Walter James MacQueen-Pope (11 April 1888 – 27 June 1960), known familiarly as Popie, was an English theatre historian and publicist. From a theatrical family which could be traced back to contemporaries of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, he was in management for the first part of his career, but switched to publicity, in which field he became well-known. He was a prolific writer of books about the theatre, and in particular its more glamorous aspects.
[''The Times'' Obituary notice, 28 June 1960, p. 15] He also described himself as an "authority on
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 ...
".
["Macqueen-Pope, Walter James"]
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 12 June 2009.
Beginning in 1955, MacQueen-Pope gave a series of fifteen-minute talks about the theatre on
BBC television, in a show called "Popie".
Biography
MacQueen-Pope, always known by his initials or, familiarly, as "Popie", was the eldest son of Walter George Pope and Frederica MacQueen. He was educated privately and at
Tollington School.
[ He first worked in a shipping office but became connected with the theatre as private secretary to George Dance, the playwright, manager and theatrical philanthropist. He tried his hand as a playwright, with limited success: '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' was dismissive of his short play, ''The Punctual Sex'', in 1919. Sir Alfred Butt appointed him business manager at the Queen's Theatre, and after holding similar posts at other West End theatres, and holding the post of manager and secretary of Alexandra Palace from 1922 to 1925,[ he was appointed general manager of the ]Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...
in 1927, and was put in charge of the new Whitehall Theatre
Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...
before it opened in 1930.[ ''The Times'' said of his career, "it was as press representative at the ]Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
in 1925 that he began to develop his special talent for passing on to others ... his love and knowledge of the theatre generally and in particular of Drury Lane, of the Haymarket (''Theatre of Perfection'') and of the Gaiety (''Theatre of Enchantment'')."[
MacQueen-Pope was in charge of publicity at Drury Lane for 21 years, including four years running publicity for the whole of ]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, ...
, which had its headquarters in the building.[ After ]World War II
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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
he produced books about all the theatres with which he had been principally associated, and many other books, including a biography of Ivor Novello, of whom MacQueen-Pope approved as possessing glamour, the quality he most prized in the theatre and which he felt was in short supply in the post-war world. In 1955 he began to give talks about the theatre on 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. ...
...
television, using his nickname, "Popie" as a title for his series.