Little Tich

Born in Cudham, Kent, Little Tich began performing aged ten when he developed a dance and tin-whistle act which he showcased at public houses in Sevenoaks.

Little Tich's act further developed during a tour of the United States between 1887 and 1889 where he established the Big-Boot Dance and impressed audiences with his ability to stand on the tips of the shoes and to lean at extraordinary angles.

Patrons would travel from neighbouring counties to witness his peculiarities, and the youngster revelled in the attention, dancing comically on his father's saloon bar to curious guests.

From an early age, he displayed considerable academic ability and also excelled in art; by the time he was five, his drawings were being sold to patrons of the Blacksmith's Arms by his father.

[7] The socially withdrawn Little Tich was forced to adapt to much busier surroundings; day-trippers, holidaymakers and fishermen often frequented the streets and occupied the plethora of public houses which adorned the port and neighbouring roads.

Thanks largely to his local celebrity status of being a "freak",[11] he was welcomed into the many public houses which catered for soldiers, sailors, merchant seamen and day-trippers from London.

Thrilled at the prospect of appearing in a proper music hall, Little Tich changed his name from The Infant Mackney to Young Tichborne, a nickname he had gained while living in Cudham years earlier.

[22][30][n 7] His reasoning for the name change was to capitalise on the release of the Tichborne claimant fraudster Arthur Orton who was then touring the British Isles in the hope of reopening the case.

[37] A critic for The Era who witnessed him perform at the Marylebone thought that he was "a curious comic" and that "his antics, his sayings and his business generally [were] very amusing, and he will doubtless improve in his singing, which is weak at present, even for a Negro delineator".

Robinson Crusoe opened at the Royal Princess Theatre in Glasgow and he appeared in the small role of Chillingowadaborie, a black-faced attendant for one of the main characters King Tum-tum.

[41][42] Little Tich left for America in the early months of 1887[40] and assumed his first role for Pastor in a burlesque version of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, playing the lead character for a fee of £10 a week.

To show his appreciation for the record profits and huge audience attendances, Pastor presented Little Tich with a gold medal and a rare white Bohemian Shepherd dog which the comedian called Cheri.

[44] In June 1888, at the Chicago Opera House, Little Tich starred in The Crystal Slipper, a burlesque loosely based on Cinderella;[n 9] the production was a hit for the comedian and completed a run of over ten months.

He was told by a producer that the American audiences would find the black face and English accent too much of a contrast and opined "a deaf mute with one eye could see you aint a coon".

The show featured a burlesque centrepiece which required Little Tich to dress as a ballerina and gave him the opportunity to perform two of his earliest songs, "Smiles" and "I Could Do, Could Do, Could Do with a Bit", both written for him by Walter Tilbury.

[60] Towards the end of the year, Little Tich appeared at the opening of the Tivoli Music Hall, before returning to Manchester at Christmas to fulfil the second of his two pantomime engagements for Thomas Charles in Little Bo-peep, in which he played Toddlekins.

Unaware of Harris's plans, Little Tich approached him with a view of a pay rise; the proposition angered the manager and not only was his request refused, but he was also ruled out of any future production.

[78] In 1894, free from his contractual obligations at Drury Lane, he took a three-year break from the English music hall scene and travelled to France[74] to fulfil a number of engagements; over the next ten years, he divided his time between there and England.

One journalist for the Sunday Referee claimed that "no artist since Loie Fuller, four years earlier, had scored such a success",[83] and as a result, he signed a two-year contract at the Folies.

During 1897, while Little Tich was away on a tour of England, Germany and Austria, Laurie eloped to Berlin with the French actor François Marty, leaving her husband responsible for their young son Paul.

[101] The following year, Little Tich's performance at the Oxford Music Hall was described as being "... a very droll turn" by a reporter for The Cornishman newspaper, who also called his Big-Boot Dance "wonderful".

[103] Despite their troubles, he married Julia in a discreet London ceremony on 31 March 1904 at St Giles Register Office[98] and rented a further address at 44 Bedford Court Mansions in Bloomsbury.

[104] Although initially happy, the marriage quickly deteriorated as a result of differing opinions over social activities and money; Julia was a sociable and extravagant person, whilst Little Tich preferred a quieter and thriftier lifestyle.

[123] In 1916 Winifred moved into a rented flat in Camden,[124] chosen by Little Tich for its close proximity to his house in Bedford Square; this enabled him to visit her with less chance of being recognised.

[128] Despite renting a new, six-room flat in Marylebone for his daughter and mistress, the comedian was now finding it increasingly difficult to support Winifred, Mary and Julia on his earnings as the years of generosity had drastically depleted his savings.

[133] He made frequent visits back to Bedford Court Mansions to organise Julia's paperwork and discovered that his wife had been having an affair with his friend Emile Footgers and that she was ten years older than she had led her husband to believe.

[134] Little Tich also found that she had used his money to buy a house in Golders Green as a future investment for Paul's daughter Constance,[n 22][135] and that his wife had participated in a secret scam to blackmail the comedian out of large quantities of cash.

[139] For the honeymoon, the family travelled to Bristol, where Little Tich appeared on stage with the French actress Mistinguett, who presented him with a tributary gold statue of him wearing big boots.

At the end of that year, the family paid a working visit to Australia, where he toured the Sydney theatres for a fee of £300 a week;[140][n 23] he received a lukewarm reception from audiences.

He was frequently visited by the surgeon Sir Alfred Fripp, who made a secondary diagnosis of pernicious anaemia which he cited as having played an instrumental part in the comedian's seizure.