Music hall and variety Page 20

Quote: Billy Bunter @ 7th September 2024, 8:10 PM

Learn about some of the composers, theatre managers, music hall performers, actors (including a matinee idol), vocalists, playwrights and a critic buried in Brompton Cemetery (Fulham Rd, London, SW10 9UG) - with an added touch of gossip!

Your volunteer guide, Derek Lamden, entered show biz at the age of 12 in the original London stage production of The Sound of Music and has worked in the world of entertainment ever since. Currently, he is a guide at the Royal Albert Hall. He is accompanied on the tour by Sarah, his conjurer's assistant, providing recorded music and photographs.

Leaving from North Lodge at 2.00pm.

Tickets are £10 per person plus £1.50 booking fee if booked on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/musical-and-theatrical-tour-of-brompton-cemetery-tickets-980512508307?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

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Is that Rupert Everett bottom right? I didn't know he'd died.

Quote: Chappers @ 11th September 2024, 6:46 AM

Is that Rupert Everett bottom right? I didn't know he'd died.

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No idea. I know not of whom you speak. Kenny, yes.

Joyce Grenfell - Old Girls' School Union (aka Lumpy Latimer):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tmRw_z3Crs

and

Old Tyme Dancing:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=clOdyzP9fcw

Born Joyce Irene Phipps in London on 10 February 1910, the only daughter -and one of two children - of Paul Phipps (an architect) and Nora Phipps (the sister of Nancy Astor), she attended school in Claremont, Esher and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She married Reginald Pascoe Grenfell (a chartered accountant) on 12 December 1929; she had no children. She was awarded an OBE in 1946.

As well as appearing in films such as The Happiest Days of your Life, Laughter in Paradise and the St Trinians films, Joyce Grenfell was primarily a celebrated monologist, gently caricaturing the middle classes, showing far wider emotional range than the films ever explored. She appeared in many revues, as well as her own inimitable one-woman shows, which she wrote and with which she toured extensively.

She died on 30 November 1979, age 69, shortly before her golden wedding anniversary, and just a month before she was to be made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 New Year Honours List for her services to entertainment. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 4 December 1979 and her ashes scattered there. On 7 February 1980 a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey.

My local charity shop currently has an album of 80 postcards of Edwardian stage stars for sale for £159, which seems a tad excessive. The album is in a cabinet and open at 4 photos of Gabrielle Ray so I've done a little research on this lady and found her life was quite tragic.

Gabrielle Ray was born Gabrielle Elizabeth Clifford Cook on 28 April 1883 in Cheadle, Stockport. She was the fourth child of William Austin Cook, a prosperous iron merchant and a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire, and his wife Anne Maria Elizabeth (née Holden). She was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies, first appearing in London's West End at the age of ten in the role of Eveleen in John Hollingshead's production of Miami at the Princess's Theatre.

She was considered one of the most beautiful actresses on the London stage and became one of the most photographed women in the world, her photograph being much sought after by the various trade publications and leading photographers of the day. Known across Europe for her looks, she was admired by men such as Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and King Manuel of Portugal:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=htt326T5paE

In early 1912 Ray announced her retirement to marry the wealthy Eric Raymond Loder and accordingly left the production of Peggy at the Gaiety Theatre but then did not turn up at the well-attended scheduled wedding ceremony at St Edwards Roman Catholic Church in Windsor because of Loder's failure to sign the pre-nuptial contract that would guarantee her financial security. However, he claimed it was an oversight and the marriage finally took place three days later. In 1913. Loder soon committed adultery though and deserted Ray, ignoring her letters pleading with him to return to her. She filed for restitution of conjugal rights but Loder did not respond to the legal order, and the couple divorced in 1914.

In 1915 she returned to the stage to play the role of Estelle in the musical Betty at the Gaiety Theatre and, in the following year, appeared in the revue Flying Colours at the London Hippodrome. After subsequent provincial roles, including Maid Marian in Babes in the Wood at the Prince's Theatre, Bradford, at Christmas 1919 and Mother Goose at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, at Christmas 1920, she finally left the stage in 1924.

After this, she struggled with depression and alcohol abuse. In 1936 she suffered a mental breakdown and, for 37 years, was institutionalised at the Holloway Sanatorium in Egham, Surrey. At least part of her long stay at the sanatorium was happy and she continued to care for her personal appearance, having a liking for smart clothes and hats. Other Gaiety Girls visited her, including Gertie Millar and Lily Elsie, but she was never visited by family members. Hospital staff later recalled her infectious smile and the fact that she enjoyed walks into the nearby village for shopping and car rides. She died at the Holloway Sanatorium on 21 May 1973 at the age of 90 and was buried in Englefield Green cemetery. After her death one of her nurses said, "she was a very quiet lady, small and neat, who did not give any indication of the high life she must have enjoyed".

In her will she left £17,441.] A blue plaque has been erected on the site of her birth.

British actress, Jean Kent, taking her morning promenade in the 1949 film Trottie True, which also starred Hattie Jacques & Bill Owen with early uncredited appearances from Ian Carmichael & Roger Moore (and, of course, Sam Kydd):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JjP8KxDe1Q

Born on this day (1 October) in 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey: Dame Julie Andrews, star of stage & screen.

Here, from the 1968musical biographical film Star!, playing Gertrude Lawrence (English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End and on Broadway), she sings a rousing rendition of Burlington Bertie from Bow, written by Englishman William Hargreaves for his American wife, Ella Shields:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3BtuxImlh0

Burlington Bertie from Bow was a comic ditty about a penniless Londoner who affects the manner of a well-heeled gentleman. It was a parody of an earlier song, simply called Burlington Bertie, written by Harry B. Norris and made famous by Vesta Tilley. Shields sang the song, dressed up in battered top hat and tails, in the role of Burlington Bertie "himself", and toured the world in this role.

Interesting story of the life & times of Josephine Morcashani (1870-1929), a Black British music hall star known across Europe as a glamorous cross-dressing diva, in which there are also tales of brandishing pistols and a flight from wartime Berlin. Also, from the archives, the only known recording of Morcashani's voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iKodG5kZo

The song If Ever I cease to Love was written, composed and sung by the great Music Hall comic George Leybourne (subject of the film Champagne Charlie starring Tommy Trinder & Stanley Holloway - see my post on page 4 of this thread) in 1871 and, interestingly, subsequently became adopted for the "King of the Carnival" ("Rex") at the New Orleans Mardi Gras, where it still plays every year.

Amused by its nonsensical lyrics (see below), the American actress Lydia Thompson included the song in her operetta Bluebeard in her 1872 tour of the USA. Rumours abounded of an affair between Thompson and Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, fourth son of Tsar Alexander II, who was touring the East and the Mid-West of the USA at the time.

It was around this time, a "School of Design" was formed in New Orleans to add an organised daytime parade on Mardi Gras Day to complement the established night time parade and ball, which had been held for over a decade since its founding in 1856. Well aware of the Thompson and Alexandrovich rumours, the School of Design invited the Grand Duke to their newly established parade and selected If Ever I Cease to Love as the royal anthem to be played for the daytime parade's appointed monarch, Rex, a position which is now considered to be one of the highest honours in the City of New Orleans, and it has been performed for Rex at every Mardis Gras since then - as can be heard here from the 1989 parade:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B96K8qd4QR4&list=RDB96K8qd4QR4&start_radio=1

In a house, in a square, in a quadrant,
In a street, in a lane, in a road
Turn to the left, on the right hand
You see there my true love's abode
I go there a courting and cooing
To my love, like a dove
And swearing on my bended knee
If I ever cease to love
May sheep heads grow on apple trees.

If I ever cease to love
If I ever cease to love
May a sane man adore his mother-in-law
If I ever cease to love.

Born 98 years ago today in Islington: Mike Winters, brother and comedy partner of Bernie of that ilk.

Here, published on this site two years ago, is Graham McCann's "chronicle" of the duo:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy_chronicles/mike-and-bernie-winters/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1JwQsygD1Yi1G4abqjwo5O7ud5jpC3wDXNB9sEZVtgwgSuyzHeh-ONiJU_aem_6hf0eSsGEU-cKE_nfsardA

One of my favourite anecdotes about the Winters brothers, was early on in their "career", when they played the graveyard that is the Glasgow Empire, as Bernie followed Mike on a few seconds after him, a voice from the back of the audience shouted "FUCK!! There's two of them!" 😆

Born Arthur Janes Gadd on this day in Hounslow, West London in 1881, ventriloquist Arthur Prince is remembered for having his dummy, "Sailor Jim", sing while Prince himself smoked a cigarette or cigar. They made their first appearance in Llandrindod Wells in Wales and then joined a beach concert party in which they performed for four seasons before making their London debut in 1902 at the South London Palace. They went on to appear at all the leading music halls in the UK and in the first Royal Command Performance at the Palace Theatre in 1912. A world tour followed with their comedy act 'Naval Occasions'. He appeared as himself in two 1935 films, In Town Tonight and Royal Cavalcade. Here is a clip of their act from 1940:

https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/O8T7k5w4NdDdAex8MjIxOA==/arthur-prince-1881-%E2%80%93-1946-music-hall-1500w-9829929a.jpg

He became Vice-President of the Magicians' Club and wrote the book The Whole Art of Ventriloquism. He died at his St John's Wood home on 14 April 1948 and was buried, together with "Jim", at Hampstead Cemetery.

Born on this day (21 November) across the years:

George Carney (1887) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carney

Max Miller (1894): www.maxmiller.org/mmas-home-page

Billy Bennett (1887): see my post on page 14 of this thread

Ted Ray (1905): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ray_(comedian)

Opened 124 years ago yesterday: The Clapham Grand - one of few successful Music Hall locations still functioning as a live entertainment venue today, albeit following a somewhat chequered history. It is directly opposite Clapham Junction station (note the Paddy Power betting shop on the corner in the photo below)..

The theatre was built for a consortium led by Music Hall artistes Dan Leno, Herbert Campbell, Harry Randall & Fred Williams and opened on Monday 26 November 1900 as "The New Grand Theatre of Varieties" with a production featuring many well-known Music Hall artistes of the time. The theatre boasted a capacity of 3,000 and a stage measuring 68' x 28'.

It continued to be a successful Music Hall and Variety venue and. In 1927, the theatre was fitted for cinema use and became known as "The Grand Theatre", still mainly staging variety shows. From 8 May 1950, however, The Grand went on to become a full-time cinema after being purchased by the Essoldo Cinema chain and was renamed the Essoldo Cinema. The Essoldo closed on 31 August 1963 and became the Essoldo Bingo Club in October of that year, later taken over by Classic Cinemas and renamed the Vogue Bingo Club. During this time, they built a false ceiling, cutting off the upper parts of the theatre. From 1972 until 1979, Mecca Bingo took over as the final bingo operator.

The building then remained closed until 1989 when it was bought by The Mean Fiddler group to be transformed into a live music venue. Due to licensing issues the venue did not open until 17 December 1991. During the 10-year closure, the false ceiling was removed and the building was restored and redecorated. Mean Fiddler closed on 20 July 1997 after being mostly unsuccessful as a music venue and the building was then purchased by pub chain Wetherspoons. Wetherspoons were refused a licence after a public enquiry and the building is now owned by Howard Spooner and functions as a nightclub, live music venue, theatre and event space. Some of the acts to have performed at The Grand in recent years include The Kinks, Chuck Berry, The Temptations, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo and the Bunnymen, Madness, Public Enemy, Jamiroquai, Paul Weller, Oasis, Muse, The Verve, Jamie Cullum, The Jam and Brian May (and they're just the ones I've heard of - although some of them are borderline).

It was also used as the studio location for the first series of Taskmaster (with subsequent series using a studio set replicating the venue's interior).

Winter Draws On - Gracie Fields:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SMRBH6s6Bo

Born on this day in 1888: Will Hay. (See my post, not surprisingly, on this very date a year ago on page 10 of this thread). Comedian and prolific film actor. Also a star of a very different kind - the minor star Asteroid 3125 Hay is named in his honour! Here is a short 16 minute documentary about him:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpECkjdQ4KI