George Alex Stevens
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George Alex Stevens
George Alexander Stevens (1875–19 April 1954) was an English songwriter and musical show director. In more than 60 years of songwriting he had more than 2000 songs published under the names "G. Alex Stevens", 'Geo A Stevens' and "George A. Stevens". He was known as a writer of music hall songs. For many years Stevens was a close friend of Charlie Chaplin's father in Kennington, London, composing songs for him. His first successful song was "The Huntsman", sung by Dan Leno at a Royal Command Performance before King Edward VII in 1901. His hits were sung by Marie Lloyd, Albert Chevalier, R. G. Knowles, Gracie Fields, Florrie Forde, and many others. One of his best-known songs was "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep". The song was first published in 1925, when it was recorded by Tom Barratt, and was made popular by Randolph Sutton although Sutton did not record it for many years.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.177 Danny La ...
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Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable ''Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food ...
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Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the highest paid film star in the world in 1937. She was known affectionately as ''Our Gracie'' and ''the Lancashire Lass'' and for never losing her strong, native Lancashire accent. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and an Officer of the Venerable Order of St John (OStJ) in 1938, and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1979. Life and work Early life Fields was born Grace Stansfield, a daughter of Frederick Stansfield (1874–1956) and his wife Sarah Jane 'Jenny' Stansfield née Bamford (1879–1953), over a fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother, Sarah Bamford, in Molesworth Street, Rochdale, Lancashire. Her great-grandfather, William Stansfield (b.1805), of Hebden Bridge, Y ...
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1875 Births
Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956). * January 5 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris. * January 12 – Guangxu Emperor, Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing Dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3, in succession to his cousin. * January 14 – The newly proclaimed King Alfonso XII of Spain (Queen Isabella II's son) arrives in Spain to restore the monarchy during the Third Carlist War. * February 3 – Third Carlist War – Battle of Lácar: Carlist commander Torcuato Mendiri, Torcuato Mendíri secures a brilliant victory, when he surprises and routs a Government force under General Enrique Bargés at Lácar, east of Estella, nearly capturing newly cr ...
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Reg Dixon (comedian)
Reginald Arthur Dixon (24 February 1915 – 25 June 1984), always known professionally as Reg Dixon to distinguish him from the ballroom organist, was a British comedian, best known for his appearances on stage and radio. Biography Born in Coventry, the youngest of seven children, he made his first onstage appearance there at the age of ten, and sang with local dance bands. At first he worked in local factories, but at the age of 16 left home to join a series of touring revues. At one time, he was part of a double act, Scott and Dixon, with a pianist. In the late 1930s, he toured with his own fit-up show, through the north of England and Scotland. He served in India, Burma and the Middle East with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and then joined Ralph Reader's ''Gang Show''.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.45 His comedy style was described as lugubrious, in the tradition of earlier northern English p ...
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Kate Carney
Kate Carney (born Catherine Mary Pattinson; 15 August 1869 – 1 January 1950) was an English singer and comedian who played the music halls in London. Biography She was born in Southwark, London, in 1869 as Catherine Mary Pattinson.1901 census: RG13/475 f.162 p.28 - 221 Brixton Hill, Streatham - Kate Barclay, born Southwark, London Her father worked in a double act, the Brothers Raynard, and her mother also performed on stage. Kate began singing on stage as Kate Patterson; in 1886, she married George Shea, who assumed the stage name Barclay and performed in a double act, "Barclay and Perkins, the Brewers of Mirth".Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.161-163 After a break when her first two sons were born, she reappeared in 1890 under the name Kate Carney at the Albert Music Hall in Canning Town, singing Irish ballads such as "Here's My Love to Old Ireland". She soon became popular, and gradually replaced th ...
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Danny La Rue
Danny La Rue, (born Daniel Patrick Carroll, 26 July 1927 – 31 May 2009) was an Irish singer and entertainer, best known for his on-stage drag queen, drag persona. He performed in drag and also as himself in theatrical productions, television shows and film. Early life Born Daniel Patrick Carroll in Cork (city), Cork City, Ireland, in 1927, La Rue was the youngest of five siblings. The family moved to England when he was six and he was brought up at Earnshaw Street in Covent Garden, central London. When the family home was destroyed during the Blitz, his mother, a seamstress, moved her children to Kennford, a Devon village where young Daniel developed an interest in dramatics. "There weren't enough girls so I got the pick of the roles ... My Juliet was very convincing", La Rue recalled. He served in the Royal Navy as a young man following in his father's footsteps, and for a time worked delivering groceries. He became known as a drag queen, female impersonator, or "comic in a ...
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Randolph Sutton
John Randolph Sutton (24 July 1888 – 28 February 1969) was an English singer and comic entertainer in music hall and variety shows. Life and career Sutton was born in Clifton, Bristol. He made his first stage appearance in a concert at Burnham-on-Sea in 1905, and was so well received that he left his job with a printing company to start a performing career."The original influencers: Inspiring people from Bristol’s history: John Randolph Sutton", ''The Bristol Mag''
Retrieved 2 January 2021
He made his Bristol stage debut in 1910, and his London debut in 1915.Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, ''British Music Hall: A story in pictures'', Studio Vista, 1965, p.164
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Florrie Forde
Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the most popular stars of the early 20th century music hall. Early life and career Forde was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, in 1875. She was the sixth of the eight children of Lott Flannagan, a stonemason, and Phoebe (née Simmons), who also had two children from a prior marriage. By 1878 her parents had separated and Phoebe married Thomas Ford, a theatrical costumier in 1888. Forde and some of her siblings were placed in a convent. At the age of sixteen, she ran away to live with an aunt in Sydney. When she appeared on the local music hall stage, she adopted her stepfather's surname but added an 'e'. One of her earliest vaudeville performances was as a singer in February 1892 at Polytechnic Music Hall in Pitt Street. According to ''The Sydney M ...
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Albert Chevalier
Albert Chevalier (often listed as Albert Onésime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier); (21 March 186110 July 1923), was an English music hall comedian, singer and musical theatre actor. He specialised in cockney related humour based on life as a costermonger in London during the Victorian era. Owing to this and his ability to write songs, he became known to his audiences as the "costers' laureate". Born in London to a French father and Welsh mother, his name at birth was registered simply as "Albert Chevalier", but he gained the unusual middle names "Onésime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis" during his career. He showed an interest in entertainment from an early age through his private performances to family and friends. He made his debut on the amateur stage when he was eight, performing in ''Julius Caesar'', at the local Cornwall Hall. Soon after he joined a local amateur dramatics group before changing his stage name to "Albert Knight". Chevalier joined the music hall circui ...
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Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy. Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. His father was absent and his mother struggled financially — he was sent to a workhouse twice before age nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19, he was signed to the Fred Karno company, which took him to the United States. He was scouted for the film industry and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon de ...
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Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", " My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)" and " Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do". She received both criticism and praise for her use of innuendo and double entendre during her performances, but enjoyed a long and prosperous career, during which she was affectionately called the "Queen of the Music Hall". Born in London, she was showcased by her father at the Eagle Tavern in Hoxton. In 1884, she made her professional début as Bella Delmere; she changed her stage name to Marie Lloyd the following year. In 1885, she had success with her song "The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", and she frequently topped the bill at prestigious theatres in London's West End. In 1891, she was recruited by the impresario Augustus ...
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Edward VII Of The United Kingdom
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed "Bertie", Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother. As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganis ...
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