Violet Loraine (26 July 1886 – 18 July 1956) was an English
musical theatre actress and singer.
Early life
She was born Violet Mary Tipton in
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, in 1886 and went on the stage as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen.
Musical revue
Her rise to fame came in April 1916 at the
Alhambra Theatre in the musical/revue ''
The Bing Boys Are Here
''The Bing Boys Are Here'', styled "A Picture of London Life, in a Prologue and Six Panels," is the first of a series of revues which played at the Alhambra Theatre, London during the last two years of World War I. The series included ''The Bing ...
''. She was given the leading female part, Emma, opposite
George Robey
Sir George Edward Wade, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 10 May 2014. known professionally as George Robey, was an ...
playing Lucius Bing. It became one of the most popular musicals of the
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 ...
era.
Recording and film
Her duet with Robey "
If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)" became a "signature song" of the era and endured as a pop standard.
She retired from the stage on her marriage on 22 September 1921 to Edward Raylton Joicey MC (1890–1955) and they had two sons, John and Richard. She returned to acting for the screen, appearing in ''
Britannia of Billingsgate'' (1933), a musical based on the play of the same name by Christine Jope-Slade and
Sewell Stokes
Francis Martin Sewell Stokes (16 November 1902, London – 2 November 1979, London) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and prison visitor. He collaborated on a number of occasions with his brother, Leslie ...
, followed by ''
Road House'' in 1934.
Personal life
Violet Mary Joicey died in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
in 1956. Her brother was
Ernest Sefton
Ernest Sefton (born as Ernest Henry Tipton; 13 January 1883 in Hackney, London – 5 December 1954) was a British film actor. He was the brother of Violet Loraine.
Selected filmography
* ''The Sign of Four'' (1932)
* ''The Innocents of Chi ...
, also an actor.
Legacy
Research by the Kipling Society suggests that she was the thinly disguised music-hall singer upon whom
Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...
modelled his character of "Vidal ("Dal") Benzaguen" in the humorous story "The Village That Voted The Earth Was Flat".
[There is a public-domain postcard picture available at http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_villagevoted_notes.htm]
Selected filmography
* ''
Britannia of Billingsgate'' (1933)
* ''
Road House'' (1934)
References
External links
"If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)"sung by Loraine and Robey (mp3)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loraine, Violet
1886 births
1956 deaths
English musical theatre actresses
Music hall performers
People from Kentish Town
20th-century English singers
20th-century English women singers