Eric Thorne

[1] In early 1888, Thorne played the part of the Lord Chamberlain in a touring production of The Punch Bowl, a musical comedy about a prince who believes he is invisible.

[8] On 11 September 1897, Thorne played Hilarius, the dollmaker, in a single matinee performance of La Poupée at the Prince of Wales, which was to launch a provincial tour,[9] an unusual event arranged at the suggestion of Henry Lowenfeld.

[14] Over the ensuing decades, Thorne continued to make a name for himself in musical theatre on tour in Britain, and he also worked overseas, in France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, and the United States.

[1] In 1908, Thorne was Baron Popoff in a touring production of The Merry Widow, and his performance, "clothed by his characteristic gesture and mannerism", was praised in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

[16] A later theatre history comments that "Thorne made a big hit on tour in George Graves' part of Baron Popoff in The Merry Widow.

"[17] Between 1909 and 1910, he toured in a George Edwardes production of The Dollar Princess as Mr Bulgar, with the Leeds Mercury reporting that he "gagged with conspicuous daring and success".

[20] Between February and September 1913, Thorne starred on tour in Robert Courtneidge's Princess Caprice,[21] and from January to March 1914 he was in P. G. Wodehouse's revue Nuts and Wine at the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square.

For some reason, he never made good as a permanent "West Ender" in the theatrical world, though his artistry, always unfailing and resourceful, fully entitled him to a front rank.

[27] Ada was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in 1850, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music, going on to sing roles in operetta, Victorian burlesque, and pantomime between the 1870s and the 1890s.