Vesta Tilley 1864-1952
Born Matilda Alice Powle May 13th 1864 British music hall singer and one of the most famous male impersonators of her era
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Encouraged by her comedy-actor songwriter music-hall-chairman father, Matilda made her first appearance on stage aged just 3½
Aged 6, Tilley made her first male-dressed role in ‘The Pocket Sims Reeves’
Opera singer Sims Reeves
“I felt tha express my if I were as a
at I could yself better e dressed boy�
During her youth, Matilda used the stagename:
THE GREAT TILLEY
By the age of 11, Matilda’s salary was able to support her parents and siblings
April 1878 saw the first use of the name Vesta Tilley
Composed of Vesta, a safety match brand and the Roman Goddess of heath and home and her childhood nickname, Tilley
Initially performing female roles, Tilley sang sentimental pieces such as ‘Poor Jo’ in which she played a workhouse child
As Tilley got older, she began Performing songs po other male impersonators. behaving embar Performing songs portraying behaving embarrassingly or b
nortraying to follow young men
rrassing or badly
g young men badly
Tilley’s impersonations intended to be comical, allowing the audience to la at the characters often hyperbolic and inflated eg
augh
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Amongst these roles were the titular characters Berlington Bertie and the Seaside Sultan, a holidaying clerk
Equally comical was the play on her identity as a woman, a subject matter of many of her songs
“Girls are the ruin of men” “Following in fathers footsteps” “The girls I’ve left behind me”
Pantomimes were a n progression in Tilley frequently landing the role of leading m Pertiboy – Beauty and the Beast The titular roles in both Robinson Crusoe and Dick Whittington Captain Tra-la-la in Sinbad The Prince in another production of Beauty and the Beast
natural y’s career,
male
“He’s behind you!”
At the height of her fame, Tilley was making £500 a week - equivalent to £50,000 today
Vesta married Abraham Walter de Frece, a music hall entrepreneur and the son of a theatre owner in 1890
Walter founded a chain o called The Hippodome, w would perform regularly
Already a famous entertainer, the paring allowed her career to continue to blossom
of music halls where Vesta y
,
As a celebrated Vaudeville star, Vesta laid the foundation stone of Sunderland’s Empire Theatre in 1906, with a bar in the venue named after her
In her growing stardom, Tilley was able to find fame on both side of the Atlantic Performing at the first Royal Variety Performance in 1912 as ‘The Piccadilly Johnny with the glass eye’
“The most perfectly dress young man in the house�
sed Tilley would spend several hours getting ready before performances With full masculine outfits, right down to underwear. Her style was so perfected, she was views as a male fashion icon
Tilley would often spend months perfecting new roles Creating new male characters, most with a lightly mocking edge; furthering her popularity amongst working class men
Also wildly popular Tilley was viewed as of independence
among women, s a symbol
Off stage Vesta made a conscious effort to emphasize her femininity; wearing copious amounts of fur and jewellery to protect herself from criticism
Tilley’s popularity reached an all time high during WW1 Along with her husband, they were actively involved in military recruitment, both on stage and off Running a military recruitment drive in a guise of characters like ‘Tommy in the trench’ and ‘Jack tar home from sea’
Tilley performed songs like ‘The army of today’s all right’ and ‘Jolly good luck to the girl who loves a soldier’ Acquiring herself the nickname ‘Britain’s best recruiting sergeant’
“When I think about my dugout, Where I dare not stick my mug out… I’m glad I’ve got a bit of a blighty one!”
Giving up the stage was a compromise Vesta made for her husband, as he wished to become an MP and her profession was not seen as ‘respectable enough’ for such milieu
Tilley’s Farewell tour took a year to complete (1919-1920) Though she had no children, all proceeds from her tour were given to children’s charities in the cities the performances took place
Her final appearance was at the Coliseum Theatre London, aged 56
Living out her retirement in Monte Carlo as Lady de Frece with her husband, knighted in 1919 for their services to the war effort
Autobiography ‘Recollections of Vesta Tilley’ was published in 1934 Vesta died in London 1952, aged 88. Buried alongside her husband, at Putney Vale Cemetery