Florence Perry

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Florence Julia Perry (13 July 1869 – 19 December 1949) was an English opera singer and actress best known for her work with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She was born in London, and her first professional appearance was in 1887 as Phyllis Tuppitt in Dorothy at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. She then toured in The Red Hussar and Doris. After returning to London, she joined the D'Oyly Carte company and toured from 1890 to 1893, playing Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Phyllis in Iolanthe, Winifred in The Vicar of Bray, and Phoebe Fairleigh in Billee Taylor. Her elder sister Beatrice also performed with the company starting in 1892.

Perry moved to the London company in 1893 to help create the role of Milly (later Bab) in Jane Annie at the Savoy Theatre. She stayed at the Savoy for two more years, creating Princess Kalyba in Utopia Limited, Bianca in Mirette, and Dolly Grigg in The Chieftain. She left the D'Oyly Carte organization in 1895 to appear as Clementine in Baron Golosh at the Trafalgar Square Theatre, but that same year she returned to D'Oyly Carte on tour as Josephine in HMS Pinafore, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and both Dolly Grigg and Rita in The Chieftain. Back in London, she took over Adele in An Artist's Model at the Lyric Theatre during the summer of 1895 and stayed with D'Oyly Carte in London for the next three years. She played Yum-Yum in a revival of The Mikado, created Lisa in The Grand Duke (1896), and performed as Princess Lucilla Chloris in His Majesty (1897). Later that year, she played Phoebe Meryll in the first revival of The Yeomen of the Guard and Wanda in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. In 1898 she appeared as The Plaintiff in the Nellie Farren Benefit performance of Trial by Jury. At the end of 1898 into 1899, Perry toured to Australia, where she sang Iolanthe in Sydney among other roles. Her final London stage appearances were in 1901 in The Thirty Thieves at Terry's Theatre and H.M.S. Irresponsible at the Globe Theatre. Perry died in Durban, South Africa, at the age of 80.