Lance Fairfax (12 April 1894 – January 1974) was a singer and actor from New Zealand, classed as a light

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, who had a substantial career in Australia.

History

Fairfax was born Lancelot auncelot?Fairfax Jones in Wellington, New Zealand on 12 April 1894. After leaving school he began studying for qualification as a barrister, working in the office of Sir John Findlay, KC, but the Great War intervened, and he enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Lance Fairfax

He served with the Wellington Regiment (elsewhere cited as Canterbury Regiment), receiving an MC; in 1916 promoted to lieutenant, 9th regiment (Hawke's Bay), then at war's end, when the New Zealand Division moved into Cologne, he joined H. P. "Pat" Hanna's No. 1 Entertainment Unit. He studied singing in London with George Uttley and Sir George Power. Returning home in 1919, Hanna founded a revue company of 21 New Zealand ex-servicemen, which in 1920 appeared at Sydney's Theatre Royal, billed as the "Famous Digger Pierrots" for

J. C. Williamson's J. C. Williamson's, formerly Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove and Williamson and Musgrove, was an Australian theatrical management company and theatre owner. With its beginnings in the theatrical productions of J. C. Williamson and his p ...

. By September 1920 the "Digger Pierrots" had become the "Famous Diggers", and numbered eleven: :G. P. Hanna (Otago Regt), Lance Fairfax, Sydney Exton (Wellington Regt), aka S. Laslett Exton, Roy Simpson (Auckland Regt), Norman French (Div. Sig.), George Long (5th Div. AIF), Chris Kilner (Anzac Mounted, AIF), Johnny Marks (5th Div., A.I.F.), Will Crawford (Wellington Regt), Victor Cross ( NZ Field Artillery Brigade) and Charles Stewart (Wellington Regt). They finished their Australian tour at the Arcadia Theatre on the St Kilda esplanade, when their members included Hanna, Fairfax, Exton, Simpson, French, Long, Kilner, Marks, Crawford, Cross, and Stewart, also Clarice Norman and Ethel Hartley. Fairfax left the group sometime after January 1921, joining The Masqueraders for a season in New Zealand followed by vaudeville at Rickards' Tivoli Theatre. :The "Famous Diggers" in February 1922 included Hanna, Exton, Simpson, Kilner and Marks mentioned above, also Clyde Fields, Myrtle Wedgwood, Bobbie Pearce, Norman French, Jessie Meadows, and Ada Pescud. The group survived to around 1930. In 1924 Fairfax appeared in concert with Miss Vida Castles, as the "Lance Fairfax Duo". It is likely she was by this time married to Fairfax. By 1926 Fairfax had joined

Musical Comedy Company, playing in

Minnie Everett Minnie Everett (28 June 1874 – 7 June 1956) was an Australian ballet-mistress and producer, closely associated with the J. C. Williamson's company. She was the world's first woman producer of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. History Everett wa ...

's production of '' The Gondoliers'' in Melbourne as Giuseppe, to some success. He should have played Sir Richard Cholmondeley in '' The Yeomen of the Guard'' but was laid low by influenza, and Albert Tarrant had to step in at short notice. Fairfax played Samuel in '' The Pirates of Penzance'', when both he and

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...

were criticised for over-playing their parts. He played Pish Tush in '' The Mikado'' and Strephon in ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

''. Fairfax and

Leo Darnton Leopold Darnton (21 March 1890 – 31 August 1944), invariably referred to as Leo Darnton, was an English tenor, singing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He settled in Australia, where he enjoyed considerable succe ...

played Hilarion's companions in '' Princess Ida''. After the Gilbert and Sullivan season he played '' The Desert Song'', as "The Red Shadow", a part he would play over and over, and for which, with his mild-mannered ''alter ego'' Pierre Birabeau, he is best remembered. In July and August 1928 he played Bill Smith in '' Hit the Deck'', to excellent reviews and full houses. In 1930 he played '' The New Moon'' as Robert Misson, opposite

Marie Bremner Marie Alice Bremner (13 April 1904 – 20 September 1980) was an Australian soprano, remembered for performances in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. She became a favorite performer in musical comedy, first on stage, then revivals and variety shows on b ...

, on occasion replaced by Sidney Burchall. Fairfax left the ''New Moon'' company to play the rebel chief Baldassaré in '' The Maid of the Mountains'' opposite

Gladys Moncrieff Gladys Moncrieff (13 April 1892 – 8 February 1976) was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'. Life and career Early years Moncrieff ...

. By the close of that season Fairfax's contract with JCW had expired He left aboard SS ''Moreton Bay'' for London, where a chance encounter led to his being managed by Sir Alfred Butt. He played the title character in the 1931 film of the musical ''The Beggar Student''. He played Escamillo in the 1931 film ''Carmen'' by Elstree Studios, much of which was filmed in Spain In 1940 he enlisted with the British Army, serving as lieutenant-colonel in charge of an entertainment unit.

Films

*'' The Beggar Student'' (1931) as Carl Romaine *''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

(1931) as Escamillo

Family

Fairfax married Vida sometime around 1922; they had two children: violinist Bryan Fairfax (8 February 1925 – 11 January 2014), and Diana Vida Jean Fairfax (19 December 1927 – 28 January 2019), who appeared in the film ''Between Five and Seven''.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Lance 1894 births 1974 deaths 20th-century New Zealand male opera singers 20th-century Australian male opera singers