Catsiapis, Hélène. "Frederick Lonsdale". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2788, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2788 Frederick Lonsdale 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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