Queenie Leighton (18 July 1874 – 19 November 1943) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 Bri ...

star of the

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 ...

. Leighton was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in London as Lilian Caroline Augusta Rickard, the youngest of three children of William Henry Rickard, a parliamentary agent, and Fanny Harriett Rickard. In 1881 her mother and sister were recorded as actresses living in London's theatre district off The Strand, and Leighton started to become known as a child star. Her tall stately appearance, hourglass figure and auburn hair gained her starring roles. In 1898 Leighton married a surgeon, William Hotten George; he was ten years older than her and was dead by 1908. By this time Leighton had a successful stage career in London. She was a much loved

principal boy In pantomime, a principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boy's clothes. The earliest example is Miss Ellington who in 1852 appeared in ''The Good Woman in the Wood'' by James Planch ...

in a number of

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

theatre

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s. Women dressed in drag were becoming fashionable in the

Edwardian 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 ...

theatre and Leighton was a popular artist in this genre. She appeared as

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...

, Sinbad,

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

and in other musical plays. In 1901 she appeared as Doña Teresa in ''

The Toreador ''The Toreador'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, mana ...

''. Leighton went on tour but whilst appearing as Sinbad in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

she had an accident, falling off a stage whale during the performance. She recovered but did not continue to play the leads at Drury Lane afterwards. In 1911 Leighton met young music hall manager Frederick Charles Cockerill (1882–1953); at the start of the 1914-18 War Cockerill received a commission in the Artists' Rifles and in 1915 he and Leighton married. Leighton was one of the many stage artists who came under pressure to recruit soldiers through their performances with much emphasis on the patriotic aspect of their songs such as ''I'll Make a Man Out of You''. Leighton was reported to have followed up her act at the Royal Hippodrome,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, with a tour of the town depositing 'half a dozen young recruits at Dover town hall'. Cockerill was injured and returned to his home town of

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

where Leighton continued her recruiting work from The New Theatre, Northampton in 1918. During

World War I 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 ...

Leighton appeared in the silent film ''Screen Struck'' (1916), but she was not a success and her career began to fail from this time. Her second and final film was ''

Under the Greenwood Tree ''Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School'' is a novel by the English writer Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, and the first of what was to become his series of Wessex n ...

'' (1929).www.bfi.org.uk Leighton
on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website Leighton died in

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in 1943. She did not have any children from either of her marriages.

References

External links

Leighton on the 'Stage Beauty' website
*

*
Portraits of Leoghton
on the National Portrait Gallery website {{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Queenie 1874 births 1943 deaths People from Islington (district) Music hall performers English film actresses Pantomime 20th-century English actresses