Harold Kyrle Money Bellew (28 March 1850 – 2 November 1911), more commonly known as Kyrle Bellew, was a British stage and silent film actor in the late 19th and early 20th century. Bellew notably toured with Cora Brown-Potter in the 1880s and 1890s and was cast as the leading man in many stage productions alongside Brown-Potter. He was also a signwriter, gold prospector and rancher mainly in Australia.

Biography

Eugénie Le Grande

Eugénie Marie Seraphié Le Grande was a French stage-actress that was born and educated in Paris, France. She first appeared in the French vaudeville productions, Les Faux Bonshommes and Un Menage en Ville, and then moved on to Shakespearean theatre at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London before relocating to Australia. Le Grande travelled to Melbourne via the passenger ship Lincolnshire from London on 4 December 1872 in the company of noted tragic actor Boothroyd Fairclough. She gave birth during the voyage on 15 January 1873 and arrived in Hobson's Bay on 20 February with an infant.

Bellew married Le Grande on 27 October 1873 at St Patrick's Cathedral under the name Harold Dominick Bellew. Bellew and Le Grande separated within a few weeks of marriage and did not live together again. One account of the brief marriage holds that Le Grande was previously the mistress of Boothroyd Fairclough. She secretly wed Bellew but returned to Fairclough when he discovered them on their honeymoon. In Bellew's posthumous book, Short Stories, he relates a tale, attributed to a friend named Jack, that details the specifics of a sham marriage to a French actress. Several of the details in the story parallel known facts about Bellew and Le Grande, such as their marriage date and the presence of an illegitimate child. Bellew formally divorced Le Grande in 16 May 1888. Le Grande reportedly bore Bellew a son, Cosmo Kyrle Bellew, whose birth date is often cited as 1885. However, Cosmo Bellew's World War I draft registration card lists a birth date of 23 November 1874, with his nearest relative listed as Marjorie Bellew. There is no mention of a son in any of Kyrle Bellew's obituaries, Bellew was estranged from Le Grande following their wedding and the fate of Le Grande's previous child remains unknown. After divorcing Bellew, Le Grande married Hector Alexander Wilson and continued to tour with acting companies in the United States, Britain and Canada. Hector Wilson died in January 1893 and left an estate in Australia valued at £ 27,000 to Eugénie.