Hocken Digital Collections

Burt, Gwenda : Papers

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Reference NumberARC-0835Date1933-1981CreatorBurt, Gwenda, 1907-1997DescriptionThe collection includes Gwenda Burt's accounts of 'miscellaenous incidents' at the Vedic Cafe in 1933, her experience with the film 'Down on the Farm', and a diary account relating to the Stan Lawson Revue Company's production 'Eight Sharp' in Auckland in 1943. The collections also includes a script by Burt for the play 'Halloween at Brig-o-dene, performed by the Dunedin Burns Club in 1948. There is a photograph album relating to the 'Down on the Farm', which included many publicity images. Another album contains ephemera and other mementos relating to 'Eight Sharp'.
Part of this collection is digitised and available through Digital Collections. Information about other items can be found on the Hākena catalogue, through the Library Catalogues link above.History / BiographyGwenda Ana Burt was born in Dunedin on 17 May 1907. Her family were associated with A. & T. Burt Limited, Dunedin engineers and metalworkers. Gwenda's grandfather, Thomas Burt, was one of the founding partners and her father, Thomas Ross Burt, was works manager and a director of the company. Gwenda attended High Street School and King Edward Technical College. While at school she won prizes for singing, and by the 1930s she was a well-known singer and actor in Dunedin productions, particularly those of the Dunedin Operatic Society. During the mid-1930s she frequently performed at the Vedic Cafe. A contralto, she was often accompanied by the Vedic Trio. In 1934, Gwenda was given a leading role in New Zealand's first 'talkie' motion picuture, 'Down on the Farm', produced by Lee Hill and directed by Stewart Pitt. She played Miss Sophia Urpington, an 'English spinster aunt'. Gwenda worked for Charles Begg and Company in South Dunedin. According to her niece, she turned town an offer from a leading Australian entreprenuer to further her thearical and musical career in order to take care of her mother, Ana, and her aunt Nellie. Gwenda Burt died in Dunedin on 10 July 1997, aged 90.

MS-5124/005/024 (crop).

Depicts Or Relates To

NamesBurt, Gwenda, 1907-1997PlacesDunedinSubjectsEntertainersSingersActorsMotion picture filmCafes

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Burt, Gwenda : Papers

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