Schilling, Ivy (1892 - 1972)

Photographer unknown: Portrait of Ivy Schilling and Fred Leslie, 1920

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Born in Melbourne on 4 August 1892, Ivy Schilling learnt to dance with the renowned Melbourne teacher Jennie Brenan. She made her stage debut aged twelve in the pantomime Mother Goose in Melbourne. Schilling went on to dance professionally in a series of J. C. Williamson musicals including Our Miss Gibbs in 1910 and The Quaker Girl in 1911. She also appeared in 1913 in what is regarded as the first J. C. Williamson revue, Come over Here, in which she performed her famous 'Spider and the Fly' routine. Her main partner was Fred Leslie with whom she danced in both Australia and England.

Schilling went to England in 1914 and began work in vaudeville that same year. She also appeared in pantomime and musical theatre in London. She returned to Australia briefly in 1920 but returned to London shortly afterwards. During her stay in Australia, however, she appeared in the 1921 black and white feature film The Blue Mountains Mystery directed by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell. (The film is presumed lost).

Schilling's forthcoming marriage to John Eugene Ryan, a Harley Street surgeon, was announced in The Times, London, on 29 December 1931. They were married in London on 18 March 1932.

Press clippings for the Australian period of her career refer to her as Ivy Schilling, English clippings use the spelling Shilling. Her birth certificate records the name Schilling. Schilling died in London.

For more about Ivy Schilling's career see 'The Papers of Ivy Scilling', National Library of Australia News, February 2005.

See also: Brenan, Jennie ; J. C. Williamson Ltd.

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Research Materials

Manuscript

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Other resources

Find more about Schilling, Ivy in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia