Stuart, Bathia Howie (1893–1987)
Stuart, Bathia Howie (1893–1987)
New Zealand actress, singer, journalist, and film producer. Name variations: Bathia Tighe-Umbers. Born on May 10, 1893, in Hastings, New Zealand; died on June 22, 1987, at South Laguna, California, USA; dau. of Alexander Stuart (draper) and Ellen Elizabeth (Downie) Stuart; m. Crofton Gordon Tighe-Umbers (accountant, d. 1918), 1913; children: 1 son.
Joined Tom Pollard's juvenile opera company (early 1900s); became writer for New Zealand Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic Review (1920s); worked for Henry Hayward, owner of chain of movie theaters in New Zealand, and produced several theatrical shows, including Bathie Stuart and Her Musical Maids and Bathie Stuart and her Maori Maids; played female lead in silent film, The Adventures of Algy (1925); visited California and was invited by Universal Studios to record prologue for Under the Southern Cross, shot in New Zealand (1927); served as travel agent and tourist representative for New Zealand Railways; wrote narration and edited Away to the South Seas (1950s); began shooting own footage in South Pacific locations for her films. Received Queen's Service Medal (1986).
See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 4).