Florrie Forde
Encyclopedia
Florrie Forde born Flora May Augusta Flannagan, was an Australia
n popular singer and entertainer. She was one of the greatest stars of the early 20th century music hall
.
Forde was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne
, Australia
in 1875, the sixth of the eight children of Lott Flannagan and Phoebe - who also had two children from a prior marriage. At the age of sixteen, she ran away from home to appear on the Sydney
music hall stage, adopting the surname of her stepfather. At the age of 21 in 1897, she left for London
, and on August Bank Holiday 1897, she made her first appearances in London at three music halls — the South London Palace, the Pavilion and the Oxford — in the course of one evening. She became an immediate star, making the first of her many sound recordings in 1903 and making 700 individual recordings by 1936.
Forde had a powerful stage presence, and specialised in songs that had powerful and memorable choruses in which the audience was encouraged to join. She married in 1909 and was soon drawing top billing, singing songs such as "Down At The Old Bull And Bush" and "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
". She appeared in the very first Royal Command Performance
in 1912. During World War I
, her most famous songs were some of the best known of the period, including "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag
", "It's A Long Way To Tipperary
" and "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty
".
Florrie Forde formed her own travelling revue in the 1920s. It provided a platform for new rising stars, the most famous being the singing duo of Flanagan and Allen
. She collapsed and died after singing for troops in Aberdeen
, Scotland
of a cerebral haemorrhage on 18 April 1940.
The Anglo-Irish
poet Louis MacNeice
left a tribute to her in a poem, 'Death of An Actress', recalling how:
She is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n popular singer and entertainer. She was one of the greatest stars of the early 20th century 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...
.
Forde was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1875, the sixth of the eight children of Lott Flannagan and Phoebe - who also had two children from a prior marriage. At the age of sixteen, she ran away from home to appear on the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
music hall stage, adopting the surname of her stepfather. At the age of 21 in 1897, she left for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and on August Bank Holiday 1897, she made her first appearances in London at three music halls — the South London Palace, the Pavilion and the Oxford — in the course of one evening. She became an immediate star, making the first of her many sound recordings in 1903 and making 700 individual recordings by 1936.
Forde had a powerful stage presence, and specialised in songs that had powerful and memorable choruses in which the audience was encouraged to join. She married in 1909 and was soon drawing top billing, singing songs such as "Down At The Old Bull And Bush" and "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
"Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?", music and lyrics by C.W. Murphy and Will Letters , is a British music hall song, originally titled "Kelly From the Isle of Man". It was adapted for American audiences by William McKenna in 1909 for the American musical The Jolly Bachelors...
". She appeared in the very first 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...
in 1912. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, her most famous songs were some of the best known of the period, including "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag
Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag
"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile" is the full name of a World War I marching song, published in 1915 in London. It was written by George Henry Powell under the pseudonym of "George Asaf", and set to music by his brother Felix Powell...
", "It's A Long Way To Tipperary
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
It's a Long Way to Tipperary is a British music hall and marching song written by Jack Judge and co-credited to, but not co-written by, Henry James "Harry" Williams. It was allegedly written for a 5 shilling bet in Stalybridge on 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local music hall...
" and "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty
Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty
"Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" is a music hall song written by Arthur J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott in 1916. It was popular during the First World War and tells a story of three fictional soldiers on the Western Front suffering from homesickness and their longing to return to...
".
Florrie Forde formed her own travelling revue in the 1920s. It provided a platform for new rising stars, the most famous being the singing duo of Flanagan and Allen
Flanagan and Allen
Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act popular during World War II. Its members were Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen...
. She collapsed and died after singing for troops in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
of a cerebral haemorrhage on 18 April 1940.
The Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
poet Louis MacNeice
Louis MacNeice
Frederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
left a tribute to her in a poem, 'Death of An Actress', recalling how:
With an elephantine shimmy and a sugared wink
She threw a trellis of Dorothy Perkins roses
Around an audience come from slum and suburb
And weary of the tea-leaves in the sink.
She is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London.
Selected Songs
- "Down At The Old Bull And Bush"
- "She's a Lassie from Lancashire"
- "Oh! Oh! Antonio!"
- "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?"
- "Flanagan"
- "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty"
- "Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy"
- "Goodbye-ee"
- "A Bird in a Gilded CageA Bird in a Gilded Cage"A Bird in a Gilded Cage" is a song composed by Arthur J. Lamb and Harry Von Tilzer . It was a sentimental ballad that became one of the most popular songs of 1900, reportedly selling more than two million copies in sheet music...
" - "Daisy BellDaisy Bell"Daisy Bell" is a popular song with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy/Give me your answer do/I'm half crazy/all for the love of you" as well as the line "...a bicycle built for two".-History:"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892...
" - "I Do Like To Be Beside The SeasideI Do Like To be Beside the Seaside"I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside" is a popular British music hall song. It was written in 1907 by John A. Glover-Kind and made famous by music hall singer Mark Sheridan who first recorded it in 1909. It speaks of the singer's love for the seaside, and their wish to return there for their summer...
" - "Now I Have to Call him Father"
- "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag"
- "It's A Long Way To Tipperary"
Selected filmography
- My Old Dutch (1934)
- Say It With FlowersSay It With FlowersSay It With Flowers is a 1934 British musical film directed by John Baxter and starring Mary Clare, Ben Field and George Carney. In London a group of shopkeepers hold a benefit concert in a local pub to raise money for a woman to visit the seaside for her health...
(1934)
External links
- Florrie Forde - you can hear her sing 'I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside' - you can hear her sing 'Halt ! Who goes there ?'
- Eight digitally restored recordings to listen to.
- Florrie Forde singing "Has Anybody Seen Kelly"