Quarm was born in
Bristol in 1920 and later moved to
Glasgow when she was still a child. She began to become interested in the theater at age 4. During World War II, she left England and "began a globetrotting career which eventually brought her to
El Paso" in the mid-1950s. She taught school in
Suffolk and then moved to Portugal to teach at
St. Julian's School. During this time, she was married to G. Harvey Summ, and became a United States citizen, moving to
Washington, D.C. Quarm and her husband had five children together. Quarm taught English at the
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) between 1957 and 1985. Quarm also worked as the
drama critic for the
El Paso Herald-Post where she wrote for around 20 years. She also hosted an arts show on public radio,
KTEP-FM. She was praised by the El Paso Times for her performance in that play. In 1958, she was cast as Mme. Alvarez in
Gigi, in the College Play Festival at UTEP. In 1959, she directed
Remains To Be Seen for the Ft. Bliss Theatre Group. She was cast to play the mother in
Five Finger Exercise at the
El Paso Playhouse in 1961. She directed and played in
The Square Root of Wonderful at The Theatre in 1964. In 1965, she staged a performance of the opera
La Vida Breve at UTEP. In 1966, Quarm began the first bilingual theater company in El Paso,
Los Pobres Theater. This group went on to inspire the historical El Paso drama,
Viva! El Paso. Quarm would return from abroad to come back to El Paso to direct shows with the company. Quarm was named a Centennial Leader in 1993. She was awarded a Conquistador Award in 1999 by the El Paso City Council for her work in the arts. Around the late 2000s, she developed
congestive heart failure. She died of natural causes on December 28, 2010. Her remains were cremated and buried next to her sister, Cecilia, in Portugal. == References ==