One autograph album, with the binding falling apart. (See photos.) Due to the length of the description, it has been formatted on our website for easier reading. We highly recommend reading it at www.secondstorybooks.com. Contains 90 autographs, with the details following:
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1) Eugene Stratton: Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 — September 15, 1918) was born in Buffalo, New York. He adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton, and became an American-born dancer and singer, whose career was mostly spent in British music halls. 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 sometime in a circus before joining a minstrel 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, Bella. He left the minstrels to go on the music hall circuit in 1887, first as a double act, then solo. Although at one time he used an Irish voice, he mainly appeared as a "blackfaced" singer. He also performed in pantomime, for the first time in 1896. His friendship & association with Leslie Stuart 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, Hampshire on September 15, 1918, and is buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery in Wallington in Surrey beside his great friend and fellow music hall artiste Joe Elvin. Songs: The Cake Walk, A Carol of Stars, The Dandy Coloured Coon, I Lub a Lubly Gal, Lily of Laguna, Little Dolly Daydream, Whistling Coon.
2) Jimmy Britt: Jimmy Britt (October 5, 1879, in San Francisco, California - January 21, 1940) was a boxer from 1902 to 1909. He fought Joe Gans twice for the World lightweight title but lost both bouts, In a career spanning 23 bouts, Britt met 6 different Hall of Famers for a combined total of 10 fights; going 4-4-2. After retiring from boxing in 1909, Britt toured the United States as a vaudeville performer, then later worked as a WPA superintendent. He died of a heart attack in his San Francisco home on January 21, 1940 and was interned at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California). Britt was elected to the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1976.
3) Leslie Stuart: Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 - 27 March 1928) was an English composer of Edwardian musical Comedy, best known for the hit show Florodora (1899) and many popular song. He wrote many popular songs for the blackface performer Eugene Stratton, including perhaps his best-remembered music hall song, "Lily of Laguna" (1898), and "Little Dolly Daydream."(3) He also wrote the patriotic ballad "Soldiers of the King" (1894, now sung as "Soldiers of the Queen"). He began in Manchester as a church organist, for 14 years, and taught music while beginning to compose church music and secular songs in the late 1870s. In the 1880s, he began to promote and conduct orchestral and vocal concerts of popular and theatre music as "Mr. T. A. Barrett's Concerts", He began to focus his composition on music hall, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre, such as pantomimes and London shows touring through Manchester; and ballads such as "Soldiers of the King". Stuart later campaigned against the interpolation of new songs into musical theatre scores and for better enforcement of musical copyrights. In 1895, Stuart began to write songs for George Edwardes's London shows at the Gaiety. Theatre and Daly's Theatre. His first full musical comedy score was Florodora in 1899. The show became an international hit, and its song "Tell me, pretty maiden", became a vaudeville standard. Other musical comedy successes followed, including The School Girl (1903), The Belle of Mayfair (1906) and Havana (1908). Of his later shows, only Peggy made much of an impact. By 1911, Stuart's gambling debts sent him into bankruptcy. Unable to adapt to changing musical tastes, he was no longer in demand as a composer, although he had some success as a piano sketch artist in variety theatre. Stuart was born in Southport, on the Lancashire coast. His real name was Thomas Augustine Barrett; he was the younger son of Thomas Barrett, a cabinet-maker, and his wife, Mary Ann Burke, née Lester, who were both from western Ireland.12. He grew up in Liverpool, where he attended St Francis Xavier's College. His family moved to Manchester in the late 1870s. Stuart began his career aged 15 as organist at Salford Cathedral. He held the post for seven years, and then moved to be organist at the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester, where he remained for another seven years.13) To augment his salary he composed church music and taught 3 Stuart also promoted and conducted orchestral and vocal concerts. In the 1880s and 1890s he presented "Mr T. A. Barrett's Concerts" at the FreeTrade Hall, Manchester, and later at the larger St James's Hall.i.4) These concerts featured popular orchestral music and selections from Comic operas by such composers as Sullivan and Cellier, and excerpts from English grand operas by Balfe and Wallace.15). Singers included Zelie de Lussan, Marie Roze, Ben Davies, David Ffrangcon-Davies, Durward Lely and Charles Manners. Instrumental soloists included Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Eugène Ysaye, 16) Thomas Barrett had been property master at the Amphitheatre, Liverpool, and both his sons had quickly gained a taste for the theatre. Stuart's elder brother, Stephen (1855-1924), became a music hall performer, appearing under the stage name Lester Barrett. 2) Gradually the music Stuart composed for local shows, and his popular ballads and music-hall songs began to supersede the composition of serious and religious music, 2) He composed music hall songs as "T. A. Barrett" and under the pseudonyms "Leslie Thomas", "Lester Barrett" and, most notably, "Leslie Stuart".
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4) Sammy Shields: 1922:
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5) Fred Ginnett: Fred Ginnett circus family of Europe. Ginnett's have a long history in circus, variety and theatre performance dating back to the early 1800s, making them one of the oldest circus and variety families in Europe. They are also closely linked with many other traditional circus family's such as Sanger's, Cooke's, Yelding's and Austin's. Show business started for the Ginnett's in Briton in the early 1800s when they were captured in the Napoleonic wars. At this time Ginnett's were big horse people and thought to be high ranks in the French cavalry. They were brought to England on prison ships. When the wars were over and prisoners released some of the Ginnett's stayed in England. It was Jean Pier Ginnett who started in show business with his Pony and Budgerigar show in Ludgate circus, London. Ginnett's grew to become one of the UK's largest circuses between the years of 1890 and 1930, closing down for a period, like many of the shows at the time, during world war one (owing to the war office confiscating their 200+ horses for the war effort).
6) Burt Shepard: Burt Shepard (?-1913) began his career as a female impersonator before joining a minstrel troupe in 1874. On records, Shepard, a baritone, specialized in comic monologues and songs, projected with a wry sense of humor. On stage he frequently accompanied himself on the piano. Shepard made recordings as early as 1898 for the Berliner Gramophone Company. In 1900 he began a six-year association with E. R. Johnson and Victor Records. Shepard was extremely popular in England and enjoyed long stays in that country until his death there in 1913.
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7) Arthur Prince (& Jim): Ventriloquist: 1881-1948 born; 1881, Wales. First ventriloquist to drink and talk at the same time, Charactor: Sailor Jim. www.britishpathe.com British Pathe has over half a dozen video clips from 1932 to 1940 that feature Arthur Prince, Performed before King George V, Toured the U.S. and Australia, In 1932: Norman Yendell Ward creates comic strip Arthur Prince and Jim based on Prince's life, Died in 1948: Buried with his widow and his puppet.
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8) John (Iacob) Hyams: Actor: Father of Leila Hyams: John Hyams was born on July 6, 1869 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Give Me Action (1930), Mind Your Business (1930) and Swell People (1930). He was married to Leila McIntyre. He died on December 9, 1940 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
9) Harry Webber:
Mozzle and brocha" (on the knocker) Yiddish words for good luck and good health respectively.
10) Percy Yorke
11) George Mozart: George Mozart (b. David John Gillings, 1864-1947). Mozart was gifted not only as a singer (mandatory in the halls) but also as an actor, clown, and musician. He'd gotten his start at the age of 14 as a percussionist in the Prince of Wales own Norfolk military band. From here he went on to be musical director with Livermore Bros. Court minstrels, eventually exchanging his baton for burnt cork, becoming one of the minstrel men. In 1886 he made his music hall debut. For a time, he was part of a team called Warrington and Gillings, later renamed the Mozarts. From the 90s through the 20s he appeared in music halls throughout the U.K. and Australia. Songs associated with him included "Colonel Nutty of the Nuts", "Derby day" and "The Quack Physican". He made his tour of big time American vaudeville in 1907.
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12) Frank Halter-ovitch
13) Joe O'Gorman: Famous Music Hall Comedian (1863-1937)
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14) Jesse J Freeman (Variety)
15) Fred Sinclair
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16) Peter Bijor
17) Dane Carter
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18) D.O. Toole
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19) Harry Tich: "Little Tich" (21 July 1867 - 10 February 1928), born Harry Relph, was a 4 foot 6 inch (137 cm) tall English music hall comedian and dancer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was best known for his acrobatic and comedic Big-Boot Dance, which he performed in Europe and for which he wore boots with soles. Little Tich's act matured during a tour of the United States between 1887 and 1889 where he established the Big-Boot Dance and impressed audiences with his ability to stand on the tips of the shoes and to lean at extraordinary angles. In the 1890s he developed the Serpentine Dance and had a major success with the Christmas pantomime Babes in the Wood in Manchester during the 1889-90 season. In 1891, he was recruited by the impresario Augustus Harris to appear in that years spectacular Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Christmas pantomime Humpty Dumpty. He starred in a further two productions at the theatre including Little Bo Peep (1892) and Robinson Crusoe (1893). Between 1896 and 1902 Little Tich performed in his own musical theatre company, and spent much of his time in Paris, where he became a popular variety artist. For his music hall acts, he created characters based on everyday observations. The characterisations used were "The Gas Inspector", "The Spanish Señora" and "The Waiter"; all three were later recorded onto shellac discs, of which he made twenty in total.
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20) Ed Gray: Ed Gray - The Tall Tale Teller. While he toured the country as the "Tall Tale Teller", not much else is known about Ed Gray, Christened the Colony's historian and poet, Gray was a vaudeville monologist who, according to a 1917 newspaper review from Olean, New York, entertained crowds with "some very amusing stories and droll imitations" taken from life that "kept the audience convulsed with laughter to the very end."
According to a 1915 Muskegon newspaper article, Gray sang one of his odes to Bluffton at a "Cobwebs and Rafters gala. "To the air of "Where the River Shannon Flows' Sergent Ed Gray, the famed "Pidgeon Hill Poet,' sang in his resonant bass the following song, in which all joined in the chorus with great gusto, it being announced that the words of it antedated those of "Take Me Back to Michigan" According to Buster Keaton's remembrances, Gray was notoriously lazy. This trait lead to the creation of gadgetry and labor saving devices, including the "Ed Gray Awakener" - a Keatondesigned contraption that included a mechanical arm that would removed the sheet and blanket from Gray's bed, as well as a motorized means of shaking the bed until he awoke. Also, a feature of Gray's property was an outhouse, noted for it's collapsing walls. While the location of his residence (and the infamous outhouse) is unknown, when Buster went to Hollywood he created similar devices for use in his films. Classic examples of Buster's inventiveness can be seen in The Electric House and The Scarecrow.
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21) Chas Guyer
22) Casey July 26/'98
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William Gould: Vaudeville Comic
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23) J.L. Granville
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24) Walter C. Kelly, "The Virginian Judge"; Walter C. Kelly (October 29, 1873 in Mineville, New Yor - January 6, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a Vaudeville comedian. He was the brother of lack Kelly (Olympic Gold Medalist and father of actress Grace Kelly) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright George Kelly. He also appeared in several Broadway productions and in several movies. He was sometimes credited as Walter "Judge" Kelly, Kelly toured for years as The Virginia Judge. He released a recording of his act on Victor Records. He brought the role to the movies in the 1935 Paramount film The Virginia Judge. His movie acting roles include "Guns' Costello" in Seas Beneath (1931); (2) "Dan McFadden" in McFadden's Flats (1935); 3)"Judge Calhoun Davis" in The Virginia Judge (1935); 4) "Capt. Zack Livermore" in Tugboat Princess (1936);5) and "Pat Kelly" in Laughing Irish Eyes (1936).9) His autobiography, Of Me I Sing: An Informal Autobiography, was published in 1953. He was also the author of a 1935 short story, "The Virginia Judge", which served as the basis for the 1935 movie.
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25) Bernard Dillon, Jockey: Bernard Dillon (1888 - 1941) was born at Caherina in Tralee. In 1901 he joined his older brother Joe, both of them being apprentice jockeys at the famous Druids Lodge training establishment in Wiltshire England. Victory on Lemberg in the 1910 Epsom Derby was his most famous achievement although he also rode winners in the 1,000 Guineas (Flair, 1906 and Electra, 1909), Lincoln (Uninsured, 1904), Cambridgeshire (Hacklers Pride, 1905), Eclipse Stakes (Lally, 1907 and dead heated on Lemberg in 1910), Coronation Cup (Pretty Polly, 1906) and the Grand Prix de Paris (Spearmint, 1906). He was portrayed by actor Tom Payne in the 2007 BBC drama Miss Marie Lloyd - Queen of The Music Hall, Bernard Dillon, nicknamed as "Ben" in the horseracing community, died in London in May, 1941.
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26)? Edward M. Favor: Edward Addison Favor (August 29, 1856-January 10, 1936), who was billed as Edward M. Favor or Ed. M. Favor, was an American vaudeville Comedian, singer, musical theatre performer and pioneer recording artist, who was one of the most popular stars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He began working in vaudeville as a light comedian in about 1876, and in or before 1877 married Edith Sinclair (1857-1942), who had been a successful child actress. Billed as Favor and Sinclair, the couple worked together as a duo and in musical comedies. In 1887 they appeared together as members of the Edith Sinclair Comedy Company in A Box of Cash, in which he played an Irish-American character. Despite the popularity of his Irish character roles, there is no evidence that he had any Irish ancestry. In 1893 he and his wife appeared on Broadway in Edward E. Rice's long-running burlesque 1492 Up To Date. 11213) He made one of his first recordings in 1893, of "The Commodore Song", taken from his previous show, Ship Ahoy. Among his other early successes were "Say Au Revoir, But Not Goodbye" (North American, 1894), "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" (Edison, 1894), and "My Best Girl's A New Yorker" (Columbia, 1895).214. By the late 1890s, Favor had recorded for most of the major recording companies, in between his vaudeville commitments. In 1899, he was one of the first to record on the Zonophone label, and in 1900 recorded for the first time for Victor Records. He continued to appear on stage and, in 1900, was described in Broadway magazine as "one of the best light comedians on the stage" and, with his wife, as "one of the big attractions in vaudeville." He continued to make successful recordings for the next decade, sung in his "Irish-American piping tenor". These included comic numbers for Edison, Columbia and other companies, such as "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane", "Who Threw The Overalls In Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?" (1901), "On a Sunday Afternoon" (1902), "Bedelia (The Irish Coon Song Serenade)" (1903), "I Think I Hear A Woodpecker Knocking At My Family Tree", and "Pocahontas" (1906). 11415. He also made recordings with his wife, Steve Porter, and the American Quartet, (2) He and his wife toured in South Africa and Australia in 1906.2). He continued to appear in shows thereafter; the Boston Globe stated that "While Favor and Sinclair were rehearsing with The Blue Moon in New York City they were appearing in one of the vaudeville houses in a sketch called "The Maguires', which they have played at least 10,000 times." However, his career as a recording artist was in decline by 1908. He made his final recordings for Victor in 1911, and for Edison in 1914 when he recorded "On The 7:28" and "Indoor Sports". Favor continued to appear in theatrical shows through the 1920s and into the early 1930s. In 1933, he appeared in the Broadway productions of John Ferguson and Merton of the Movies, and in 1934 in America. He died at the age of 79 in Brooklyn in 1936.
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27). Nellie Wallace: Nellie Wallace (18 March 1870 - 24 November 1948) was a British music hall star, actress, comedienne, dancer and songwriter who became one of the most famous and best loved music hall performers. She became known as "The Essence Of Eccentricity", she dressed in ultra-tight skirts (so tight in fact, that she would lie down on the stage and shuffle back and forth on her back to pickup whatever she had contrived to drop), her hat sported alone daisy, feather or a fish bone and once even a lit candle (supposedly, so she could see where she was going and where she had been). Wallace was born in Glasgow in 1870 as Eleanor Jane Wallis Tayler. Her father, Francis George Tayler, was a vocalist and musician and her mother a retired actress who became a teacher and governess. Her first solo performance on the stage was as a clog dancer at the age of 12 in Birmingham. Prior to this, she had performed with her sisters Emma and Fanny, also singers and dancers. She had a rapid rise to fame and became much loved by her audiences. Not a naturally pretty woman, a reviewer noted her 'grotesque get-up", which started the audience laughing the moment she appeared on stage; her cleverness, vivacity and facial expressions were second to none. Wallace's London debut came in 1903, and by 1910 she was given billing at the London Palladium. Her career lasted until her death in 1948; she appeared in the Royal Command Performance of that year.1) Her main character was a frustrated spinster, singing ribald songs such as "Under the Bed," "Let's Have a Tiddley at the Milk Bar" and "Mother's Pie Crust." Other well known songs in her repertoire included: "Meet Me," "The Sniff Song," "Three Cheers for the Red White & Blue," "Half Past Nine," "Geranium," "Tally Ho!," "The Blasted Oak," "Three Times a Day" and "Bang! Bang! Bang!"(1) Her appearance made her unusually successful as a pantomime dame - a role usually performed by men.2) She usually wore a fur stole, which she described as her "little bit of vermin". Wallace appeared in a short filmed in 1902 entitled: A Lady's First lesson. On A Bicycle. She later moved into bigger budget productions and appeared in The Golden Pippin Girl (1920); The Wishbone (1933); Radio Parade of 1935 (1934), alongside fellow music hall performer Lily Morris and established actor Will Hay; Variety (1935) and Boys Will Be Girls (1936). Nellie Wallace died in a London nursing home on 24 November 1948, aged 78, after a serious bout of bronchitis. The Wallis WA-116. Agile gyrocopter featured in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice "Little Nellie" was named after her, 3) as was "Wet Nellie", the submarine Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
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28) Nathanial Jackley, circus: Nathan Jackley who, with his own troupe, The Jackley Wonders, performed in circuses throughout Europe and the United States. Coming from Vienna, Austria, the Jackley Wonders saw various incarnations and cast-changes during its multi-country tour, always retaining its status as a high-quality acrobatic act. Some sources site brothers Nathan and Florian as the performers, while others claim a George & Nathaniel Jackley ran the troupe.
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29) Austin Rudd, musician; Austin Rudd of Tyne Dock
30) Alfred Artois:
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31) Jack Ross (Ross & Lewis):
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32). Minnie Duncab & Arthur Godfrey "Me & Er":
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33) Marsh Hurst:
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34). Esta Victoria:
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35). Margaret Bradford
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36) Harry Riston
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37) Max Waldon: Female impersonator
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38)Alphonse Borelli
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39) Owele Moran
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40) Clair Ferry & Ruth Wood
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41) Alex C. Caraugeot
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42) Nell Emerald, Actress: The beautiful English actress Nell Emerald born Nellie O'Shea in England in the early 1890's, became popular in musical comedy and pantomimes, such as 'Aladdin' at the Grand Theatre in Leeds in 1907. The wonderful dark haired star appeared in many drama and crime movies, making her film debut in the title role of "Mercia the Flower Girl" co-starring H. Agar Lyons at Brightonia Film Co in 1913, perhaps her most memorable roles was as Megsy in Sidney Morgan's 'A Lowland Cinerella' starring Joan Morgan at the Progress Film Co in 1921 and as Mrs. Denton in 'Stranger Than Fiction' co-starring George Foley in 1930. She appeared in few talkies mostly in character roles, she was last seen on screen in Herbert Mason's 'Dr. O'Dowd' starring Peggy Cummins in 1940. She was also a writer and stage and film producer. Sister of actress Connie Emerald, Sisterin-law of actor Stanley Lupino and Aunty of actress Ida Lupino,
43) Jose Follius, Panto Jack & Beanstalk
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44) Rosie Lloyd: Three famous sisters act-Rosie Lloyd, Daisy Lloyd and Alice Lloyd;
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45) Wilkie Bard, Comedian and Singer: Wilkie Bard (born William August Smith) (March 19, 1874 - May 5, 1944) was a popular British vaudeville and music hall entertainer and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his songs "I Want to Sing in Opera" and "The NightWatchman."
Bard began performing at age 21, singing and performing comedy in his spare time. He most often appeared with a baldhead and wore a black spot on each eyebrow. He also performed as female characters, specifically with his hit song "I Want to Sing in Opera." He had a long career in pantomime, 2) and introduced tongue twisters such as "She sells seashells by the seashore," based on a song he performed in the show "Dick Whittington and His Cat" in Drury Lane in 1908,13] Wilkie Bard performed in vaudeville in 1919.14) His first appearance at the Palace, on October 20, 1919, was not well received, 5) but he reappeared a few days later with slightly altered material and became a hit.(6) In 1923, Bard appeared with Jack Pearlin tests for Lee DeForest's sound-on-film process Phonofilm. This short film is in the collection of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. In 1928, Bard appeared in two short films made in Phonofilm, The Cleaner and The Night Watchman, which may be in the collection of the British Film Institute. He performed in Australia in 1921.
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46) Dennis Harvey
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47). Florence Yaymen, comedian and dancer: Florence Yaymen (died 1927), English music hall character comedienne and dancer Florence Yaymen (sometimes Yayman) began her career about 1905, finding immediate success as a 'coon burlesque artist." She died suddenly on 22 July 1927, the cause being given as the bursting of a blood vessel.
London Coliseum, London, November 1908 'Rough "coon" stuff is very acceptable over here, Florence Yayman has some, but inside that she is an excellent dancer."
(Variety, New York, Saturday, 5 December 1908, p. 8c) Metropolitan music hall, Edgware Road, London, September 1907 'Florence Yayman gets away with some comedy that seems to hurt her in her Topsy speciality a reference to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin). Miss Yayman was quite popular." (Variety, New York, Saturday, 2 October 1909, p. 11b) "The committee of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild, 3, Newport House, Great Newport Street, London) W.C.2, desire to thank Florence Yayman, who has kindly been making dolls, and has sent a donation of E20s. 6d...."
(The Stage, London, Thursday, 7 June 1917, p. 8c) "FLORENCE YAYMAN'S SUCCESS "Big Christmas Show at Tivoli (Sydney, NSW, 1923) 'Originality in vaudeville is the keynot of success. Because Florence Yayman, who made her first Australian appearance at the Tivoli yesterday, possess that requisite in a particularity marked degree, she at once sang and acted her easy way into the good graces of the big audience, "Miss Yayman is a character impersonator, in itself an unusual line for a female artist. She is also a delightful yodeller - a phase of entertainment usually confined to the sterner sex. She changes costume on the stage but in a light dim enough to make anybody open wide their eyes and presents a series of character sketches commencing with that of a Chinese. This is followed by a Tyrolean love songs, and then Miss Yayman presents what is obviously her forte - the impersonation of the American coal-black "Cooness." As a Coon flapper she gives a quaint rendering of I Wanta Boy, and then concludes a too-brief programme with a lullaby, in which she appears as a black mammy. Her impersonation of the old mammy and the "picken' 'em up and puttin' 'em down again feet" are perfect."
48) Paul La Pointe "The Burglar"
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49) H.W. Winston: Harold W. Winston Harold Wallace Winston (September 2, 1887-May 12, 1960) was born in Grand Rapids, North Dakota, USA. He is known as a performer and a trainer of sea lions in vaudeville shows, circus's, and in movies. In 1909 he toured Australia with an act called: Captain Winston's Seals.12. The journal, Vaudeville News, November 12, 1920 states that: "H.W. Winston, of Winston's Water Lions and Diving Nymphs, rushed in Friday, night, paid a year's dues in advance and asked that his new card be sent to the S.S. "Celtic." As he was sailing next day for England for a tour of the Moss & Stoll houses."3 Moss & Stoll is also known as Moss Empires. In his book "The London Palladium: The Story of the Theatre and Its Stars", Chris Woodward gives a glimpse of what that tour was like: "Winston's Water Lions and Diving Nymphs appeared on 24 January 1921, to delight audiences with "The Aquatic Marvels of the Twentieth Century'. "During their performance the Water Lions will emulate all the feats performed by the Misses Farry and Wood, Gold Medalists of the swimming and diving world.' Even a high dive of twenty-five feet was successfully attempted. His trained seal lions appeared in movies such as "Spawn of the North" and "Fisherman's Wharf" in the 1930s and 1940s.
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50) Daisy Taylor, singer 1911-1920: "I'll Make You Want Me"
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51) Arnold De Biere, "The Mysterious", Magician: (1876-1934). Originally from Poland (it is believed) he made his first major success at Tony Pastor's in 1901. He went on to conquer London two years later. Billed as "De Biere, the Mysterious", he would come out in full court dress, flourishing a cape. Illusions he was associated with included the Egg Bagtrick, Multiplying Billiard Balls, the Thumb Tie, and the Vanishing Bird Cage. Europe was his base of operations until the First World War, when he came back to the U.S. to work the Loew's circuit for several months. He continued to be a major international player in the magic field until his death in 1934.
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52) Simone de Beryl (fl. early 20th Century), French poses plastique and dancer: The Seldoms at the London Pavilion, 1906-Orpheum, Winnipeg, week beginning Monday, 8 April, 1912
"The ladies hold sway at the Orpheum this week. Three of the best acts, including the headliner, are presented by talented and charming daughters of Eve. In one of these acts no less than six women are engaged. In all the other acts but two success is largely dependent on the female portion of the cast.
One mere man essays the task of pleasing the audience without any help from the weaker vessels, and it must be said that under the circumstances he succeeds fairly well.
"Mlle. Simon de Beryl, a Parisian actress, presents an elaborate posing act. Her subjects are artistic, and her postures the essence of grace. It is a very charming act and its beauty if enhances by the admirable lighting effects which give each pose a setting at once distinctive and pleasing. Another daughter of the gay French capital, Mlle. Camille Ober, charms with her beautiful soprano solos. She has a voice of rare quality, and sings with dramatic force which is characteristic of the Parisian concert halls. Her forte is in taking high notes. The six KirkSmith Sisters are all musicians, and each and every one scored heavily with the audience. Some excel as vocalists and some as instrumentalists, and their combined efforts are something unusually good in the way of entertainment. To many it was the gem act of the evening." (Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Canada, Tuesday, 9 April 1912, p. 8b)
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53). C. Yokatao (Japanese)
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54) Fred Griffiths (Griffiths Bros.)
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55) Harry Lauder, Singer and Comedian: Sir Henry "Harry" Lauder (/lo:der/; 4 August 1870-26
February 1950) was a Scottish music hall and vaudeville theatre singer and comedian. He was perhaps best known for his long-standing hit "I Love a Lassie" and for his international success. He
was described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador!". He became a familiar World-wide figure promoting images like the kilt and the Cromach to huge acclaim, especially in America. Other songs followed, including "Roamin' in the Gloamin", "A Wee Deoch-an-Doris", and "The End of the Road".
In 1905 Lauder's success in leading the Howard & Wyndham pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, for which he wrote I Love a Lassie, made him a national star, and he obtained contracts with Sir Edward Moss and others. Lauder then made a switch from music hall to variety theatre and undertook a tour of America in 1907. The following year, he performed a private show before Edward VII at Sandringham, and in 1911, he again toured the United States where he commanded $1,000 a night. In 1912, he was top of the bill at Britain's first ever Royal Command Performance, in front of King George V, organised by Alfred Butt, Lauder undertook a world tour extensively during his forty-year career, including 22 trips to the United States-for which he had his own railroad train, the Harry Lauder Special, and made several trips to Australia, where his brother John had emigrated. Lauder was, at one time, the highest-paid performer in the world, making the equivalent of £12,700 a night plus expenses. He was paid £1125 for an engagement at the Glasgow Pavilion Theatre in 1913 and was later considered by the press to earn one of the highest weekly salaries by a theatrical performer during the pre-war period. During the First World War Lauder promoted recruitment into the services and starred in many concerts for troops at home and on the western front. His entertainment activities were made poignant by the death in action of his son at the end of 1916. By 1911, Lauder had become the highest-paid performer in the world, and was the first Scottish artist to sell a million records. He raised vast amounts of money for the war effort during World War I, for which he was subsequently knighted in 1919. He went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s, but briefly emerged to entertain troops in World War II. By the late-1940s he was suffering from long periods of ill-health and died in Scotland in 1950.
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56) Jack Pleasants, Musician "I'm Shy Mary Ellen" 1903;
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57) H. Vernon Watson, "Nosmo King". H. Vernon Watson (1886-1952), better known as his character Nosmo King, was a popular English variety artist. He was touring the music halls before World War I, but he remained relatively obscure until the 1920s, when he shot to fame as Nosmo King. Then, when Frank Tinney, the American black-faced comedian, came to the UK, Watson added an impression of him to his repertoire. He noticed that this impression gained him great applause, and when Tinney returned to the United States, Watson gave thought to a different style of act based on a black-faced personality. Opportunity for this came about in the early 1930s in Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, which boasted two variety theatres, run by two rival organisations. The Great Depression was beginning to bite, and on hearing that the rival theatre had lost its comic, he determined to double his income by doing both shows (four performances a night), travelling between the two theatres by taxi, disguising himself by blacking up. Watson had the black-face study ready, but was stuck for a name. Then inspiration came to his aid. The scene dock doors backstage were partly open and the two halves read "No Smo" & "king". That was it. From then on, the character would be Nosmo King. Nosmo King became a huge star and a household name. The stage act of Nosmo King & Hubert developed when his son Jack Watson joined him as straightman straight from school. Vernon Watson made his last bow and he was to be Nosmo for good when his speciality became long comic monologues. During a later interview, he made two remarkable confessions. Someone pointed out that a cigarsmoking figure was hardly compatible with the name and suggested he gave up. This he found remarkably difficult, but he eventually accomplished it with the aid of snuff. The second confession was that he had never at any time set eyes on Frank Tinney. During World War II, Nosmo King reverted to going solo, the reason being that "Hubert" had joined up. The end came for Nosmo King early in 1952 when Watson died in his sleep in his Chelsea flat. He is buried in Thorney Cemetery near Peterborough, with "Nosmo King" on his headstone.
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58) Fred & Audrey (Amy?) Maples
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59) RG Knowles, Actor: R.G. Knowles was born on October 7, 1858 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada as Richard George Knowles. He was an actor, known for Trotting Camel Races, R.G. Knowles (1902), R.G. Knowles the Comedian Making Progress Up Pyramid (1902) and Dreamy Eyes (1905). He died on January 1, 1919 in London, England.
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60) Nellie Waring Actress: Nellie Waring (active 1907-1920), English popular vocalist and variety theatre and vaudeville entertainer. Her professional partnership with the American J.W. Wilson (John W. Musante, 1863/692-1928), comedy duo, appears to have begun about 1912. (photo: James Bacon & Sons, Leeds, circa 1910)
Shea's Theatre, Buffalo, New York, August 1909 "The bill at Shea's Theater this week is full of entertaining qualities and every feature was liberally applauded at both performances yesterday, Nellie Waring, the clever and sprightly comedienne from England, has a pleasing voice and she sings her own topical songs inimitably, Her costumes are quite charming and her dancing is dainty and skillful [sic]." (The Buffalo, Courier, Buffalo, New York, Tuesday, 24 August 1909, p. 7s) "Nellie Waring, the dainty English comedienne, who heads the bill at Shea's theater this week, has made an instantaneous hit, and she has been called the second Alice Lloyd for the tunefulness of her songs and delightful personality." (The Niagara Falls Gazette, Niagara Falls, New York, Tuesday, 24 August 1909, p. 4b) "Nellie Waring is the latest of the English singers to invade our shores and she has met with a favorable reception." (Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles, California, Sunday, 24 October 1909, part III, p. 8c) J.W. Wilson and Nellie Waring appeared with nearly 150 other music hall and variety favourites in the "Variety's Garden Party' tableau at the first royal music hall performance at the Palace Theatre, London, on 1 July 1912, attended by King George V and Queen Mary. "NEW ACTS NEXT WEEK October 1912. "Nellie Waring. Singing Comedienne, 17 Mins, One stage set. Bronx. "England's Sparking and Dainty Comedienne" is Nellie Waring's billing this week at the Bronx. Miss Waring is just a pretty girl. She sings four English made songs. For each there is a change of gown, and, in order the clinch the conventionality of the turn, a male "plant" is seated in a box. The spotlight is aimed at him while she sings to him. In addition toteh young woman's limited abilities as a performer, her songs are not good, Jolo." (Variety, New York, Friday, 18 October 1912, p. 20c)
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61) Nellie Calvert
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62) J W Wilson, actor: Professional partner with Nellie Waring in 1912. Wilson, who was known as Mustante, partnered Miss Nellie Waring in Britain, America, Australia, and South Africa. He was a contemporary of Cinquevalli, the famous juggler, and Chirgwin, "the white-eyed Kaffir." "Wilson earned £100 a week in England and E200 in America, but died penniless of pneumonia at the Fulham Hospital London. Miss Waring sat at his bedside for 14 hours. "Wilson was born in California. He was the son of a "forty-niner" (miner who went to California in the early days of the gold rush). He ran away with a travelling circus, then entered vaudeville, and later played in straight plays."
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63) Hifforhme Birmingdrum (illegible)
64) Eddie Girard, Actor: Appeared with Edward Garvie in "Natural Gas and Hunting" for Hawkins, 1898.
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65) George D'Albert: Music Hall performer George D'Albert's most famous song was Shall I Be An Angel, Daddy? He also
wrote songs, including a couple with Fred Godfrey: Any Windows To Mend? (with Amber Austa, 1907) and Wait Till The Clouds Roll By, Molly! (1909).
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66) unclear
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67) Paul Conchas
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68) Paul Conchas: Juggler, performer: As if strength and skill were related and inextricable qualities,
the juggling of heavy objects was in vogue at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. A number of artists were then working in this style, which the French called "jongleurs de
force." The Germans called them "Kraftjongleure." Severus Schaffer is believed to have done this type ofact, and Herr Holtum was a popular "heavyweight" juggler of that time. But the most outstanding "heavies" were Paul Spadoni and Paul Conchas. Both men were imported from abroad.
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69) Billy Williams, Music Hall Performer: Richard Isaac Banks (March 3rd 1878 - March 13th 1915), who changed his name to Billy Williams after leaving his birthplace of Australia, was a popular entertainer of his era. (see B. Rust: Music Hall On Record, Gramophone 1979 p. 282 et seq.) Over 500 recordings sold in their thousands long after his early death in 1915. Born in Melbourne, Williams tried a number of jobs before embarking on an entertainment career which led him to come to England in 1899. He became a popular entertainer in the music halls singing what were known as chorus-songs - he also appeared in pantomime. It was in 1906 that Williams made his first recordings and from that date he recorded prolifically on cylinder and disc. In 1910, he returned for an extended tour of his native Australia where he was greeted with wild enthusiasm. Returning to England later in that year, he continued his business relationship with songwriter Fred Godfrey. The two had what might be described as a "song factory" and worked in partnership (although it is believed that Godfrey did all of the song Writing). The year 1912 seemed to be the zenith of Williams' career - he appeared in the first Royal Command Performance of that year and achieved glowing reviews in the national press. Sadly this fame was not to last as Williams became ill in late 1914 and died in Hove near Brighton in March 1915, the proximate cause being septic prostatitis and consequent complications after an operation for that condition, but rumoured ultimately to be connected with "previous social excesses."
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70) Max Erard and Wife Zona Vevy, Composer, entertainer: husband and wife, Max Erard and Zona Vevey, composer/entertainer at the piano and singer Zona Vevey accompanied by Max Erard at the Hippodrome, Brighton, week beginning Monday, 6 March 1911. "Zona Vevey is back again with her delightful songs, including a pretty little "Shepherd Boy" ditty, and on Monday the audience went wild with delight when, in response to an encore that could not be denied she gave "Every Sunday Evening." Max Erard is again assisting Miss Vevey at the piano, and his brilliant solo and accompaniments win enthusiastic admiration."
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71) Chas. B. Barnold, performer: Barnold's Dog and Monkey Pantomime: 1907: Hammerstein's: Barnold's Dog and Monkey Pantomime: 1907:
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72) “Paiufile" illegible
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73) Gaston Chevallier, performer: Gaston Chevalier, Mdlle. Etoile and Le Noir Co. in an episode called, 'On A Western Ranch'.
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74) Lewis Ham? Sherman Antonette?
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75) James Stenail? Illegible
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76) Manny & Roberts. Performers: Ragtime duettists Charlie Manny and Ashley "Bob" Roberts, Roberts was an African American, and the two toured in vaudeville in the USA for many years and came to England in the early 1910s. Their 1915 HMV record of Shelton Brooks' "All Night Long is the first example of black scat singing on record
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77) Lois Barker & Percy Tarling, Composers: My garden gate, monologue or song, sung by Lois Barker & Dorothy Varick, composed by Percy Linkson Tarling & Lois Barker., The Browns - Monologue or Song-Sung by Lois Barker and Dorothy Varick Percy Linkson Tarling and Lois Barker, When the Wedding Bells are Ringing Percy Tarling and Lois Barker, When You're on the Wireless - Sung by Percy Tarling and Lois Barker-Francis, Day and Hunter sixpenny edition No. 1871 Percy Tarling and Lois Barker, Where the Dickens is Dixie?-Sung with great success by The Grumblers (Percy Tarling and Lois Barker) - For Piano and Voice - Lawrence Wrights 6d inspirations series No. 1257 Percy Tarling and Francis Charles.
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78) Banton & Ashley, not found.
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79) Bruce Green, performer: Australian
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80) Illin Lalona — illegilble
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81) Victor Niblo
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82) Arthur Roberts, comedian: Arthur Roberts (21 September 1852 - 27 February 1933) was an English comedian, music hall entertainer and actor. He was famous for portraying the pantomime dames and later for his comic characters and "gagging" in farces, burlesques and musical Comedies. He is credited with coining the word "spoof". Roberts was born in Kentish Town, London.(1) The son of a Savile Rowtailor, Roberts began performing professionally in 1871, after being spotted busking in Covent Garden, by a holidaying impresario from Norfolk. Roberts first performed a rendition of "The Mad Butcher" on the beach at Great Yarmouth and was paid £1 a week. The following summer, Roberts moved to Great Yarmouth and regularly performed for tourists on a makeshift stage erected on the nearby pier. He later progressed to appearing in upmarket hotels at the seaside resort.2) In 1875, Roberts was engaged to appear at the New Star theatre in Bermondsey. The following year he performed "If Only I Was Long Enough" at the Oxford Music Hall, which he considered a major breakthrough in his career. In 1877 he toured the London music hall circuit and culminated each round of touring with an appearance at Evans's Supper room, where he developed a reputation for performing risqué songs.(314) In 1879, one of his "saucy" songs caused Evans's to lose its license for a year. Theatre successes and later years In the legitimate theatre, he starred as Dr. Syntax in the Drury Lane Theatre pantomime Mother Goose (1880); as Mrs. Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe (1881 and 1886); in Sindbad the Sailor (1882; a show he repeated in 1906); in H. B. Farnie's Nell Gwynne (1884); in Farnie's The Grand Mogul (1884 with Florence St. John, Fred Leslie and Frank Wyatt); (7) Joe Tarradiddle in the English adaptation of Offenbach's La vie parisienne; Stanley the explorer in the 1991 Gaiety Theatre burlesque of Joan of Arc by Adrian Ross and J. L. Shine,B) popularising the song "I went to find Emin"; in the early Edwardian musical comedy In Town (1892); Captain Arthur Coddington in the Gaiety burlesque of Don Juan (1893, by Meyer Lutz, A. C. Torr and Ross); Claude Du Val (1894), the title character in Gentleman Joe (1895); Black-Eyed See-Usan; and Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman (1898), among others. Roberts had success in the 1890s with the hit song "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow".9) Roberts originated the word "spoof" which was popularised by a card game that he invented called Spoof, which involved trickery and nonsense. The first recorded reference to the game is in 1884. Soon the word took on the general meaning of "nonsense, trickery," first recorded in 1889. The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These senses are now less widely used than the noun meaning of "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927.10) In 1907, Roberts was a leader in the "Music Hall War', striking for better working conditions, which led to the founding of the Variety Artist's Federation. At the end of his career, Roberts played in variety shows.11). Later in his career Roberts starred as Charioteer in Phi-Phi (1922). In 1926, he popularised the song "Topsey-Turvey", which he also used as the basis for a short 1927 film made in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process, directed by Bertram Phillips. In 1927, Roberts wrote an autobiography called Fifty Years of Spoof. He died in London at the age of 80 and is buried in Paddington cemetery, London.
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83) Albert Whelan, performer: Albert Whelan (5 May 1875-19 February 1961), was an Australian popular singer and entertainer, who was prominent in the English music hall during the first half of the 20th century. Like his contemporary and fellow music-hall artist Florrie Forde, Whelan was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1875. Early in his career, Whelan moved to Western Australia, where he found fame as a singer and dancer, entertaining the miners working the gold fields. At the turn of the 20th century, he emigrated to Britain, making his debut in a novelty dance act at the Empire, Leicester Square. He rapidly honed his act, and settled on a style which would vary little over his career, although his ability to update the content of his act ensured his career was both long and successful, lasting well into his eighties. Whelan was acknowledged as one of the first entertainers to have a signature tune, appearing on-stage (and exiting at the end of his act) whistling Robert Vollstedt's waltz from Die Lustige Brider (The Jolly Brothers). Immaculately dressed in bow-tie and tails, he sang, danced and played the piano. He was an excellent mimic, and adapted easily to changing vocal styles. His recording career spanned the first half of the 20th century, from The Whistling Bowery Boy in 1905 to his final recordings made in 1960. He also had minor roles in a number of British films of the 1930s and 1940s. His son was the pianist Gordon Whelan. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1957 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.
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84) Don W-illegilble
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85) Henriette Marcel: no info
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86) Eric Randolph, Musician: Girl of My Dreams - Tony Brent, Eric Randolph Sunny Clapp, I Don't Care What You Used To Be - Walse Ballad with Harmonized Refrain and Ukulele Accompaniment - Featuring Eric Randolph Al Durbin & Jimmy McHugh,
The Ragged Vagabond Words and music - Percy Edgar and Eric Randolph,
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87) Dave Samuels, "Only A Jew" performer: He was popular enough, in the final years of his career, to share a stage with Marie Lloyd, and to top the bill, repeatedly, at the London Palladium. Dave Samuels' Known Performances February 6, 1908: Empire (probably in Middlesbrough); April 23, 1908: Regent Theatre (probably Salford.); May 7, 1908: The Pavilion, Glasgow; May 14, 1908: Belfast Hippodrome; May 28, 1908: King's Theatre, Belfast; June 4, 1908; Hull; July 16, 1908: The Empress, Brixton; November 5, 1908: The Balham Hippodrome; December 17, 1908: The Palace, Grimsby; March 17, 1910: The Willsden Hippodrome; April 7, 1910: Kilburn Empire; June 9, 1910: Top of the bill at Hull Hippodrome; July 7, 1910; Sheffield; August 11, 1910: King's Theatre, Edinburgh; September 22, 1910: The Empire, Portsmouth; May 1, 1911: The Holborn Empire. George Robey is on the same bill; January 1912: Notice that David Samuels is finishing his popular engagement appears in Melbourne, Australia, newspapers; February 19, 1913: Hippodrome (possibly Warrington); April 3, 1913; David was one of the top billings at The London Palladium; May 8, 1913: Billed with Marie Lloyd and others at the Royal Hospital Gardens Chelsea on June 3; May 22, 1913: Booked by Jack Goodson Limited, for three tours of Moss Empires; May 14, 1914: David was again a top billing at the London Palladium. George Robey was also a top billing; July 23, 1914: Salford Regent; August 31, 1914: Salford Hippodrome; May 13, 1915: The Stage published a notice that David was not on the list of survivors on the Lusitania. David's act was almost always favorably reviewed. The focus of his performances seems to have been on comic parodies of popular songs, and comic "Hebrew monologues." Several of the songs he parodied are named in reviews but, unfortunately, his "clever and amusing" rewrites were never quoted. His comic asides and stories were never quoted from, either, leaving the specific nature of his comedy unknowable. Mr. J.L. Graydon's "Lightning Programme," which is enjoyed by full houses, has several scintillating features this week, a notable newcomer being Mr. Dave Samuels, who has been retained for a further week. Mr. Samuels, who is making his first appearance in England, is a Yiddish vocal and patter comedian, reaching England via America, and he musty be highly gratified by the reception meted to him by the local patrons, who have established him quite as a favourite. Mr. Samuels is distinctly versatile; he can sing- and sing well-tell some good stories, and dance as eccentrically as the best. His opening number is a mock-serious ditty, "I'm An Unlucky Jew," after which he fires off some several funny stories, and includes in his first efforts a quaint parody on "Love Me and the World is Mine," which Mr. Dave Carter is popularizing so much just now... Mr. Samuels should soon be busy on this side. The Stage, October 17, 1907.
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88) Alec Kendal, comedian and songwriter: worked with Mark Sheridan "Who Were You With Last Night"
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89) Herbert La Martine, Dancer: Argyle Theatre Posters - African American History. Hedges Brothers and Jacobson-American Vaudeville Team. Cruikshank-Songs,. Herbert La Martine-Dancer. Harold Baker-Eccentric Comedian. Jackson and Marte-Comedians.
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Page 126 Back cover
90). Whit Culiffe - illegible
shelved case 0. More
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