Walter Passmore
Encyclopedia
Walter Henry Passmore was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith
in the comic baritone
roles in Gilbert and Sullivan
operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
.
Passmore began performing professionally at the age of fourteen in the pantomime
Cinderella. He apprenticed to a piano maker and then worked as a pianist before returning to acting, making his London debut in 1890. In 1893, Passmore joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, soon becoming the company's principal comedian. He created roles in the original productions of the last two Gilbert and Sullivan
operas and in many other Savoy Opera
s. He also played the patter roles
in several Gilbert and Sullivan revivals, and he also toured for the company.
In 1903, Passmore left the company and began a career in musical comedies
, plays and pantomimes in London's West End
and on tour that lasted for thirty years. His West End appearances included roles in such important productions as The Earl and the Girl
(1903), The Talk of the Town (1905) and Madame Pompadour
(1924). He often appeared on stage with his wife, Agnes Fraser.
and became a choirboy at All Saints Church
in Notting Hill
. On Christmas morning 1881 he sang in Messiah
, and the following day he made his first professional stage appearance at the age of fourteen at Sunderland as a page in the pantomime
Cinderella. He then served as an apprentice to the piano maker Cramers, but at the end of the apprenticeship he took a job as a pianist with traveling concert parties and performed in farcical comedies. In 1890, Passmore made his London
debut in a revival of Dion Boucicault
's drama The Flying Scud at the Standard Theatre, Bishopgate, and performed in musicals for the next three years.
Passmore joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
in 1893, where he created the small part of Greg in the unsuccessful Jane Annie
at the Savoy Theatre
(libretto by J. M. Barrie
and Arthur Conan Doyle
; music by Ernest Ford
). Next, in Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited
(1893–94), he created the role of Tarara, the public exploder. He then created the role of Bobinet in Mirette
(1894). Bobinet was Passmore's first real starring part. In the autumn of 1894, Passmore named his new daughter "Mirette", perhaps in acknowledgement of his success in this breakout role. He also performed in Utopia in the role of King Paramount on tour that year. Passmore next created the role of Peter Adolphus Grigg in Sullivan and Burnand
's The Chieftain
(1894–1895). After this, he toured as Bobinet and Grigg.
(1895–97). In between these revivals, he created the role of Grand Duke Rudolph in Gilbert and Sullivan's last opera, The Grand Duke
(1896). In 1897, in His Majesty, he created the part of Boodel, earning good notices. He next played Jack Point in the first revival of The Yeomen of the Guard
(1897). This was followed by the roles of General Boum in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
(1897–98) and the Grand Inquisitor
, Don Alhambra, in revivals of The Gondoliers
(1898). In 1898, he created the role of The Devil in the original production of The Beauty Stone
.
Passmore continued to play at the Savoy as the Usher in Trial by Jury
, John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer
(1898) and King Ouf I in The Lucky Star
(1899). After seeing Passmore's performance in The Lucky Star, Sullivan noted in his diary, "The fun of the whole piece lies in Passmore. Take him out and nothing's left. He worked splendidly and carried the opera through. I wish though he could drop his 'cockney' accent and manners at times." Passmore next played Sir Joseph in a revival of H.M.S. Pinafore
(1899). While rehearsing the role, Passmore suggested to W. S. Gilbert
that he might walk around with his nose in the air "as though raising it above an unpleasant smell." Gilbert quipped, "Unpleasant smell? Well, you're the best judge of that, Passmore."
Passmore then created the role of Hassan in The Rose of Persia
(1899–1900) and played the Sergeant of Police in the second revival of The Pirates of Penzance
(1900) and in the first revival of Patience
(1900–01), he was Bunthorne. He created the role of Professor Bunn in The Emerald Isle
(1901), was Ping-Pong in The Willow Pattern
(1901), and played the Lord Chancellor in the first revival of Iolanthe
(1901–02). He created the role of Walter Wilkins in Merrie England
(1902, and on tour) and played Puck in A Princess of Kensington
(1903, and on tour).
Passmore's theatrical performances were famous for their visual humour. George Baker
remembered Passmore's Sergeant of Police as being "obstreperously funny."
, plays and pantomime
s in London's West End
and on tour that lasted for thirty years. He first appeared at the Adelphi Theatre
, where he played Jim Cheese in the hit musical The Earl and the Girl
(1903), then to the Lyric Theatre
as Jerry Snipe in The Talk of the Town (1905) and as Private Charlie Taylor in The Blue Moon (1905). His pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
included Cinderella (1905), Sinbad (1906), and Babes In The Wood (1907), At the Apollo Theatre
, Passmore appeared in The Dairymaids (1906), and at the Queen's Theatre
, he played Baptiste Boubillon in The Belle of Brittany (1908). In 1910, Passmore played Frosch, the jailer, in Johann Strauss
's Die Fledermaus
in Thomas Beecham
's first opera season at Covent Garden
. The production – one of the few works in the season not to lose money – "depended for its popularity in part upon Walter Passmore, the celebrated D'Oyly Carte droll".
Next, Passmore toured in Merrie England again in 1911. He appeared as Alphonse Bouchotte in Oh! Oh! Delphine in 1913 at the Shaftesbury Theatre
, and as Jericho Mardyke in Our Nell in 1924 at the Gaiety Theatre. He also appeared in Madame Pompadour
(1924). A late Gilbert and Sullivan performance was in Trial by Jury
at a benefit matinée for Courtice Pounds
in 1927, when Passmore was joined by stars including Leslie Henson
and Derek Oldham
. After this long career, his last role was Count Theodore Volney in 1933 in The Damask Rose.
In 1900, Passmore married another D'Oyly Carte artist, Agnes Fraser, who frequently appeared with him on stage. They had four children: Henry, a general manager of Hammer films 1935-37; Nancy, who married tenor Joseph Hislop
; John; and Isobel.
Passmore died at Golders Green
, London at the age of 79.
Between 1900 and 1913, Passmore recorded over a dozen of individual songs from the Gilbert & Sullivan operas for Odeon
. Many of these have been re-issued by Pearl on LP and CD ("The Art of the Savoyard," Pearl GEMM CD 9991).
In an historic 1908 recording of The Mikado for Odeon
that was reissued by Pearl on LP (GEMM 198), Passmore also sang the role of Ko-Ko. This recording is nearly complete and is a rare opportunity to hear an artist who recorded a role that he played under Gilbert's and Sullivan's personal direction.
George Grossmith
George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...
in the comic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
roles in Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
.
Passmore began performing professionally at the age of fourteen in the 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...
Cinderella. He apprenticed to a piano maker and then worked as a pianist before returning to acting, making his London debut in 1890. In 1893, Passmore joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, soon becoming the company's principal comedian. He created roles in the original productions of the last two Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
operas and in many other Savoy Opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...
s. He also played the patter roles
Patter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
in several Gilbert and Sullivan revivals, and he also toured for the company.
In 1903, Passmore left the company and began a career in musical comedies
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
, plays and pantomimes in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on tour that lasted for thirty years. His West End appearances included roles in such important productions as The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for...
(1903), The Talk of the Town (1905) and Madame Pompadour
Madame Pompadour (operetta)
Madame Pompadour is an operetta in three acts, composed by Leo Fall with a libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Welisch. Conducted by the composer, It opened at the Berliner Theater in Berlin on September 9, 1922 and then at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on March 2,...
(1924). He often appeared on stage with his wife, Agnes Fraser.
Early career
Passmore was born in LondonLondon
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 became a choirboy at All Saints Church
All Saints Notting Hill
All Saints Notting Hill is a Victorian Anglican church in Talbot Road, Notting Hill, London. It is a Grade II* listed building, built of stone with polychrome decoration in the Victorian gothic style. The west tower has five stages with the stump of a spire, and the sanctuary features paintings by...
in Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
. On Christmas morning 1881 he sang in Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
, and the following day he made his first professional stage appearance at the age of fourteen at Sunderland as a page in the 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...
Cinderella. He then served as an apprentice to the piano maker Cramers, but at the end of the apprenticeship he took a job as a pianist with traveling concert parties and performed in farcical comedies. In 1890, Passmore made his 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...
debut in a revival of Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
's drama The Flying Scud at the Standard Theatre, Bishopgate, and performed in musicals for the next three years.
Passmore joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
in 1893, where he created the small part of Greg in the unsuccessful Jane Annie
Jane Annie
Jane Annie, or The Good Conduct Prize is an opera written in 1893 by J. M. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle, with music by Ernest Ford, a conductor and occasional composer....
at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
(libretto by J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
and Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
; music by Ernest Ford
Ernest Ford
Ernest A. Claire Ford was an English composer of operas and ballet music and a conductor.-Life and career:Ford was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, the son of the vestry clerk and organist there. From 1868-73, he sang in the chorus at Salisbury Cathedral...
). Next, in Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited
Utopia, Limited
Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances...
(1893–94), he created the role of Tarara, the public exploder. He then created the role of Bobinet in Mirette
Mirette (opera)
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...
(1894). Bobinet was Passmore's first real starring part. In the autumn of 1894, Passmore named his new daughter "Mirette", perhaps in acknowledgement of his success in this breakout role. He also performed in Utopia in the role of King Paramount on tour that year. Passmore next created the role of Peter Adolphus Grigg in Sullivan and Burnand
Francis Burnand
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand , often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and dramatist....
's The Chieftain
The Chieftain
The Chieftain is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand based on their 1867 opera, The Contrabandista. It consists of substantially the same first act as the 1867 work with a completely new second act...
(1894–1895). After this, he toured as Bobinet and Grigg.
Principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte
Passmore returned to the Savoy in 1895, where he continued as D'Oyly Carte's principal comedian, playing Ko-Ko in revivals of The MikadoThe Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
(1895–97). In between these revivals, he created the role of Grand Duke Rudolph in Gilbert and Sullivan's last opera, The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on March 7, 1896, and ran for 123 performances...
(1896). In 1897, in His Majesty, he created the part of Boodel, earning good notices. He next played Jack Point in the first revival of The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
(1897). This was followed by the roles of General Boum in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is an opéra bouffe , in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
(1897–98) and the Grand Inquisitor
Grand Inquisitor
Grand Inquisitor is the lead official of an Inquisition. The most famous Inquisitor General is the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.-List of Spanish Grand Inquisitors:-Castile:-Aragon:...
, Don Alhambra, in revivals of The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
(1898). In 1898, he created the role of The Devil in the original production of The Beauty Stone
The Beauty Stone
The Beauty Stone is an opera, billed as a "romantic musical drama" in three acts, composed by Arthur Sullivan to a libretto by Arthur Wing Pinero and J. Comyns Carr. The medieval Faustian story concerns an ugly, crippled girl, who dreams of being beautiful and meeting a handsome prince. The Devil...
.
Passmore continued to play at the Savoy as the Usher in Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
, John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...
(1898) and King Ouf I in The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star
The Lucky Star is an English comic opera, in three acts, composed by Ivan Caryll, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood...
(1899). After seeing Passmore's performance in The Lucky Star, Sullivan noted in his diary, "The fun of the whole piece lies in Passmore. Take him out and nothing's left. He worked splendidly and carried the opera through. I wish though he could drop his 'cockney' accent and manners at times." Passmore next played Sir Joseph in a revival of H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
(1899). While rehearsing the role, Passmore suggested to W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
that he might walk around with his nose in the air "as though raising it above an unpleasant smell." Gilbert quipped, "Unpleasant smell? Well, you're the best judge of that, Passmore."
Passmore then created the role of Hassan in The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia
The Rose of Persia; or, The Story-Teller and the Slave, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitable run of 211 performances...
(1899–1900) and played the Sergeant of Police in the second revival of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
(1900) and in the first revival of Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
(1900–01), he was Bunthorne. He created the role of Professor Bunn in The Emerald Isle
The Emerald Isle
The Emerald Isle; or, The Caves of Carrig-Cleena, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 27 April 1901, closing on 9 November 1901 after a run of 205 performances...
(1901), was Ping-Pong in The Willow Pattern
The Willow Pattern
The Willow Pattern is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Basil Hood and music by Cecil Cook. It was first performed at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901, running for a total of 110 performances. It toured thereafter....
(1901), and played the Lord Chancellor in the first revival of Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
(1901–02). He created the role of Walter Wilkins in Merrie England
Merrie England (opera)
Merrie England is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood. The patriotic story concerns love and rivalries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who is portrayed as jealous of the affection of Sir Walter Raleigh for Bessie Throckmorton. Its sunny depiction of...
(1902, and on tour) and played Puck in A Princess of Kensington
A Princess of Kensington
A Princess of Kensington is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances....
(1903, and on tour).
Passmore's theatrical performances were famous for their visual humour. George Baker
George Baker (record singer)
George Baker was an English singer. He is remembered for singing on thousands of gramophone records in a career that spanned 53 years, beginning in 1909...
remembered Passmore's Sergeant of Police as being "obstreperously funny."
Later years
Passmore stayed in London when the D'Oyly Carte company went on tour in 1903. There he began a career in musical comediesEdwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
, plays and 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...
s in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on tour that lasted for thirty years. He first appeared at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, where he played Jim Cheese in the hit musical The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl
The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for...
(1903), then to the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
as Jerry Snipe in The Talk of the Town (1905) and as Private Charlie Taylor in The Blue Moon (1905). His pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, 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,...
included Cinderella (1905), Sinbad (1906), and Babes In The Wood (1907), At the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, Passmore appeared in The Dairymaids (1906), and at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, he played Baptiste Boubillon in The Belle of Brittany (1908). In 1910, Passmore played Frosch, the jailer, in Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
's Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
in Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
's first opera season at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
. The production – one of the few works in the season not to lose money – "depended for its popularity in part upon Walter Passmore, the celebrated D'Oyly Carte droll".
Next, Passmore toured in Merrie England again in 1911. He appeared as Alphonse Bouchotte in Oh! Oh! Delphine in 1913 at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
, and as Jericho Mardyke in Our Nell in 1924 at the Gaiety Theatre. He also appeared in Madame Pompadour
Madame Pompadour (operetta)
Madame Pompadour is an operetta in three acts, composed by Leo Fall with a libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Welisch. Conducted by the composer, It opened at the Berliner Theater in Berlin on September 9, 1922 and then at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on March 2,...
(1924). A late Gilbert and Sullivan performance was in Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
at a benefit matinée for Courtice Pounds
Courtice Pounds
Charles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member...
in 1927, when Passmore was joined by stars including Leslie Henson
Leslie Henson
Leslie Lincoln Henson was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall comedian who enjoyed a long stage career...
and Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
. After this long career, his last role was Count Theodore Volney in 1933 in The Damask Rose.
In 1900, Passmore married another D'Oyly Carte artist, Agnes Fraser, who frequently appeared with him on stage. They had four children: Henry, a general manager of Hammer films 1935-37; Nancy, who married tenor Joseph Hislop
Joseph Hislop
Joseph Hislop was a lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio and gave concerts around the world....
; John; and Isobel.
Passmore died at Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
, London at the age of 79.
Recordings
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
. Many of these have been re-issued by Pearl on LP and CD ("The Art of the Savoyard," Pearl GEMM CD 9991).
In an historic 1908 recording of The Mikado for Odeon
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
that was reissued by Pearl on LP (GEMM 198), Passmore also sang the role of Ko-Ko. This recording is nearly complete and is a rare opportunity to hear an artist who recorded a role that he played under Gilbert's and Sullivan's personal direction.