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| Picture No | 10639291 (W/D) |
| Date | 1955 |
| Description | Anna Massey, The Reluctant Debutante |
| Details |
Miss Anna Massey (1937 - 2011), English actress, pictured flanked by her fellow debutantes Miss Frances Sweeny (left) and Miss Camilla Straight. She was starring in the successful play by William Douglas-Home, The Reluctant Debutante, which took a farcical look at the London Season and the keen interest mothers of society girls took in finding a husband for their debutante daughters. Massey had been presented at court herself that year, but chose the stage rather than 'doing' the Season. Frances Sweeny was the daughter of the Duchess of Argyll, the former Miss Margaret Whigham who had been a debutante of the year in 1930. She had thrown a lavish party of Frances's coming out at Claridge's that year. The Reluctant Debutante was eventually made into a feature film starring Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall and Angela Lansbury. It's slightly satirical view of society, and the fact that a real life debutante had starred in it in a case of life imitating art, is often cited as one of the reasons for the demise of the Season.
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| Source | Unattributed photograph in The Tatler, 8 June 1955, p577 |
| Credit | © Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans |
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