Ursula St. George
American actress (1895–1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ursula St. George (October 22, 1895 – 1979),[1] born Ursula Edith Kate Mackarness, was an American actress as a teenager. Later in life, known as U. E. K. Cull, she collected art and ancient Chinese artifacts with her banker husband in London.
.jpg)
October 22, 1895
Ursula St. George | |
|---|---|
Ursula St. George, in an autographed photo from 1912. | |
| Born | Ursula Edith Kate Mackarness October 22, 1895 Staten Island, New York, US |
| Died | 1979 (aged 83–84) Chichester, West Sussex, England |
| Other names | Ursula Mackarness Cull, U. E. K. Cull (after marriage in 1913) |
| Occupations | Actress, art collector |
| Spouse | Anders Eric Knös Cull (d. 1968) |
| Relatives | James Planché (great-grandfather); Matilda Anne Mackarness (grandmother); George Bellew (son-in-law) |
Early life
Ursula Edith Kate Mackarness was born on Staten Island. Her English-born father Charles Mackarness[2] was a grandson of dramatist James Planché and son of novelist Matilda Anne Mackarness; he was a magazine editor, sculptor, and dog breeder.[3][4] Her mother was an actress, and toured with young Ursula as a chaperone.[5][6] John Mackarness and George Mackarness, both bishops, were her father's uncles; politician Frederick Coleridge Mackarness and sportsman Charles Coleridge Mackarness were his cousins.
Career
St. George appeared in The Blue Bird (1911),[7] and was best known in the title role in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which she performed across the United States and Canada in a Klaw and Erlanger production, 1911 and 1912.[8][9][10] She was sixteen years old for much of the run of the show.[11] "Miss St. George holds her audience in the delicious spell of her girlishness and ingenuous beauty," raved a Texas critic.[12]
She and her husband were art collectors, and had a particularly valuable collection of ancient Chinese artifacts. In 1927, Australian artist James Peter Quinn painted her portrait.[13] In 1972, she donated a pair of ancient Chinese bronze vessels to the British Museum, with enough money to build a case for them.[14][15] Other Cull collection items were auctioned by Sotheby's in the 1960s,[16] and she sold seven paintings by James Peter Quinn in 1975.[17] Further objects from their collection were bequeathed to the British Museum in 1979.[18]
Personal life
Ursula Mackarness married London banker Anders Eric Knos Cull in 1913, in London.[2][19] They had six children and lived at Warfield House in Bracknell, Berkshire.[20] The Culls' grandson Eric Brodnax was a member of the equestrian team representing the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[21]
Ursula Mackarness Cull was widowed in 1968,[22] and still alive in 1972.[14]
