Marjorie Lawrence Print Page

The plaque commemorates soprano Marjorie Lawrence, who was born near Winchelsea.

Marjorie Florence Lawrence CBE (17 February 1907 – 13 January 1979) was an Australian soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas.She was the first soprano to perform the immolation scene in Götterdämmerung by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended. She was afflicted by polio from 1941. She used the Sister Kenny treatment to provide a slow, laborious method to use her legs partially. Her autobiography was filmed in 1955 as Interrupted Melody, with Eleanor Parker acting the role and Eileen Farrell singing for her.

Marjorie Lawrence visited Australia in 1939, 1944, 1951, 1966 and 1976; she kept a promise in 1939 to perform first at Winchelsea, which honoured her with an escort of one hundred horsemen.

Lawrence made extensive tours to entertain troops in Australia (1944), occupied Europe (1945, 1948) and Vietnam (1966), sang at Buckingham Palace and the White House, and continued to perform until 1952, after which she taught at Tulane, Southern Illinois, and Arkansas universities. She died in 1979.

Location

Details

Dedication