Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British

music halls 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 ...

. Stratton was a member of the

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership a ...

Biography

Stratton first performed at the age of 10 in an acrobatic act called the ''Two Welsleys''. He appeared as a dancer in 1873 under the name of ''Master Jean''. He spent some time in a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

before joining a

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

group. He went to England in 1880 and was by this time using the name of Stratton. In England, he worked his way up to the main song & dance man in the Moore & Burgess Minstrel Show, and in 1883 he married Moore's daughter, Annie Matilda Moore. He left the minstrels to go on the

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 ...

circuit in 1887, first as a double act, then solo. Although at one time he used an Irish voice, he mainly appeared as a "

black-face Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

d" singer. He also performed 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 ...

, for the first time in 1896. His friendship & association with

Leslie Stuart Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 – 27 March 1928) born Thomas Augustine Barrett was an English composer of Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII ...

gave him many of the songs for which he was known. During the period 1899 to 1911 he made records of most of Stuart's songs. He died in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

on September 15, 1918, and is buried in

Bandon Hill Cemetery Bandon Hill Cemetery is a cemetery in Wallington, south-west London. While it was founded in 1900 by the Croydon Rural District Council, it is actually located in the London Borough of Sutton and upon the formation of London Boroughs in 1965, wa ...

in Wallington in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. In 1935 his friend

Joe Elvin Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

was buried next to him. In

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

’s novel

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

(1922) in the fifteenth episode “Circe”, there are references to Stratton, as well as the adoption of a faux Negro dialect.

Songs

*Aunt Mandy *The Cake Walk *A Carol of Stars *The Dandy Coloured Coon *Hoodoo *Idler *Is yer mammie always with ye? *I don't know nobody *I Lub a Lubly Gal *I'm the father of a little black coon *

Lily of Laguna "Lily of Laguna" is a British coon song written in eye dialect. It was written in 1898 by English composer Leslie Stuart. It was a music hall favourite, performed notably by blackface performers such as Eugene Stratton and G. H. Elliott. In the ...

(There is a poster and a recording of him singing this, with a remarkable Irish accent) *Little Dolly Daydream *Love me little *My little octoroon *My second time on earth *She's mine, I'm hers *Waitress' love letter *When de golden sun went down *Whistling Coon *Won't you love me

References

*''Oxford Companion to Popular Music'' by Peter Gammond - *''Harrington, J. "A Closer Look at Eugene Stratton (1861-1918)."'', in: Dublin James Joyce Journal 2.2 (2009): 78-88. Project MUSE. Web. 30 Aug. 2016. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stratton, Eugene 1861 births 1918 deaths 19th-century British male singers Musicians from Buffalo, New York Music hall performers Blackface minstrel performers