Table of Contents

Overture – The Road to Ruin ‘Dashing’ Eva Lester – The Californian Gem Little Lily Harley – Original and Refined Kitty Fairdale – The Crème de la Crème of Terpsichorean Serio-Comics Charles Chaplin – Descriptive Singer Arthur West – Topical and Extempore Vocalist Leo Dryden – The Kipling of the Halls Will Godwin – Dramatic Sketch Artist The Eight Lancashire Lads – Characteristic and Champion Clog Dancers Jessie Macnally – The Dublin Girl Casey’s Circus – A Ragged Burlesque Fred Karno and his Colossal Combination of Comedians 13. The Great Calvero – Master of Pantomime and Comic Songs

Promotional Information

Charlie Chaplin grew up in and around the music hall. His parents, aunt and their friends all earned their precarious livings on the stage and Chaplin himself started out his career touring music halls with a dance troupe. The author tells the story of the lives and careers of Chaplin's family and their music-hall circle.

About the Author

Barry Anthony is a historian with a particular interest in the Victorian and Edwardian period who has written extensively about popular culture and entertainment. He is the author of The King's Jester: The Life of Dan Leno, Victorian Comic Genius (I.B.Tauris, 2010) and co- author, with Richard Brown, of a groundbreaking study of the early British cinema, A Victorian Film Enterprise (1999).

Reviews

'Chaplin's work is rooted in music hall. That is not surprising since both his drunken father and his deranged mother earned their living on the halls. As a writer examining Chaplin's links with music hall, Barry Anthony could not be bettered. A recognised expert on early cinema and the music halls, he paints a vivid account of a crucial part of Chaplin's extraordinary career.' Richard Anthony Baker, author of British Music Hall: An Illustrated History and editor of Music Hall Studies. 'I have learned such a lot from this book. It is meticulously researched and well written; an important addition to music-hall history and to Chaplin studies.' Max Tyler, Historian of the British Music Hall Society. 'Barry Anthony has managed to bring back to life the often remarkable and dramatic lives of the performers who once entertained the British public in the many music halls throughout the country.' Michael Chaplin, from the foreword to this book.