REVEREND’S DAUGHTER AND LAUDED THESPIAN
At the young age of 18, Winifred Dean moved from her birthplace of Napier to London in 1920. The budding actress went with her father, Reverend Oliver Dean, and sister, Mona Dean, to study at Lady Benson’s Dramatic School. Mona also studied while in London, focusing on music playing advanced pianoforte.
By 1922, Winifred was touring with the Alexander-Marsh Shakespearean Company and was being praised for her portrayal of Juliet. It was at this time when she adopted the stage name ‘Winifred Wayne’. Critics were particularly drawn to her beauty and uniquely sweet voice.
“…A Juliet as sweet, and enchanting, as fair and bewitching, as her creator’s own conception. Miss Wayne is just Juliet’s age —18—a slim, winsome figure of refreshing grace and loveliness, and in the balcony scene, with the moonlight flooding with silver radiance, a really beautiful stage picture of the Capulet’s garden, the charm of her mere presence alone was unmistakable.” – Brighton Standard
“As for Miss Winifred Wayne, she is simply charming. Slim and dainty as a fairy, her prettiness arrests one’s attention immediately, and in every gesture she reveals herself to be an artiste of more than ordinary talent. Her voice, too, is sweetly childish, and her portrayal of the role of the fair but luckless Juliet in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was a masterpiece of acting that will not soon be forgotten by those who saw it.” – Critic
“Miss Winifred Wayne was so perfectly adorable as Juliet. Slim and fairylike she is, with dainty, clear-cut features, and her voice has a childish intonation that is infinitely appealing.” – Critic
Another commended performance of Winifred’s was her role as Branda Fallon in the London Repertory Players production of “Loose Ends” at the Regent. It was said “The young New Zealand actress has been the bright particular star of an otherwise rather poorly produced play. Her work is clever, and her appearance is very much in her favour.”
After her return to New Zealand, Winifred and her sister held musical recitals in Palmerston North.
Winifred passed away in Auckland, on the 27th December 1987 aged 85.
She is joined here by her sister, Doris Bisley, who passed in 1998 at the age of 98 and is laid to rest in plot M/28/092
References:
Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 17 February 1927
Given by Bassano & Vandyk Studios, 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x124160
NPG x124161
NPG x124162
Winifred “Winifred Wayne” Dean
Died 1987
