Theatrical producer and manager. Born 19 Nottingham Street, Marylebone, Niece of Emma Cons. Managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells. Ran other companies which later became: The English National Opera, the National Theatre and the Royal Ballet.
"As the grandmother of our national theatre, as well as of our national opera and ballet, Lilian Baylis set an agenda of crusading hard work and devotion that is inspirational" Richard Eyre in 1991.
Baylis was in South Africa in her formative years, 1891-97. On her return, aged 23, she went to live with her aunts, Emma and Ellen Cons. For Baylis, her aunt Emma was not only a godmother and close friend, but also an emotional and political inspiration and a career mentor. Cons also had some personal money (partly at least from working so much that she never had the time to spend the wages she earnt) which meant that Baylis never had to worry about her own personal income.
2020: David Sulkin OBE requested that we use this portrait of Baylis: "It hangs at the ENO downstairs outside the American bar. Here is a scan of it taken from a postcard. When I worked at ENO I arranged for the portrait to be cleaned and rehung. Yes she did have a funny mouth, caused, it is thought by Bell’s palsy. The current CEO of ENO, Stuart Murphy, would be delighted."
2023: David informed us: "The good news is that the portrait of Lilian Baylis has been moved from its dark downstairs location to the main staircase where is can be seen be as many people as care to look up at it."
Sources include: 'Lilian Baylis : a biography' by Elizabeth Schafer.
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