Grace Dudley would never forget her first appearance on the stage in a Christmas entertainment at school. At that time, she aspired to dressing up and pretending to be somebody else. Her mother had hired a wig, and when she put it on, the magnificent golden hair swept over her tulle petticoats, which were spangled with silver. She was ‘in a mad state of excitement’, having been chosen to play Fairy Golden Hair. While anxiously waiting in the wings, red spots appeared on her face, neck and arms. She collapsed on stage with measles and was ignominiously dragged out of the limelight by her mother.
Grace Edith Dudley was the youngest child of Marion O’Brien Pierse, who had married Walter Dudley in 1867 at the John Knox Church, in Melbourne, Victoria. All three of their children, Alice Marion, Maurice de Lacy and Grace Edith, were to choose theatrical careers. This is remarkable since there appears to have been no discernible acting tradition in the family.
Walter, born in Shadwell, Middlesex, England, emigrated to in January 1853. He married soon after his arrival in Melbourne, then, during 1865–1872, traded as a butcher in Auckland, New Zealand. It appears that his wife, Elizabeth Bedwell, died a year or two prior to his marriage to Marion.
