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Harry Stephen Pepper (27 August 1891 – 26 June 1970) was a British pianist, songwriter, composer, actor, and BBC producer, whose career stretched from
Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
seaside entertainments to
BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
in the 1950s.


Life

Born at
Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...
,''Who's Who in Broadcasting'' (Pitman, 1933), p. 114 Pepper was the son of Will C. Pepper, by his marriage to Annie Leaver. In the summer of 1899, his father founded a long-running concert party called the White Coons on
Mumbles Pier The Grade II listed structure of Mumbles Pier is an long Victorian pleasure pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-western corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles, within the city and county of Swansea, Wales. History C ...
. They later played the summer season at
Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...
, first appearing there in 1906 and last in 1920. Harry S. Pepper had an older brother, Dick Pepper (1889–1962), who at that time was a banjo player. Pepper wrote in 1937, "When I wasn't selling programmes and issuing tickets, I used to act as accompanist in my father's seaside concert party, Will C. Pepper's White Coons." Pepper worked many times with
Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...
, whose stage career began in 1910 when he travelled to
Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of Ha ...
to audition for the White Coons Show. Holloway went on to star with Harry S. Pepper in ''
The Co-Optimists ''The Co-Optimists'' is a stage variety revue that opened in London on 27 June 1921. The show was devised by Davy Burnaby. The piece was a co-operative venture by what ''The Times'' called "a group of well-known musical comedy and variety artist ...
'', a film musical of 1929. Following his years with the White Coons, Pepper became an assistant to
Jimmy Glover James Mackey Glover (18 June 1861 – 8 September 1931), originally James Mackey, and known as Jimmy Glover, was an Irish composer, conductor, music critic, and journalist, most notable as Director of Music and conductor at the Theatre Royal, Drur ...
, musical director at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
. Pepper and
Mark Lubbock Mark Hugh Lubbock (17 November 1898 – 10 November 1986) was a British conductor and composer, especially of operetta and light music. Life Lubbock was born in Downe, Kent, the son of Hugh Nevile Lubbock and Margaret Tiarks. His grandfather ...
were recruited by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1933, both being noted as "established composers of light music", and Pepper became a presenter in the early days of
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
, which had begun in 1932. In 1933 he presented a revue called ''Looking In'' with John Watt as co-presenter. Meanwhile, BBC Radio had a much greater audience, and there he produced and presented ''The Kentucky Minstrels'', a
blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
minstrel series broadcast from 1933, which was a forerunner of ''
The Black and White Minstrel Show ''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Running from 1958 to 1978, it was a weekly variety show that presented traditional American minstrel and countr ...
''. According to
Maurice Gorham Maurice Anthony Coneys Gorham (1902 – 9 August 1975) was an Irish journalist and broadcasting executive. After being educated in England at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and later Balliol College, Oxford, he began working as a journalist on the ...
, Pepper was "a great character, born and brought up to show business... He brought a pleasantly breezy atmosphere into the BBC." Gorham tells the story that when Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Carpendale interviewed Pepper for a job, he asked him "How old are you?" and got the reply "Forty-four, how old are you?" From 1937 to 1939 Pepper produced a weekly one-hour magazine programme on the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
called ''Monday Night at Seven'', working closely with
Ronnie Waldman Ronald Hartley Waldman (13 May 1914 – 10 March 1978) was a British radio presenter and television executive for the BBC. Biography Born in London, he was the eldest son of Michael Waldman OBE JP, a sometime Mayor of Hackney, and was educa ...
as the main presenter. In October 1939 this became '' Monday Night at Eight'' and ran until 1948. In the early years, Pepper and Waldman would tour the seaside summer shows, looking for new talent. From 1938 to 1940, Pepper also co-produced the radio comedy show ''
Band Waggon ''Band Waggon'' was a comedy radio show broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940. The first series featured Arthur Askey and Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. In the second series, Askey and Murdoch were joined by Syd Walker, and the third series added ...
'', with
Gordon Crier Gordon Crier (1912 – 16 September 1984) was a Scottish radio and television producer and writer. His early successes included ''Band Waggon'', the first comedy show designed for radio, broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940, co-produced by Crier ...
. In 1943, in
Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a cathedral city and community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated ...
, Pepper married
Doris Arnold Doris Grace Arnold (4 November 1904 – 5 October 1969) was a BBC Radio presenter and producer, and a pianist. Born in Wimbledon, Surrey, in 1904, Arnold joined the BBC in 1929, as a typist. She first appeared on air as a stand-in for a piani ...
(1904–1969), a pianist who had become a BBC Radio presenter and producer, more than ten years after they had revived the White Coons show for
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
with Stanley Holloway,
Joe Morley Joe Morley (December 3, 1867 in Kinver, South Staffordshire, England – September 16, 1937 in London) was a British classic banjoist who achieved great fame and renown in his homeland and abroad. During his lifetime, he composed hundreds of ...
,
C. Denier Warren Charles Denier Warren (29 July 1889 – 27 August 1971) was an Anglo-American actor who appeared extensively on stage and screen from the early 1930s to late 1960s, mostly in Great Britain. Life He was born in Chicago the son of Charles Warren ...
, and
Jane Carr Ellen Jane Carr (born 13 August 1950) is an English actress. She is well known for her first film role as Mary McGregor in drama '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969) and the voice role of " Pud'n" on the animated ''The Grim Adventures of ...
. As a contribution to the
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...
of 1951, the BBC produced '' The Golden Year'', claimed to be the first
musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
ever made for television, with original music by Pepper. In retirement Pepper and his wife lived in a cottage at
Denham, Buckinghamshire Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, approximately from central London, northwest of Uxbridge and just north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. The name is derived from the Old English for ...
, next to the producer Michael Barry, as was revealed in November 1956 when Pepper was an early subject of the BBC television programme '' This Is Your Life''. Pepper's notable songs include "Hear My Song, Violetta", adapted from a German tango called ''Hoer mein Lied, Violetta'' (Rudi Lukesch/Othmar Klose); the English lyrics for " I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg" (1935), and the words and music for "Goodnight, God Bless". Another song Pepper wrote is "Carry Me Back to Green Pastures", recorded by
Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen, Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstr ...
. Pepper died on 26 June 1970, leaving an estate worth £29,094. At the time of his death, his address was 4, Baconsmead, Old Mill Road, Denham, Bucks.


In popular culture

In 1934, a portrait of Pepper was issued on a W. D. & H. O. Wills
cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible ca ...
, in the "Radio Personalities" series. Pepper was a national figure in the days of the weekly ''Monday Night at Eight'' programme, promoted by the jingle which ended every show:Frank Williams, Chris Gidney, ''Vicar to Dad's Army: The Frank Williams Story'' (Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2003)
p. 21
/ref> ::Produced by Harry Pepper, and Ronnie Waldman too, ::We hope the programme hasn't caused a frown ::So goodbye everybody, it's time to say goodnight, ::For Monday Night at Eight is closing down. According to
Larry Portis Larry Lee Portis (July 3, 1943 in Bremerton, Washington – June 4, 2011 in Soudorgues, France) was a politically progressive historian and university professor. He was the author or co-author of a dozen books and editor or co-editor of others ...
, the "Sergeant Pepper" referred to in the
Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
song '' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is "the ghost of either Will Pepper or his son Harry S. Pepper", described by Portis as "two outstanding figures in English show business".
Larry Portis Larry Lee Portis (July 3, 1943 in Bremerton, Washington – June 4, 2011 in Soudorgues, France) was a politically progressive historian and university professor. He was the author or co-author of a dozen books and editor or co-editor of others ...
, ''Soul Trains'' (2002)
p. 224
"Sgt. Pepper was the ghost of either Will Pepper or his son Harry S. Pepper, two outstanding figures in English show business."


Filmography

*''
The Co-Optimists ''The Co-Optimists'' is a stage variety revue that opened in London on 27 June 1921. The show was devised by Davy Burnaby. The piece was a co-operative venture by what ''The Times'' called "a group of well-known musical comedy and variety artist ...
'' (1929) – performer * '' Kentucky Minstrels'' (1934) *''
My Heart is Calling "My Heart Is Calling" is a song recorded by the American recording artist Whitney Houston for the 1996 film '' The Preacher's Wife''. It was released on June 10, 1997, as the third and final single by Arista Records from the accompanying sound ...
'' (1935) – music *''
The Student's Romance ''The Student's Romance'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Otto Kanturek and starring Grete Natzler, Patric Knowles and Carol Goodner.Wood p.88 It was based on the musical '' I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg'', and was part of a trend of ...
'' (1935) – lyrics *''
Band Waggon ''Band Waggon'' was a comedy radio show broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940. The first series featured Arthur Askey and Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. In the second series, Askey and Murdoch were joined by Syd Walker, and the third series added ...
'' (1940) – writer *'' The Golden Year'' (1951) – original music *''
Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...
'' (2003) – credited for "Hear My Song, Violetta"


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Harry S. 1891 births 1970 deaths British songwriters British lyricists British television executives British television producers English male radio actors