Pacie Ripple

[2] He was a member of the chorus and an understudy in a touring D'Oyly Carte Opera Company group when he made his first appearance in a named role in Wigan on 10 June 1889, as the leading tenor, Colonel Fairfax, in The Yeomen of the Guard by Gilbert and Sullivan.

He remained in the United States when the production ended in April 1890 and, assuming the stage name Arthur Pacie, began to work for the American playwright and theatrical manager Charles H.

Pinafore, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, the Duke of Dunstable in Patience, Tolloller in Iolanthe, Cyril in Princess Ida, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Fairfax in The Yeomen of the Guard,[3] and Marco in The Gondoliers.

Ripple finally left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in June 1907 and returned to the United States where he appeared in mostly musical comedies, in such works as Alvarez y Toledo in The Girls of Holland (1907); Herr von Trautenbach in Baron Trenck (1912); Valiant Dunnybrig in The Farmer's Wife (1924–1925); Mr. John Weston in The Complex (1925); Abe Pintree in Three Doors (1925); Robert Stanton in Mae West's scandalous play Sex (1926–1927); Bye Bye Bonnie (1927); Inspector Ratchett in The Wrecker (1928);[5] Monsieur Beaunoir in The New Moon (1928–1929); Monsieur D'Ayen in The Little Father of the Wilderness (1930); Jung in Overture (1930–1931); Fauntley in The Good Companions at the Forrest Theatre (1931); Besson in The Barrister (1932) and Terry in Under Glass (1933), before creating the small role of Bishop Dodson in Anything Goes at the Alvin Theatre in 1934.

[9] In several interviews later in life Ripple made a number of false claims about his early career, including that he had been a principal tenor at the Savoy Theatre for 7 years and had acted as W. S. Gilbert's assistant stage manager.