Dan Leno
Encyclopedia
Dan Leno born George Wild Galvin, was an English comedian and actor, famous for appearing in music hall
and dozens of comic plays, pantomimes, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era
. He was one of the first members (and later leader) of the Grand Order of Water Rats
.
Born in Marylebone
, London, he began to entertain as a child. In 1864, he joined his parents on stage at the Cosmotheca Music Hall, Paddington
, and he made his first solo appearance, aged nine, at the Britannia Music Hall, Glasgow
. He adopted the stage name Dan Leno in 1884 and made his first performance under that name at the Foresters' Music Hall in Mile End
, London the same year. He became increasingly popular during the 1890s and developed his act of talking about life's mundane subjects, mixed with surreal
observations, and created a host of characters which he used to illustrate his stories. In 1901 and much in demand, he performed his "Huntsman" sketch for Edward VII at Sandringham
. The monarch was so impressed that Leno became publicly known as "the king's jester".
Leno appeared in burlesque and many pantomimes, starring in the Drury Lane
's famous annual christmas pantomimes, where he became known in the dame
roles. Later in his career, he appeared in Edwardian musical comedies until 1903, although he suffered from alcoholism
. This, together with his long association with dame and low comedy roles, prevented him from being taken seriously as an actor, and he was often turned down for Shakespearian roles. Leno began to behave in an erratic and furious manner, and he was finally committed to a mental asylum in 1903. He died soon after his discharge, aged 43.
, London. He was the youngest of six children, including two brothers, Jack (1850 – 1893) and Henry, and a sister, Frances. Two others, Maurice and Louisa, died in infancy. His parents were John Galvin (1828 – 1864) and his wife Louisa, née Dutton (1834 – 1891) who, together, performed in a music hall
double act called "The Singing and Acting Duettists". They were also known professionally as Mr and Mrs Johnny Wild. Having had very little schooling, Leno learned to entertain as a child and, in 1864, at the age of three, he joined his parents on stage at the Cosmotheca Music Hall, Paddington
, under the billing "Infant Wonder, Contortionist, and Posturer". His father died the same year at the age of 37 due partly to his alcoholism
. In 1865 his mother married William Grant, an Irish comedian, who performed under the stage name of William Leno.
The family home in Marlybone was demolished to make way for St Pancras railway station
in 1866 and, as a result, Leno and his family moved north and settled in Liverpool
. Leno and his brother, Henry, who first taught Leno to dance, formed a clog dancing double act known as The Great Little Lenos. Frances stayed behind and was brought up by her paternal uncle, Michael Galvin, in London, and Jack went to work away as a labourer. Henry soon left the clog dancing act to become a labourer and returned to London, where he later founded a dancing school. Leno became known as The Great Little Leno the Quintessence of Irish Comedians (meaning performer of comic songs) when he made his first solo appeance, aged nine, at the Britannia Music Hall, Coventry
.
Leno's paternal grandfather, Maurice Galvin, was Irish. He and his parents visited, and performed in, Ireland in 1869. While there, he took the first of his two stage names, Dan Patrick. The same year, Leno, his mother and stepfather, appeared in Belfast at the same time as Charles Dickens
, who was giving lectures in local schools, and who encouraged the young Leno.
By 1880, Leno, along with his mother and step father, had formed The Comic Trio (Mr & Mrs Leno and Dan Patrick) In Their Really Funny Entertainments, Songs and Dances and his clog dancing had become so good that he won the world championship at the Princess's Music Hall in Leeds
. As a result, he won a gold and silver belt weighing 44.5 oz (1.26 kg). His biographer, J. Hickory Wood, described his act: "He danced on the stage; he danced on a pedestal; he danced on a slab of slate; he was encored over and over again; but throughout his performance, he never uttered a word". He performed his clog dancing routine throughout the British isles with success, but found less interest in clog dancing among the London audiences, who preferred his comic songs.
Leno moved to London in the mid-1880s and gained success with a new act, featuring comedy patter, dancing and song. He made his first appearance as Dan Leno in three London music halls on the same night; the Foresters' Music Hall in Mile End
, Middlesex Music Hall
in Drury Lane and Gatti's-in-the-Road in 1885, where he earned £5 a week. Though billed as "The Great Irish Comic Vocalist and Clog Champion", he slowly phased out his dancing in favour of character studies, such as Going to Buy Milk for the Twins and When Rafferty Raffled his Watch.
Leno's first appearance in pantomime
was as Jack's mother in Jack and the Beanstalk
which he performed at the Surrey Theatre
in 1886, starring the following year in Sinbad. His performances proved popular with audiences, and he was hired in 1888 by Augustus Harris
, manager at Drury Lane
to appear in the theatre's popular annual Christmas pantomime productions, over the next dozen years, including Babes in the Wood
(1888 and 1897), Jack and the Beanstalk (1889 and 1899), Beauty and the Beast
(1890 and 1900), Humpty Dumpty
(1891), Little Bo-peep (1892), Robinson Crusoe (1893), Dick Whittington and His Cat
(1894), Cinderella
(1895), Aladdin
(1896) and Forty Thieves
(1898). He often played the pantomime dame
to Marie Lloyd
's principal girl. His stage partner in many of these pantomimes was Herbert Campbell (1845–1904). Leno and Campbell would use the script as a basis but improvise freely. This was met with some scepticism by producers, who feared that the scenes would not be funny to audiences and observed that, in any event, they were rarely at their best until a few nights after opening. This caused George Bernard Shaw
to write of one appearance: "I hope I never again have to endure anything more dismally futile".
The English essayist, parodist and caricaturist Max Beerbohm
stated that "Leno does not do himself justice collaborating with the public but he was exceptional in giving each of his dames a personality of her own, from extravagant queen to artless gossip". Leno and his regular foil Herbert Campbell were so popular that in Sleeping Beauty they caused the audience to laugh even when they could not see them. Leno and Campbell would arrive on stage in closed palanquins and exchange the lines "Have you anything to do this afternoon, my dear?" – "No, I have nothing on", before being carried off again.
Leno went to America in 1897, where he was billed as "The Funniest Man On Earth". One newspaper reported that the house roared its approval, while another complained that his English humour was out of date. The following year he became the hero of Dan Leno's Comic Journal. Dan Leno: hys Booke was published in (1899) and was ghost written for him by T. C. Elder.
It was during this period that Leno began to drink heavily, and by 1901 he became an alcoholic. He also became frustrated at not being accepted as a serious actor and became obsessed with the idea of playing Richard III
, inundating the actor–manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree
with his proposals. Nevertheless, in Britain, Leno proved to be so popular that he entertained Edward VII
at Sandringham House
in 1901, becoming the first music hall performer to give a Royal Command Performance
, earning him the nickname the King’s Jester. A journalist wrote that he was probably the highest paid funny man in the world.
His problems with alcohol caused him to display frequent bouts of erratic behaviour that began to affect his work. The angry outbursts were a result of his diminishing ability to remember his lines and inaudibility in performance. His behaviour caused so much concern that he was sent to an asylum
for a while for treatment in 1903.
born comedy singer, whom he met while appearing in Sunderland
. They married in 1884 in a discreet ceremony at St. George's Church, Hulme
, in Manchester
, soon after the birth of their first daughter, Georgina. Of their six children, three – Ernest, Sidney, and May were to follow their father on to the stage. Sidney later performed as Dan Leno Jr.
Leno owned two acres of land at the back of his house in Clapham Park, where he produced cabbages, potatoes, poultry, butter and eggs, of which he would send dozens out as Christmas presents. At his peak, Leno earned £250 a week and regularly gave away large sums of money. He was the sixteenth member of the entertainment charity Grand Order of Water Rats
and became its leader, the King Rat, in 1891, 1892 and 1897, and was later president of the Music Hall Benevolent Fund. He also financially supported his mother and stepfather when they retired.
for tertiary syphilis
.
Thousands of fans lined the route to Lambeth
Cemetery, and it was the biggest funeral for an actor or comedian since the death of David Garrick
. Max Beerbohm later said of Leno's death: "So little and frail a lantern could not long harbour so big a flame". His memorial is maintained by the Grand Order of Water Rats
, which commissioned the restoration of his grave in 2004. The inscription reads, Here sleeps the King of Laughter-Makers. Sleep well, dear heart, until the King of Glory awakens thee.
The comedian and actor Stanley Lupino
was buried next to Leno in 1942.
was an admirer of Leno and often commented on him and his performances. Beerbohm wrote: "Unlike Albert Chevalier
, Leno shifted the centre of gravity from song to patter. His theme was as ever, the sordidness of the lower middle class, seen from within. Yet, in his hand, how gloriously it blazed, illuminating and warming! All that trite and unlovely material, how new and beautiful it became for us through Dan Leno's genius!"
In 1898, Beerbohm replaced George Bernard Shaw
as the theatre critic for The Saturday Review
and wrote: "The mass of people, when it seeks pleasure, does not want to be elevated: it wants to laugh at something beneath its own level. Just as I used to go to Music Halls that I might feel my superiority to the audience, so does the audience go that it might compare itself favourably with the debased rapscallions of the songs.
Peter Ackroyd
wrote a novel, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
in 1994, which was also published under the title The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. Charles Chaplin later cited Leno as an influence on his career, calling him "the greatest comedian since Grimaldi
."
A blue plaque
was erected by the Greater London Council
at his former address, 56 Akerman Road, Camberwell
, in the London Borough of Lambeth
, in 1962.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and dozens of comic plays, pantomimes, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. He was one of the first members (and later leader) of the Grand Order of Water Rats
Grand Order of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is an entertainment industry charity, and brotherhood, based in London. The Water Rats were founded in 1889 by comedian Joe Elvin. The first King Rat, as the head of the charity is termed, was music hall singer Harry Freeman. Comedian Dan Leno joined in 1890 and was...
.
Born in Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, London, he began to entertain as a child. In 1864, he joined his parents on stage at the Cosmotheca Music Hall, Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
, and he made his first solo appearance, aged nine, at the Britannia Music Hall, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. He adopted the stage name Dan Leno in 1884 and made his first performance under that name at the Foresters' Music Hall in Mile End
Mile End
Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...
, London the same year. He became increasingly popular during the 1890s and developed his act of talking about life's mundane subjects, mixed with surreal
Surreal
Surreal may refer to:*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art*"Surreal" , a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki*Surreal , an album by Man Raze*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor...
observations, and created a host of characters which he used to illustrate his stories. In 1901 and much in demand, he performed his "Huntsman" sketch for Edward VII at Sandringham
Sandringham
Sandringham can refer to:Places*Sandringham, Johannesburg, a suburb of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa*Sandringham, Norfolk, a village in Norfolk, England*Sandringham House in the aforementioned village, owned by the British Royal Family...
. The monarch was so impressed that Leno became publicly known as "the king's jester".
Leno appeared in burlesque and many pantomimes, starring in the Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
's famous annual christmas pantomimes, where he became known in the dame
Pantomime dame
A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British pantomime. It is a continuation of en travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. They are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting 'butch' in women's clothing...
roles. Later in his career, he appeared in Edwardian musical comedies until 1903, although he suffered from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. This, together with his long association with dame and low comedy roles, prevented him from being taken seriously as an actor, and he was often turned down for Shakespearian roles. Leno began to behave in an erratic and furious manner, and he was finally committed to a mental asylum in 1903. He died soon after his discharge, aged 43.
Biography
Leno was born at 6 Eve Place, St PancrasSt Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
, London. He was the youngest of six children, including two brothers, Jack (1850 – 1893) and Henry, and a sister, Frances. Two others, Maurice and Louisa, died in infancy. His parents were John Galvin (1828 – 1864) and his wife Louisa, née Dutton (1834 – 1891) who, together, performed in a music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
double act called "The Singing and Acting Duettists". They were also known professionally as Mr and Mrs Johnny Wild. Having had very little schooling, Leno learned to entertain as a child and, in 1864, at the age of three, he joined his parents on stage at the Cosmotheca Music Hall, Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
, under the billing "Infant Wonder, Contortionist, and Posturer". His father died the same year at the age of 37 due partly to his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. In 1865 his mother married William Grant, an Irish comedian, who performed under the stage name of William Leno.
The family home in Marlybone was demolished to make way for St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
in 1866 and, as a result, Leno and his family moved north and settled in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Leno and his brother, Henry, who first taught Leno to dance, formed a clog dancing double act known as The Great Little Lenos. Frances stayed behind and was brought up by her paternal uncle, Michael Galvin, in London, and Jack went to work away as a labourer. Henry soon left the clog dancing act to become a labourer and returned to London, where he later founded a dancing school. Leno became known as The Great Little Leno the Quintessence of Irish Comedians (meaning performer of comic songs) when he made his first solo appeance, aged nine, at the Britannia Music Hall, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
.
Leno's paternal grandfather, Maurice Galvin, was Irish. He and his parents visited, and performed in, Ireland in 1869. While there, he took the first of his two stage names, Dan Patrick. The same year, Leno, his mother and stepfather, appeared in Belfast at the same time as Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, who was giving lectures in local schools, and who encouraged the young Leno.
Early career
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. As a result, he won a gold and silver belt weighing 44.5 oz (1.26 kg). His biographer, J. Hickory Wood, described his act: "He danced on the stage; he danced on a pedestal; he danced on a slab of slate; he was encored over and over again; but throughout his performance, he never uttered a word". He performed his clog dancing routine throughout the British isles with success, but found less interest in clog dancing among the London audiences, who preferred his comic songs.
Leno moved to London in the mid-1880s and gained success with a new act, featuring comedy patter, dancing and song. He made his first appearance as Dan Leno in three London music halls on the same night; the Foresters' Music Hall in Mile End
Mile End
Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...
, Middlesex Music Hall
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
in Drury Lane and Gatti's-in-the-Road in 1885, where he earned £5 a week. Though billed as "The Great Irish Comic Vocalist and Clog Champion", he slowly phased out his dancing in favour of character studies, such as Going to Buy Milk for the Twins and When Rafferty Raffled his Watch.
Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
was as Jack's mother in Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
which he performed at the Surrey Theatre
Surrey Theatre
The Surrey Theatre began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided contemporary London entertainment of both horsemanship and drama...
in 1886, starring the following year in Sinbad. His performances proved popular with audiences, and he was hired in 1888 by Augustus Harris
Augustus Harris
Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris , was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.-Early life:Harris was born in Paris, France, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris , who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier...
, manager at Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
to appear in the theatre's popular annual Christmas pantomime productions, over the next dozen years, including Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile...
(1888 and 1897), Jack and the Beanstalk (1889 and 1899), Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
(1890 and 1900), Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
(1891), Little Bo-peep (1892), Robinson Crusoe (1893), Dick Whittington and His Cat
Dick Whittington and His Cat
Dick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...
(1894), Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
(1895), Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
(1896) and Forty Thieves
Forty Thieves
Forty Thieves is a Patience game. It is quite difficult to win, and relies mostly on skill. It is also known as Napoleon at Saint Helena, Roosevelt at San Juan, Big Forty and Le Cadran.-Rules:* Two decks are used ....
(1898). He often played the pantomime dame
Pantomime dame
A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British pantomime. It is a continuation of en travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. They are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting 'butch' in women's clothing...
to Marie Lloyd
Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood was an English music hall singer, best known as Marie Lloyd. Her ability to add lewdness to the most innocent of lyrics led to frequent clashes with the guardians of morality...
's principal girl. His stage partner in many of these pantomimes was Herbert Campbell (1845–1904). Leno and Campbell would use the script as a basis but improvise freely. This was met with some scepticism by producers, who feared that the scenes would not be funny to audiences and observed that, in any event, they were rarely at their best until a few nights after opening. This caused George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
to write of one appearance: "I hope I never again have to endure anything more dismally futile".
The English essayist, parodist and caricaturist Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
stated that "Leno does not do himself justice collaborating with the public but he was exceptional in giving each of his dames a personality of her own, from extravagant queen to artless gossip". Leno and his regular foil Herbert Campbell were so popular that in Sleeping Beauty they caused the audience to laugh even when they could not see them. Leno and Campbell would arrive on stage in closed palanquins and exchange the lines "Have you anything to do this afternoon, my dear?" – "No, I have nothing on", before being carried off again.
Later career
During the 1890s, Leno set about creating various comedic characters using observations about life in London, including shopwalkers, grocer's assistants, beefeaters, huntsmen, racegoers, firemen, fathers, henpecked husbands, garrulous wives, pantomime dames, a police officer, a Spanish bandit, a fireman, and a hairdresser. He would begin with one verse of a song, then enter into his monologue with the audience, particularly the You know Mrs. Kelly? routine.Leno went to America in 1897, where he was billed as "The Funniest Man On Earth". One newspaper reported that the house roared its approval, while another complained that his English humour was out of date. The following year he became the hero of Dan Leno's Comic Journal. Dan Leno: hys Booke was published in (1899) and was ghost written for him by T. C. Elder.
It was during this period that Leno began to drink heavily, and by 1901 he became an alcoholic. He also became frustrated at not being accepted as a serious actor and became obsessed with the idea of playing Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, inundating the actor–manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
with his proposals. Nevertheless, in Britain, Leno proved to be so popular that he entertained Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
at Sandringham House
Sandringham House
Sandringham House is a country house on of land near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The house is privately owned by the British Royal Family and is located on the royal Sandringham Estate, which lies within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.-History and current...
in 1901, becoming the first music hall performer to give a Royal Command Performance
Royal Command Performance
For the annual Royal Variety Performance performed in Britain for the benefit of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, see Royal Variety Performance...
, earning him the nickname the King’s Jester. A journalist wrote that he was probably the highest paid funny man in the world.
His problems with alcohol caused him to display frequent bouts of erratic behaviour that began to affect his work. The angry outbursts were a result of his diminishing ability to remember his lines and inaudibility in performance. His behaviour caused so much concern that he was sent to an asylum
Asylum
- Politics and society :* Asylum , places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome* Right of asylum or political asylum* Church asylum or sanctuary, a right to be safe from arrest in the sanctuary of a church or temple...
for a while for treatment in 1903.
Personal life
In 1883, Leno met Sarah Lydia Reynolds (1962 – 1935), a BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
born comedy singer, whom he met while appearing in Sunderland
Sunderland
Sunderland lies at the heart of the City of Sunderland, a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. It is situated at the mouth of the River Wear....
. They married in 1884 in a discreet ceremony at St. George's Church, Hulme
Hulme
Hulme is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. Located immediately south of Manchester city centre, it is an area with significant industrial heritage....
, in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, soon after the birth of their first daughter, Georgina. Of their six children, three – Ernest, Sidney, and May were to follow their father on to the stage. Sidney later performed as Dan Leno Jr.
Leno owned two acres of land at the back of his house in Clapham Park, where he produced cabbages, potatoes, poultry, butter and eggs, of which he would send dozens out as Christmas presents. At his peak, Leno earned £250 a week and regularly gave away large sums of money. He was the sixteenth member of the entertainment charity Grand Order of Water Rats
Grand Order of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is an entertainment industry charity, and brotherhood, based in London. The Water Rats were founded in 1889 by comedian Joe Elvin. The first King Rat, as the head of the charity is termed, was music hall singer Harry Freeman. Comedian Dan Leno joined in 1890 and was...
and became its leader, the King Rat, in 1891, 1892 and 1897, and was later president of the Music Hall Benevolent Fund. He also financially supported his mother and stepfather when they retired.
Death
Leno died at his home in Camberwell, London on 31 October 1904, aged 43. A few months earlier, he had been released from the mental asylum where he had been treated for his erratic behaviour. His cause of death at the time was cited as exhaustion, but his cause of death was recorded as general paralysis of the insane, a euphemismEuphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for tertiary syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
.
Thousands of fans lined the route to Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
Cemetery, and it was the biggest funeral for an actor or comedian since the death of David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
. Max Beerbohm later said of Leno's death: "So little and frail a lantern could not long harbour so big a flame". His memorial is maintained by the Grand Order of Water Rats
Grand Order of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is an entertainment industry charity, and brotherhood, based in London. The Water Rats were founded in 1889 by comedian Joe Elvin. The first King Rat, as the head of the charity is termed, was music hall singer Harry Freeman. Comedian Dan Leno joined in 1890 and was...
, which commissioned the restoration of his grave in 2004. The inscription reads, Here sleeps the King of Laughter-Makers. Sleep well, dear heart, until the King of Glory awakens thee.
The comedian and actor Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino was an English actor, dancer, singer, librettist, director and short story writer.-Early career:Lupino began his career as an acrobat and made his stage debut in 1913 and first became known as a music hall performer and played in pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane...
was buried next to Leno in 1942.
Reputation and legacy
Although he performed in London for less than 20 years, Leno gained a legend like status. The essayist and theatre critic, Max BeerbohmMax Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
was an admirer of Leno and often commented on him and his performances. Beerbohm wrote: "Unlike Albert Chevalier
Albert Chevalier
Albert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...
, Leno shifted the centre of gravity from song to patter. His theme was as ever, the sordidness of the lower middle class, seen from within. Yet, in his hand, how gloriously it blazed, illuminating and warming! All that trite and unlovely material, how new and beautiful it became for us through Dan Leno's genius!"
In 1898, Beerbohm replaced George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
as the theatre critic for The Saturday Review
Saturday Review (London)
The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855....
and wrote: "The mass of people, when it seeks pleasure, does not want to be elevated: it wants to laugh at something beneath its own level. Just as I used to go to Music Halls that I might feel my superiority to the audience, so does the audience go that it might compare itself favourably with the debased rapscallions of the songs.
Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd CBE is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, Charles Dickens, T. S. Eliot and Sir Thomas More he won the Somerset Maugham Award...
wrote a novel, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
in 1994, which was also published under the title The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. Charles Chaplin later cited Leno as an influence on his career, calling him "the greatest comedian since Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi , was an English actor and comedian who is perhaps best known for his invention of the modern day whiteface clown. He chiefly appeared at Drury Lane in pantomime where his greatest success was appearing in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg and followed with a successful...
."
A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
was erected by the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
at his former address, 56 Akerman Road, Camberwell
Camberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...
, in the London Borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
, in 1962.
Sources
- Beerbohm, Max. Around Theatres, Rupert Hart-Davis: London, new edition, 1953
- Blumenfeld, R. D. RDB's Diary 1887–1914. London, Heinemann, 1930
- Brandreth, GylesGyles BrandrethGyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
. The Funniest Man On Earth, Hamilton, 1977 - Wood, J. Hickory Wood, Dan Leno, Methuen, 1905
Further reading
- Anthony, Barry. The King's Jester - the life of Dan Leno, I. B. Tauris, 2010
- Collier, Constance, Harlequinade, John Lane, 1929
- Disher, M. Willson. Fairs, Circuses and Music Halls, Collins, 1942
- Lee, Edward. Folksong and Music Hall, Routledge 1982
- Leno, Dan. Dan Leno: His Life, Greening & Co, 1899
- Mander, Raymond and Joe Mitchenson. British Music Hall, Studio Vista, 1965
- Mellor, G. J. Northern Music Hall, Graham, 1970
- Pope, W. Macqueen. The Melodies Linger On Allen, 1950
- Williams, BransbyBransby WilliamsBransby Williams was a British actor, comedian and monologist. He became known as "The Irving of the Music Halls".-Early years:...
. Bransby Williams, by , Hutchinson, 1954
External links
- Dan Leno - includes recordings 'The Huntsman' (1901) and 'Going To The Races' (1903)
- The legacy of Dan Leno @ Ward's Book of Days
- Lions, camels, and clowns at the oval: 1901, when London hosted one of cricket's most unusual matches
- Photo of the young Leno at the Victoria & Albert Museum