Eliza Eynsford-Hill

The next chapter I shall post features the ladies of the Kensington Gore Croquet Club. I thought before I do that I should say a little more about my character Mrs Frederick Eynsford-Hill -( to be formal with her name.) Shaw was right she did marry Freddie and Alan Jay Lerner was right too. He 'upped and ran away with a social climbing heiress from New York'.  Eliza, who, you may remember, was an accomplished mimic, became an actress. How she met with Vivie Raffles will be told later in the story. Here I want to talk about how she is forming in my mind.

Shaw always thought he was good at writing strong characters. I think though he was really best at strong men. I wanted to write some strong women. 



I think that this poster for My Fair Lady is perceptive.Higgins manipulates Eliza: Shaw manipulates Higgins. Higgins will probably stay offstage in my story although I imagine Eliza still invites him and Pickering to her opening nights.











Here is the original stage Eliza - Mrs Patrick Campbell. Eliza in my story is a bit jealous of her; especially as Shaw write's such good plays for her!

I think Audrey Hepburn is probably the most famopus Eliza now. To me, she is closest to the Eliza I want to have in my story pre-transformation. But there is no denying she looks good in the glad-rags. Her place in my story, and indeed in the croquet club is because she has made the leap from the underclass to a position where she can control her own destiny. I read someone saying that her being a flower-girl was a euphemism for prostitute   I dont agree with this interpretation at all but it does suit my purposes.

But let's not waste the lovely Audrey while we're on the subject of Eliza. And, while we're at it two more Elizas - Diana Rigg on the stage and Carey Mulligan who will shortly play her in the My Fair Lady remake. None of the Elizas so far though are quite what I had in mind.

Mind you Hepburn made her so iconic that she achieved Barbie status!


I think I get closer to the Eliza that I want with Julie Andrews; the first My Fair Lady (did you know that is supposed to be cockney for Mayfair Lady?) on Broadway and the West End.

















Julie Andrews comes closer to the strength in Eliza that I wanted but lacks perhaps the playfulness.






















But now we begin to other resonances. In the movie 'Star' Andrews captured a star of an earlier era, Gertrude lawrence. Lawrence had been a notable Eliza in Pygmalian.

Here she is. I think this comes very close to how I see my Eliza. The picture has a natural datedness but aside from that, I think Lawrence's natural comic talent shows through th glamour.

But wait: there is more.  Julie Andrews followed up her stage Eliza with Mary Poppins. Everyone expected in that year Hepburn would win the Oscar for My fair Lady but instead Andrews won it.

So in my mind, all these images come together to make my Eliza. I shall now share with you something that is not well known.Clearly, in the story, Poppins has some supernatural powers. Her author RL Travers (seen below very appropriately as Titania was trained in mysticism by none other than GI Gurdjieff who makes an appearance in my story.

So there you are; somewhere among all of that, my Eliza is taking form.