April Olrich

Posted August 19, 201014 yr

17 July 1933 is born in Zanzibar, East Africa, to an English communication expert in the British diplomatic service and his American wife.

1936 moves with her parents to the Seychelles

1939 the family moves to Buenos Aires, Argentina, at age 6

1945 joins Col. De Basil’s “Original Ballet Russe” at age 12, soon becoming a soloist, and tours South America

1949 joins Sadler’s Wells Ballet in London, soon becoming a soloist

December 1957 columnist Earl Wilson tells that “Brigitte Bardot of France and April Olrich of Uruguay were This Year’s Pretty Bodies...”

7 March 1966 debuts on Broadway in Wait a Minim!

8 June 1966 is awarded the Whitbread Anglo-American Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Performance; the awards ceremony is held in the Hotel Piccadilly in New York City. Eddie Bracken presents the award to her in the company of Henry Fonda, Vivienne Leigh and Sir John Gielgud.

18 February 1968 marries her Wait a Minim! costar, actor Nigel Pegram, on top of Coit Tower, San Francisco. He’s 27; she’s 34. Pegram is a young Rhodesian out of Oxford University.

since 2000 presents “The April Olrich Award for Dynamic Performance” each year to a young dancer at The Royal Ballet School in London

2009 the Pegrams reside in London