Marie Lloyd
Performer of the British Music Hall
Marie Lloyd was a star performer of the British Music Hall at the turn of the 20th century, her acts influenced generations of performers and some of her songs became an integral part of the English culture.
Born Matilda Alice Victoria Wood, Marie Lloyd made her debut in 1885 and soon rose to fame with her first big success, the song “Wink the Other Eye”. In 1891, she appeared in Drury Lane in her first pantomime “Humpty Dumpty” together with Dan Leno and Little Tich. Within a couple of months her weekly earnings rose from £10 to £1000.
Of short stature with pretty small hands and feet, always beautifully turned out on stage, Marie Lloyd performed with great wit and humour and was adored by her audiences. She was famous for her saucy winks that filled her songs with sexual innuendo.
Marie Lloyd performed at Drury Lane in several pantomimes and toured in South Africa and America. One of the most successful and enduring songs of the 1890s was “Oh! Mr Potter”. But as successful her public persona was, she suffered greatly in her private life. Two of her three husbands turned out to be violent alcoholics who ended up abusing her.
Marie Lloyd reigned in music halls all around Britain. However, she suffered a humiliation: she was not invited to perform at the first Royal Command Variety Performance. She staged her own show instead! Her act was judged to be too saucy or vulgar for the royal eyes. Another humiliation awaited her in the United States where in 1913 she was not allowed entry due to the fact she was not married to her partner, Bernard Dillon.
She was as charitable during peacetime helping orphanages and destitute children as she was during the First World War. Marie Lloyd performed for troops and in factories and gave most of her earnings to the wounded. It was in 1915 that she first sang the famous “A little of what you fancy does you good” for which she is mostly remembered. In 1919, two years before her untimely death, she performed also one of her most enduring songs “Don’t dilly dally”.
One night while performing at the Edmonton Empire music hall, Marie Lloyd collapsed on stage. She was at the time singing the famous “I’m a bit of ruin that Cromwell knocked about a bit”. She stumbled and the audience thought it was part of the act and roared with laughter. But when the curtain fell she collapsed and died three days later.
She remains affectionately known as "Our Marie" and "Queen of the Music Hall".
Sources
Richard Baker, British Music Hall. An Illustrated History, Sutton Publishing 2005
Nigel Fountain, Lost Empires. The Phenomenon of Theatres Past, Present and Future, Cassel Illustrated 2005
Marie Lloyd
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