Daisy Dormer (born Kezia Beatrice Stockwell, 16 January 1883 – 13 September 1947) was a British music hall

performer The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...

Early life

Kezia Beatrice Stockwell was born on 16 January 1883 in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

to Mary and Henry John Stockwell. Her father was a riveter at

HM Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

Portsmouth. She began her stage career as a dancer in her home town at the age of six. She was pretty, slight and dark haired and projected a figure of innocence.

Career

She started her performing career as Dainty Daisy Dimple and appeared in theatres and music halls under this name until February 1901 when she announced in The Era that she ‘will in future be known as Dainty Daisy Dormer’. The song which launched her career was a Charles Collins and Tom Mellor composition, “I Wouldn’t Leave My Little Wooden Hut For You” which she first sang in 1905. A pretty, waif-like presence, Dormer sang "

After the Ball is Over After may refer to: Literature * ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar * ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose * ''After'' (book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour ...

" among other popular songs. "After the Ball is Over", which was written by

Charles K. Harris Charles Kassel Harris (May 1, 1867 – December 22, 1930) was a well regarded American songwriter of popular music. During his long career, he advanced the relatively new genre, publishing more than 300 songs, often deemed by admirers as ...

, helped to establish

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

as a centre for the music business in the 1890s. The sheet music sold over five million copies in the 1890s.

Pantomime

Daisy had a long career in

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 ...

, appearing as Queen Zaza in "Hop-O'-My-Thumb" at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane production in 1911. The cast also included Barry Lupino, Will Evans, George Graves and Violet Loraine. In 1915, Daisy appeared as Principal Girl, Goody, in "Goody Two Shoes" at the Prince's Theatre, Park Row, Bristol.

Lupino Lane Henry William George Lupino (16 June 1892 – 10 November 1959) professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family, which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/director/actr ...

was also in the cast.

Film

Daisy appeared in only one silent movie, Potted Pantomimes''' directed by W.P. Kellino, starring famous stage star

Lillian Russell Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty ...

and music hall comedians the Egbert Brothers made at Vaudefilms ( Gaumont) Film Co in 1914. She appeared in one talkie playing the role as Mrs. Deakin in City of Beautiful Nonsense''' with

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...

in 1935.

Personal life

She married Albert Jee in April 1908, better known by his stage name, Albert Egbert, one half of the Egbert Brothers. They ran The Sun Hotel in Godalming.

Death

Daisy Dormer died at her home in Clapham, London on 13 September 1947. She was cremated at

Streatham Park Cemetery South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium on Rowan Road in Streatham Vale. It has always been privately owned and managed and is now part of the Dignity plc group . The South London Crematorium is situ ...

. Her name is commemorated by ‘Daisy Dormer Court’ on the Trinity Gardens estate in Brixton.

Works

Her other songs included the following: * Hey! Ho! Can't You Hear the Steamer by

Harry Gifford Henry "Harry" Gifford (1884 – 1952) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain, England national ...

and

Fred Godfrey Fred Godfrey (17 September 1880 – 22 February 1953) was the pen name of Llewellyn Williams, a World War I songwriter. He is best known for the songs " Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916) and " Bless 'Em All" (1917), a 1940s hit reco ...

* Colombo (On My Catamaran) by AJ Mills and Bennett Scott * Where the Black-Eyed Susans Grow by Dave Radford and Richard A Whiting * Some Sunday Morning by Gus Khan, Raymond Egan and Richard A Whiting * When You're A Long, Long Way From Home by Sam M Lewis and Geo W Meyer * The Girl in the Clogs and Shawl by

Harry Castling Henry Castling (19 April 1865 – 26 December 1933) was an English lyricist of music hall songs. Biography Castling was born in Newington, London, the son of a street musician. He began writing songs in the 1890s, often collaborating on bo ...

and

C. W. Murphy Charles William Murphy (14 February 1870 – 18 June 1913) was a prolific British composer of music hall and musical theatre tunes. Biography He was born William Murphy in Manchester, England.Lamb, Andrew. "C. W. Murphy, Edwardian Song Compo ...

* There's a Light That's Burning in the Window by Ballard Macdonald, Joe Goodwin & Harry Puck * Fares Please! (The Tram-Conductor Girl) by Bert Lee * Dancing 'Neath the Irish Moon by Harry Puck and Ballard Macdonald *What You've Got, Look After! by Charles Collins and EW Rogers *When Will the Sun Shine for Me? by Benny Davis and Abner Silver *I Like Your Old French Bonnet by Tom Mellor, Alf J Lawrance and Harry Gifford *Why Don't You Come Around and See Me? by Tom Mellor, Alf J Lawrance and Harry Gifford *If You Don't Wants Lots of Gold by Tom Mellor, Alf J Lawrance and Harry Gifford

References

External links

Numerous photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dormer, Daisy 1883 births 1947 deaths Music hall performers Musicians from Portsmouth 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers Actresses from Portsmouth