Vesta Tilley

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Vesta Tilley as a woman and in one of her male roles

Vesta Tilley (born Matilda Alice Powles on May 13, 1864 , † September 16, 1952 ) was a British singer and actress of the Music Hall . She was one of the most famous male impersonators (see dragking ) or trouser role actresses of her time. She has been on the stages of Great Britain for more than 50 years.

Early years

Tilley was born in Worcester , Worcestershire in 1864 . Her father, William Harry Powles, known as Harry Ball , was a comedy actor, songwriter, and director of Music Halls. With his support, Tilley was seen on stage at the age of three and a half. At the age of six she first cast a role in men's clothing. She sang songs from the opera singer Sims Reeves , who were well known at the time , from his repertoire. She also preferred to play male roles and later said: "I felt that I could express myself better when I was dressed like a boy."

Under her father's management, Tilley toured 'the provinces', as cities and places outside London were called. While she mostly appeared on the stage at George's Hall in Nottingham , run by her father, she was also seen on stages in other cities such as Birmingham , Hull , Leicester , Derby and Liverpool . Successful from the start, she supported her parents and siblings with her fees at the age of eleven. Her father managed her until his death when she was 24 years old.

In the first decade of her career she was mostly heralded with "The Great Little Tilley". She first appeared as Vesta Tilley in April 1878 when she was performing at Weston's Music Hall in Holborn , London, at the age of eleven . "Vesta" referred equally to the Roman goddess of home and hearth as well as a well-known brand for matches that still exists today ("Swan Vesta"). Her artist surname "Tilley" is a diminutive of her baptismal name Matilda . This is how she was called as a child.

Repertoire and representation

She has always sang songs by Sims Reeves and songs that her father wrote for her. This included songs like "Poor Jo", where she played the role of a workhouse child, or the Reeves songs "Squeeze Her Gently", "The Pet of Rotten Row" and "Strolling along with Nancy".

"It's part of a policeman's duty", 1907
"I'm the idol of the girls", 1908
"Following a fellow with a face like me", 1908

As she got older, she followed in the footsteps of other male impersonators, playing songs depicting young men either embarrassed or misbehaving. Among them was the role of the slacker "Burlington Bertie" and an employee on vacation by the sea ("The Seaside Sultan"). All of this was funny and allowed viewers to laugh at the character's inflated egos. Her play with her female identity was also funny and that was part of many of her songs. Including "When the right girl comes along", "Following in Father's Footsteps", "I'm the Idol of the Girls" and "It's Part of a Policeman's Duty".

In addition to uneducated young men, she also played a number of military characters. Especially in the time of the Boer War and the First World War .

In many English pantomimes she played the character of the principal boy (traditionally a trouser role). In the 1881–82 season she embodied "Pertiboy" in Beauty and the Beast at the Theater Royal in Birmingham . There she also had a small role in Robinson Crusoe in the 1885-86 season . Tilley's most famous role, which she played very often during her career, was that of Dick Whittington ("Dick Whittington and His Cat"). She even appeared in the Drury Lane pantomime of the 1882/83 season in Sindbad (as Captain Tra-la-la) and also in the 1890/91 season of Beauty and the Beast , where she played the prince.

Fame

It took her a few months of rehearsal before she agreed to the character she wanted to portray on stage. These roles, mostly young men from the upper class, were mostly created with a slightly mocking character and thus promoted their popularity with the common people of their audience. She was also very popular with women, who viewed her as a symbol of independence due to her appearance and high income. The newspapers celebrated them and so the events were mostly sold out. Even price hikes couldn't stop people from scrambling for theater tickets. Vesta Tilley was a real box-office magnet.

In 1906 she was invited to lay the foundation stone for the Camberwell Empire and Sunderland Empire theaters .

She appeared in the very first Royal Variety Performance in The Piccadilly Johnny with the Little Glass Eye. Much to the displeasure of the Queen Mary present , who did not particularly appreciate Tilley's opposite-sex clothing.

During the war

Vesta Tilley as a dude

Tilley's popularity continued through the First World War when she and her husband, like many music hall stars of their day, ran a recruiting campaign. In the role of 'Tommy in the Trench' and 'Jack Tar Home from Sea' Tilleay sang songs like “The Army of Today's All Right” and “Jolly Good Luck to the Girl who Loves a Soldier”. This earned her the nickname "Britain's Best Recruiting Officer". Young men were also approached to serve in the army during an ongoing performance.

She also allowed herself to be controversial. For example, in her song "I've Got a Bit of a Blighty One", she described a soldier who was relieved to have escaped the deadly battlefield due to his wounding. (A blighty one = a wound that sends you back to Britain) Tilley also appeared in hospitals and sold war bonds .

Cross dressing

In all of her appearances, she wore full men's clothing, including underneath. However, she did not cut her hair, but put it close to her head and otherwise wore a man's wig over it. There were other female stars in her day who dressed opposite-sex on stage (see crossdressing ). Including Bessie Bellwood, Ella Shields, Hetty King and Millie Hylton . When Vesta Tilley and her preferred “male” repertoire became famous, she emphasized her femininity offstage all the more. In this way she met moral criticism and at the same time tried to expand the limits of her acting. So she wore the latest and most expensive fashion in private. Another way to strengthen her female image was through her ongoing collaboration with children's charities in the cities where she performed (she had no children of her own).

retirement

Tilley's farewell tour between 1919 and 1920 lasted a year. She donated the fees from this to the respective local child welfare. She promised a sum of 500 pounds each and topped up any deficit out of pocket. Her last appearance was at the London Coliseum at the age of 56. As a reason to give up the stage, she cited her husband's wish to become a member of the British Parliament . She realized that the reputation of her profession and her notoriety in it would be a hindrance to her husband's political career. She spent the rest of her life as Lady de Frece and moved to Monte Carlo after her husband left politics .

Private life

The grave of Vesta Tilley and husband in Putney Vale Cemetery

She married Walter de Frece, an impresario , at the registry office in Brixton on August 16, 1890.

De Frece was knightly knightly knighted for his services in World War I on the occasion of the royal birthday in 1919 . Tilley became the Lady de Frece. He was elected a Conservative Party MP in the 1920s . First for the Ashton-under-Lyne district , then for the coastal city of Blackpool .

Her autobiography Recollections of Vesta Tilley was published in 1934. Vesta Tilley died childless in London in 1952 at the age of 88. She was buried next to her husband in Putney Vale Cemetery . The grave is provided with a black granite tombstone.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sarah Maitland (1986) Vesta Tilley p. 14, Virago Press, London ISBN 0-86068-795-3
  2. ↑ Lady de Frece, Recollections of Vesta Tilley , London: Hutchinson, 1934. p. 52.
  3. ↑ The Era , April 4, 1878, p. 20.
  4. ^ University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections .: Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project ( en ) November 16, 2005. Accessed June 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Sunderland Empire, History
  6. ^ History of the Royal Variety Performance
  7. ↑ The Great War Interviews 2: Katie Morter , BBC. Retrieved June 23, 2019. 
  8. ↑ Biography on People Play UK
  9. ↑ the quiet busker: Vesta Tilley . flickr.com. May 12, 2012. Accessed June 23, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Tilley, Vesta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Powles, Matilda Alice (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British singer and actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1864
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1952