Aileen Davies

Albena Aileen Davies (30 June 1902 – 5 May 1981) was an English singer and actress who was the principal mezzo-soprano with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1925 to 1928, known for her vivaciousness on stage. She sang the roles of Pitti Sing in The Mikado and Tessa in The Gondoliers in the first two electrical recordings made by D'Oyly Carte.

Born in Cornwall and raised there and later in Wales, Davies became interested in theatre in school and, by her 21st birthday, she had joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, playing small roles and chorus roles, as well as understudying the principal soubrette roles. In her third season with the company, 1925–1926, she was promoted and played all nine of the principal mezzo-soprano roles in the company's repertory, both on tour and in London. She then left the stage, married and moved to Edinburgh. During her marriage, which became increasingly unhappy, she directed amateur Gilbert and Sullivan companies into the 1950s, and she managed a shop selling kitchen utensils in her last years.