CLIFFORD Henry Jefferson ENSA Patsy Company

HARRY JEFFERSON CLIFFORD
In our Time (1933) and “Knights for a Day” (1937)

As reported in “The Stage” magazine 8th June 1944:
“ For Queen Mary’s 77th birthday celebrations a request performance of “The Patsy” was given in a village hall neighbouring the Badminton Estate by an ENSA company which has been playing this popular American domestic comedy since Sept 1942. A distinguished audience included the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort and the Marchioness of Cambridge. At the end of the play, Sir Kenneth Barnes had the honour of presenting the members of the company to Queen Mary. The cast were Mary Power, Hugh Allenby, Ruby Head, Harry Jefferson Clifford, Elizabeth Kentish, Clive Cable, John Rudling, Mary Dean, Eugene Quinn, Anthony de Courcy and Tucker McGuire understudying for Iris House.”

The company had previously formed the Coventry Repertory before the Coventry Opera House was damaged by enemy action. They then offered themselves to ENSA and performed to the troops all over the country visiting as far as the Orkneys in August 1943 and then to the Middle East in Oct 1944.
The play “ The Patsy” was written by Barry Conners and was a “Cinderella Story” about a middle class American family called the Harringtons. Ruby Head played the masterful mother and Harry Clifford her quiet husband William.
Sir Kenneth Ralph Barnes (11/9/1878 – 16/10/1957) was born in Heavitree, Exeter. He held the position of the Director of RADA from 1909 to 1955.