Born Harry Relph in 1867, the 16th child of an English publican, Little Tich was not only extremely short standing only 4ft 6in (137cm) but also a polydactyl: he had 12 fingers and 12 toes. He started performing at the age of 12 and made his debut in London in 1884 adopting the nickname Little Tich or Titch from a notorious English trial of an impersonator.
Little Tich in the Music Hall
Little Tich first performed as a "black-face" comedian and in 1887 he set out for America where he worked for two years in the Chicago State Opera Company. Two years later reached the peak of his fame as a music hall star performer. He appeared in London at the Empire, the Tivoli at the Strand and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane alongside star performers of the time, Marie Lloyd and Dan Leno.
In the 1890s Little Tich took Europe by storm. He performed in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Hungary and Spain but his biggest success was in Paris where he appeared at the Alhambra, the Olympia and the Folie Bergere.
Little Tich Dance Routine
The diminutive British music hall performer developed a very successful dance routine called the Big Boot Dance during which he danced, sometimes on tiptoe, wearing 28-inch-long boots. Little Tich developed two more dance routines: the Serpentine dance, which was a parody of Loie Fuller's dance and the fandango, where he wore a large wig and a tutu.
He played many characters over the years, his most famous being the police inspector, the tax collector and the Spanish lady. A star of the music hall both in his home country and abroad, Litte Tich was able to claim huge amounts of money for his performances. People flocked to see the diminituve performer with the short legs, the superb agility, the trademark dance routine and the funny impersonations.
Star Performer, Little Tich
Little Tich was the first music hall performer to be become an honourary French officer in appreciation of his superb performances in Folie Bergere. His energetic dances inspired the second piece of Igor Stravinsky's Three Pieces for String Quartet in which the composer introduces a novel style.
When Little Tich decided to abandon his Big Boot Dance routine due to excruciating pain, the audiences reacted badly and he received hostile receptions. Heartbroken, his status as an international music hall star performer tarnished, his earnings falling dramatically, he suffered a stroke in 1927 from which he never recovered. Little Tich died in 1928 and was buried in Saint Marylebone Cemetery in London.
Sources
M. Tich and R. Findlater, Little Tich, Giant of the Music Hall, Elm Tree Books, 1979
R.A. Baker, British Music Hall: An Illustrated History, The History Press, 2005
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