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Empress Theatre (Brixton)
The Empress Theatre (variously later known as: The Empress Theatre of Varieties; Empress Music Hall; and, from 1957, Granada Cinema) was an entertainment venue located on the corner of Bernay's Grove and Brighton Terrace in Brixton, south London from 1898 to 1992 when the building was demolished and the site redeveloped for housing.Theatres in Brixton, London Arthur Lloyd: The Music Hall and Theatre History Site Dedicated to Arthur Lloyd, 1839 - 1904 The Empress Theatre was built for Messrs W. H. Burney and W. J. Grimes and was designed by Wylson & Long and built by the contractor T. L. Green. The Empress could seat 1,260 on three levels, stalls and pit, Dress Circle and Gallery, and had a large stage 60 foot wide by 40 deep with a proscenium opening 30 foot wide. The electric lighting and heating was installed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empress Theatre Brixton 1910
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empress dowager), or a woman who rules in her own right and name (empress regnant). Emperors are generally recognized to be of the highest monarchic honor and rank, surpassing kings. In Europe, the title of Emperor has been used since the Middle Ages, considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western Europe. The Emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor". Both emperors and kings are monarchs or sovereigns, but both emperor and empress are considered the higher monarchical titles. In as much as there is a strict definition of emperor, it is that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Lauder
Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a Scottish singer and comedian popular in both music hall and vaudeville theatre traditions; he achieved international success. He was described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador", who "... by his inspiring songs and valiant life, rendered measureless service to the Scottish race and to the British Empire." He became a familiar worldwide figure promoting images like the kilt and the cromach (walking stick) to huge acclaim, especially in America. Among his most popular songs were "Roamin' in the Gloamin", "A Wee Deoch-an-Doris", "The End of the Road" and, a particularly big hit for him, "I Love a Lassie". Lauder's understanding of life, its pathos and joys, earned him his popularity. Beniamino Gigli comme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a Master of Ceremonies, compère (master of ceremonies) or Television presenter, host. The variety format made its way from the Victorian era stage in Britain and America to radio and then television. Variety shows were a staple of English language television from the late 1940s into the 1980s. While still widespread in some parts of the world, such as in the United Kingdom with the ''Royal Variety Performance'', and South Korea with ''Running Man (South Korean TV series), Running Man'', the proliferation of multichannel television and evolving viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium''. He went on to host several game shows, including ''The Generation Game'', ''Play Your Cards Right'', ''The Price Is Right'' and ''You Bet!''. He co-presented ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013. In 2012, ''Guinness World Records'' recognised Forsyth as having the longest television career for a male entertainer. Early life Forsyth was born on Victoria Road in Edmonton, Middlesex on 22 February 1928, the son of Florence Ada (''née'' Pocknell) and John Thomas Forsyth-Johnson. His family owned a car repair garage and, as members of the Salvation Army, his parents played brass instruments; his mother was a singer. His great-grandfather Joseph Forsyth Johnson (1840–1906) was a landscape architect who work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was credited with his first film, ''Outwitting Dad'', in 1914. In most of his silent films before joining producer Hal Roach, he was billed on screen as Babe Hardy. Early life and education Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia. His father, Oliver, was a Confederate States Army veteran of the American Civil War who had been wounded at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, and was a recruiting officer for Company K, 16th Georgia Regiment. The elder Oliver Hardy assisted his father in running the remnants of the family's cotton plantation. He then bought a share in a retail business and was elected full-time Tax Collector for Columbia Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. Laurel began his career in music hall, where he developed a number of his standard comic devices, including the bowler hat, the deep comic gravity, and the nonsensical understatement. His performances polished his skills at pantomime and music hall sketches. He was a member of "Fred Karno's Army", where he was Charlie Chaplin's understudy.McCabe 2005, p. 143. Robson, 2005 Retrieved: 18 June 2012. He and Chaplin arrived in the United States on the same ship from the United Kingdom with the Karno troupe. Laurel began his film career in 1917 and made his final appearance in 1951. He appeared with his comic partner Oliver Hardy in the film short ''The Lucky Dog'' in 1921, although they di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Miller (comedian)
Thomas Henry Sargent (21 November 1894 – 7 May 1963), known professionally by his stage name Max Miller and billed as The Cheeky Chappie, was an English comedian often considered the greatest stand-up of his generation. He came from humble beginnings and left school at the age of twelve. At the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered for the army. During his time in the forces, he started a troupe concert party. On leaving the army, he took up work as a light comedian, dancer, and singer. He toured extensively, appearing in variety, revues and by the early 1930s reached the top of the bill in the large music halls including the London Palladium. He recorded many songs, some of which he wrote. He appeared frequently on radio and starred in fourteen feature films. He was known for his flamboyant suits, his wicked charm, and his risqué jokes often led to difficulties with the censors. He made his last recording in January 1963 and died four months later. Early years Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chester
Charlie Chester MBE (26 April 1914 – 26 June 1997) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and writer, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller. Life and career Chester was born Cecil Victor Manser in Eastbourne, Sussex. His first job after leaving education was as a grocer's errand boy, but he won talent competitions for his musical instrument playing and singing. Working as a travelling salesman for an embroidery company, Chester realised he had the gift of the gab and decided to become a professional comedian. Known as "Cheerful" Charlie Chester, he was popular with British audiences in the 1940s from his BBC radio show ''Stand Easy''. This show was adapted for television as ''The Charlie Chester Show'' in 1949 and became a stand-up and sketch show for the next 11 years. Frequent cast members included Edwina Carroll, Henry Lytton, Jr., Eric "Jeeves" Grier, Len Lowe, Deryck Guyler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughie Green
Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army officer from Glasgow who made his fortune supplying canned fish to the Allied forces in the First World War, and an English mother, Violet Elenore (née Price), from Surrey, the daughter of an Irish gardener. The family had a home in Meopham, Kent, where the children lived with their mother, who took frequent lovers, while their father did business from the Savoy Hotel, and often stayed there. Green attended Arnold House School, a boys' prep school, in the St John's Wood district of Westminster, Greater London. Career Child performer After the family business went bankrupt, Green's father encouraged his stage-obsessed son into performance, and by the age of 14 Hughie Green had his own BBC Radio show and created and toured with his own all-chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Abicair
Shirley Abicair (born 26 October 1930) is an Australian-born singer, musician, television personality, actress and author. In the 1950s and 60s, she was probably best known as an exponent of the zither. Early life Shirley Abicair was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Some sources show her year of birth as 1935, but a contemporary account shows she was 23 or 24 on arrival in the UK and, as she had completed tertiary studies in Australia, the earlier date seems more likely. She was the only daughter of a Wing Commander in the RAAF. Education Abicair resided in Adelaide prior to pursuing studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and/or Sydney University (as with her year of birth, accounts differ), where she studied philosophy, languages and the arts. She sang in under-graduate revues. Career While studying in Sydney, Abicair began singing at parties and private functions to support her studies, accompanying herself on the zither. Self-taught, she is said to have found th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Brown (singer)
Joseph Roger Brown, MBE (born 13 May 1941) is an English entertainer. As a rock and roll singer and guitarist, he has performed for more than six decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and has primarily been a recording star since the early 1960s.Larkin C 'Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p79 He has made six films, presented specialist radio series for BBC Radio 2, appeared on the West End stage alongside Dame Anna Neagle and has written an autobiography. In recent years he has again concentrated on recording and performing music, playing two tours of around 100 shows every year and releasing an album almost every year. Described by the ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums'' as a "chirpy Cockney" (although he was born in Lincolnshire), Brown was one of the original artists managed by the early rock impresario and manager Larry Parnes. He is highly regarded in the music business as a "musician's musician" who "comma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alma Cogan
Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Childhood and early musical career Cogan was born on 19 May 1932 in Whitechapel, London. She was of Russian-Romanian Jewish descent. Her father's family, the Kogins, arrived in Britain from Russia, while her mother's family were refugees from Romania. Cogan's parents, Mark and Fay Cogan, had another daughter, the actress Sandra Caron, who went on to play "Mumsey" in ''The Crystal Maze'', and one son, Ivor Cogan. Mark's work as a haberdasher entailed frequent moves. One of Cogan's early homes was over his shop in Worthing, Sussex. Although Jewish, she attended St Joseph's Convent School in Reading. Her father was a singer, but it was Cogan's mother who had showbusiness aspirations for both her daughters (she had named Cogan after silent sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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