Following
Hannele, Lawrence reconnected with her father, who was living with a chorus girl. They agreed to let her tour with them in two successive
revues, after which Arthur announced he had signed a year-long contract with a variety show in South Africa, leaving the two young women to fend for themselves. Lawrence, now aged sixteen, opted to live at the Theatrical Girls' Club in
Soho rather than return to her mother and stepfather. She worked steadily with various touring companies until 1916, when she was hired by
impresario André Charlot to understudy
Beatrice Lillie and appear in the chorus of his latest production in London's West End. When it closed, she assumed Lillie's role on tour, then returned to London once again to understudy the star in another Charlot production, where she met dance director Francis Gordon-Howley. Although he was twenty years her senior, the two wed and soon after had a daughter Pamela, born on 28 May 1918, who was Lawrence's only child. The marriage was not a success, and Lawrence took Pamela with her to her mother's home in
Clapham. The couple remained separated but did not divorce until ten years later. In 1918, either during Lawrence's pregnancy or shortly after she gave birth, and there is no evidence that she could have left the cast during its 613-performance run that ended on 13 March 1920.) In early 1919, Lawrence accepted a job singing at Murray's, a popular London nightclub, where she remained for the better part of the next two years. While performing there she met Captain Philip Astley, a member of the
Household Cavalry. He became her friend, escort, and ultimately lover, and taught her how to dress and behave in high society. At the end of 1920, Lawrence left Murray's and began to ease her way back into the legitimate theatre while touring in a music hall act as the partner of popular singer Walter Williams. In October 1921, Charlot asked her to replace an ailing Beatrice Lillie as star of his latest production,
A to Z, opposite
Jack Buchanan. In it the two introduced the song "
Limehouse Blues," which went on to become one of Lawrence's signature tunes. in
London Calling!|alt=young man and young woman in evening costume, seated; he is looking intently at her; she is looking away coyly In 1923,
Noël Coward developed his first musical revue,
London Calling!, specifically for Lawrence. Charlot agreed to produce it, but brought in more experienced writers and composers to work on the book and score. One of Coward's surviving songs was "Parisian Pierrot", a tune that would be identified closely with Lawrence throughout her career. The show's success led its producer to create ''André Charlot's London Revue of 1924'', which he took to Broadway with Lawrence, Lillie, Jack Buchanan and
Constance Carpenter. It was so successful it moved to a larger Broadway theatre to accommodate the demand for tickets, extending its run. After it closed, the show toured the United States and Canada, although Lawrence was forced to leave the cast when she contracted
double pneumonia and
pleurisy and was forced to spend fourteen weeks in a
Toronto hospital recuperating. ''Charlot's Revue of 1926'', starring Lawrence, Lillie, and Jack Buchanan, opened on Broadway in late 1925. In his review,
Alexander Woollcott singled out Lawrence, calling her "the personification of style and sophistication" and "the ideal star." Like its predecessor, it toured following the Broadway run. It proved to be Lawrence's last project with Charlot. In November 1926, she became the first British performer to star in an American musical on Broadway when she opened in
Oh, Kay!, with music by
George Gershwin, lyrics by
Ira Gershwin, and a book by
Guy Bolton and
P.G. Wodehouse. Following a run of 256 performances, the musical opened in London’s West End, where it ran for 213 performances. '' When Lawrence became romantically involved with
Wall Street banker Bert Taylor in 1927, Philip Astley proposed marriage, an offer Lawrence refused because she knew Astley would expect her to leave the stage and settle in rural England. The two remained close until he married actress
Madeleine Carroll in 1931. When Lawrence divorced Francis Gordon-Howley, she and Taylor became engaged and remained so for two years, with each free to enjoy a social life separate from the other. production of
Private Lives (1931) In 1928, Lawrence returned to Broadway opposite
Clifton Webb in
Treasure Girl, a Gershwin work she was confident would be a huge hit. Anticipating a long run, she arrived in New York with her daughter Pamela, a personal maid and two cars, and settled into a flat on
Park Avenue. Her instincts about the musical were wrong; audiences had difficulty accepting her as an avaricious woman who double-crosses her lover, and it ran for only 68 performances. She starred opposite
Leslie Howard in
Candle Light, an Austrian play adapted by Wodehouse, in 1929, and in 1930–31 she and Noël Coward triumphed in his play
Private Lives, first in the UK, and later on Broadway. In 1930,
Johnny Green composed his most famous song "
Body and Soul" especially for Gertrude Lawrence. While working in Manhattan, Lawrence started studying with vocal coach
Estelle Liebling to prepare for her performances on the Broadway stage. Lawrence continued to study with Liebling for many years. ==Later stage career==