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Helena Millais (19 April 1886 – 14 November 1970) was an English actress, comedienne and writer. She was Britain's first recorded broadcast comedian, appearing on the Marconi's London Radio Station 2LO on 20 October 1922 as
formed as a company and three weeks before the Corporation's first broadcast.
cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...
character "Our Lizzie" two days after 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. ...
...Biography
Helena Millais was born Helena Catherine Marriott on 19 April 1886 inBrixton
Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...
then in the county of Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. She was the only child of Richard Samuel Marriott, an engraver and book illustrator
The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Pers ...
, and his wife, Helena Maude Marriott.
At the age of eighteen she joined the company of Frederick Mouillot, a prolific actor/manager, to take the part of Kathie in ''Old Heidelberg''. Ten years later she was on the bill at the newly reopened Portsmouth Coliseum with 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 " T ...
. During the first world war
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Millais wrote and appeared in two short films, Meg of the Slums and The Stronger Will and in 1918 in Victory and Peace.
On 20 October 1922 she broadcast on 2LO, becoming the first comedian on what was later to become the BBC. She returned a month later to become the third entertainer to appear, after Billy Beer ('Entertainer at the Piano') and Helen Mar (an American raconteuse). This was 21 November, and the new British Broadcasting Company
The British Broadcasting Company Ltd. (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Genera ...
(later to become a Corporation) was just one week old.
During the Second world war
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
Millais toured the England with her Silver Stars Concert Party and was active in the Concert Artistes Association (CAA) which worked with ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
. She continued performing after the war, staying where she had lived for over 40 years, in her mansion flat overlooking the Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, next to Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...
in Barnes, London
Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...
.
Millais died at a nursing home in Folkestone
Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
on 14 November 1970 and was buried with her parents and grandparents in Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millais, Helena 1886 births 1970 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English film actresses Actresses from London Comedians from London English women comedians 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English comedians Actors from Brixton