Wilton Welch (born c. 1884 as William Harry Welch[1] or William Harrie Welch,[2] date of death unknown) was an Australian comic actor and dramatist, husband and collaborator of Louise Carbasse, best known as Louise Lovely.
History
Welch was born in Cooma, New South Wales, the fourth son of Eleanor F. Welch (died 1937)[3] and Charles Frederick Welch (died 1922), auctioneer and mayor of Cooma.[4]
Two of his brothers enlisted with the First AIF during World War I: Frank Carey Welch (c. 1896 – 26 October 1918) and Septimus Welch (c. September 1890 – 17 October 1918);[5] who were killed within a fortnight of each other.
Welch married Nellie Louise Carbasse (or Carbasse-Alberti), better known as Louise Carbasse, on 20 February 1912. She was the only daughter of Madame Louise Alberti of Sydney,[12] and aged 17 to Welch's 28.[13]
He was part-author (with Carbasse) of the 1913 play The Warning which played to full houses at the Little Theatre from 22 November 1913 to 3 January 1914.
America
Welch and Carbasse left for America in December 1914, booked to appear in vaudeville on the Orpheum Circuit, later on the McIntosh circuit. The Great War was well under way, but being in the still-neutral United States, they were spared the jingoistic theatre of Australia and Britain, where plays with titles like The Slacker, The Enemy, The Coward, The Man Who Stayed at Home, My Friend Thomas Atkins, and The Contemptible Little Army were playing.[15]
Carbasse was renamed "Louise Lovely" by the head of Universal Pictures, Carl Laemmle,[8] in late 1915[16] and became a considerable star with a great number of films to her credit, mostly for the studio of William Fox.
Welch found work in Hollywood as production manager for one of the units of the Robertson-Cole company and was a co-director of the Famous Players–Lasky company in 1919–1920[17] and both made a lot of money.[16]
He directed a Max Linder feature film at the Maurice Tourneur studios in Hollywood.[17] They returned to Australia in August 1924, ostensibly for a holiday,[18] but remained.
Back in Australia, Carbasse, or Louise Lovely as she continued to be named, was determined to be at the vanguard of a revitalised Australian film industry.
The writer Marie Bjelke-Petersen approached Carbasse, proposing she make a feature film of her just-published fourth novel Jewelled Nights, set in the osmiridium mining region of northwest Tasmania. Though no doubt urged by ambition for her literary career, she also saw such a film as a promotional vehicle for the island's tourist trade. On 13 December 1924 all three signed a "Memo of Agreement" for world-wide rights on the proposed film.[26]
On 20 February 1925 the company of "Louise Lovely Picture Productions Ltd" which included her "leading man" Arthur Styan and the "villain" Godfrey Cass, boarded the SS Oonah for Launceston to begin filming; Carbasse had a boy's haircut ready for the "on location" filming, as the plot revolved around a woman dressing as a boy to work at the mine. Other scenes would be shot in Melbourne, as would editing and other work.[27]
Filming at the Savage River and 19-mile camp locations ended in March 1925, and the company returned to Melbourne.[28]Jewelled Nights premiered at Hoyts theatre, Melbourne on 24 October 1925 and was well received[29] but having spent heavily on production facilities, and then failing to penetrate the American market, it failed financially.
Breakup
The Welch-Carbasse marriage had deteriorated during their residence in America, and soon after their return to Australia, Welch, wishing to be free to meet other women, moved to a different hotel. Carbasse obtained an order for him to return,[13] and, that failing, instituted divorce proceedings on the grounds of desertion; their marriage was dissolved in November 1928.[1] Carbasse (or Lovely) remarried later the same day.
Welch did not attend any of the legal proceedings, and from that time his name did not appear in the Australian press, meaning the hitherto "irrepressible"[16] Welch had left for overseas for the UK in December 1926.[30] It would appear that he established a career in the UK producing and performing in stage plays, as reported in various newspapers of the time. In 1938, he even staged his play 'A Day At The Studio', the same play that he produced for Louise Lovely.[31] His last mention that can be verified is in the play 'The Lovely Lady' in November 1945.[32]
Three of Welch's works were protected by copyright:
Applicant: Wilton Welch of Sydney; Title of Work: Wool King, Dramatic Work; Date of Application: 31 July 1911; Date Copyright Registered: 18 August 1911. (Work enclosed)
Applicant: Wilton Welch of Sydney; Title of Work: The Telephone Girls: A Novel Singing and Talking Scena for Vaudeville; Date of Application: 21 July 1913; Date Copyright Registered: 4 August 1913.(Work enclosed)
Applicant: Wilton Welch and Louise Welch of Sydney; Title of Work: The Warning A Drama Based on White Slave Traffic; Date of Application: 29 November 1913; Date Copyright Registered: 4 December 1913. (Work enclosed)
Films
Jewelled Nights (Louise Lovely, Wilton Welch, 1925) writers: Louise Lovely, Wilton Welch from novel by Marie Bjelke Petersen; production: Louise Lovely, Wilton Welch; actors: Louise Lovely, Gordon Collingridge, Godfrey Cass; theme: osmiridium mining in Tasmania.
References
^ ab"In Divorce". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 28, 361. New South Wales, Australia. 27 November 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 178. New South Wales, Australia. 6 December 1937. p. 12. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia. lists names of children.
^"Advertising". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). No. 8316. New South Wales, Australia. 27 January 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abc"Louise Lovely". The Prahran Telegraph. Vol. 56, no. 2881. Victoria, Australia. 6 January 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Music and Drama". The Sunday Sun (Sydney). No. 349. New South Wales, Australia. 5 December 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"Not So Lovely Now". Sydney Truth. No. 1, 913. New South Wales, Australia. 5 September 1926. p. 17. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Stage Song & Show". The Sun (Sydney). No. 486. New South Wales, Australia. 21 July 1912. p. 15. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia. much detail of "Girl who Loved a Soldier"
^ abc"Through the Theatres". The Sun (Sydney). No. 681. New South Wales, Australia. 16 April 1916. p. 18. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"News of the Film World". Sydney Mail. Vol. XVII, no. 442. New South Wales, Australia. 15 September 1920. p. 10. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"Louise Lovely". The Newcastle Sun. No. 1995. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1924. p. 5. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Week's Pictures". Evening News (Sydney). No. 17856. New South Wales, Australia. 11 September 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"A Day at the Studio". The News (Hobart). Vol. 1, no. 164. Tasmania, Australia. 8 December 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Where to Go". Labor Call. Vol. XIX, no. 937. Victoria, Australia. 9 October 1924. p. 8. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Stage and Screen". The Daily News (Perth). Vol. XLIII, no. 15, 453. Western Australia. 31 October 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Entertainments". The Telegraph (Brisbane). No. 16, 257. Queensland, Australia. 7 January 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Jewelled Nights". National Portrait Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^"Louise Lovely". The News (Hobart). Vol. II, no. 227. Tasmania, Australia. 20 February 1925. p. 1. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Jewelled Nights". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 24, 716. Victoria, Australia. 26 October 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 30 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Hippodrome, Burslem". The Sentinel, Staffordshire. 8 November 1938.
^"Theatre Royal, Bath". Bath Chronicle. 17 November 1945.
^"Greenroom Gossip". Melbourne Punch. Vol. CXVI, no. 2954. Victoria, Australia. 7 March 1912. p. 38. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 22, 946. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". The Referee. No. 1317. New South Wales, Australia. 31 January 1912. p. 15. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.