Ida Barr (born Maud Barlow, 17 January 1882 – 17 December 1967) was an English music hall singer.

Life and career

Barr was born at

Regent's Park Barracks The Regent's Park Barracks, commonly known as the Albany Street Barracks, is a British Army barracks located on Albany Street, London, near Regent's Park. History The barracks were constructed in 1820-1821 as cavalry barracks for the Life Guard ...

, London on 17 January 1882. Her father, William Barlow, is believed to have been a soldier, although Maud described him as a retired civil servant on her marriage certificate. She made her stage debut in 1898 as a

chorus girl A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms su ...

at the Theatre Royal, Belfast. Initially calling herself ''Maud Laverne'', she first used the stage-name Ida Barr in 1908 at London's Bedford Theatre. Barr married comedian Samuel 'Gus' Harris (billed as "the only Yiddisher Scotsman in the Irish Fusiliers"), but the marriage failed within a few years, with Maud soon sailing to New York. Achieving some success in America, Barr returned to England a premier singer of

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

songs, popularising in Britain the songs " Oh, You Beautiful Doll" ( Ayer & Brown; 1910) and " Everybody's Doing It" (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

; 1911). She toured worldwide, earning good money, but was over-generous and failed to save. She became in her old age reliant on welfare benefits, living in a small flat off the Charing Cross Road in London. Writer and broadcaster

Daniel Farson Daniel James Negley Farson (8 January 1927 – 27 November 1997) was a British writer and broadcaster, strongly identified with the early days of commercial television in the UK, when his sharp, investigative style contrasted with the BBC's mor ...

, a music hall enthusiast, took it upon himself to extend a helping hand, bringing Barr to a new (or

nostalgic Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric wo ...

) audience on record and television. It was through Farson, too, that variety entertainer Danny La Rue arranged a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

for Barr.

Death

Ida Barr died on 17 December 1967 in London.

Film and TV credits

Barr's screen credits span the years 1936 to 1966.

Film credits

*'' Happy Days Are Here Again'' (1936) *'' Laugh It Off'' (1940) *'' Let the People Sing'' (1942)

TV credits

*''Music Hall Cavalcade'' (1937) *''

Stars and Garters ''Stars and Garters'' was a British television variety show produced by Associated Television, ATV from 1963 until 1965, set in a fictional public house. Hosted by comedian Ray Martine, regulars included singers Kathy Kirby, Vince Hill, Tommy Bruc ...

'' (1965) *'' Love Story'' (1966)

Trivia

*Actress

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British-American actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the F ...

performed in her youth a snake dancing routine with Ida Barr. *Ida Barr's name was appropriated more than 40 years after her death by Christopher Green for an unrelated, non-

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

drag act. *Ida Barr was (through her marriage to Gus Harris) a great-aunt of actress and singer Anita Harris.

References

External links

*
Photographs of Ida Barr
held by the National Portrait Gallery
Photographs of Ida Barr
held by Getty Images
Photograph of Ida Barr
held by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

Ida Barr discography
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Ida Barr: ''Everybody's Doing It Now''/''Oh, You Beautiful Doll''
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Ida Barr: ''Everybody's Doing It Now''/''Oh, You Beautiful Doll''
on

Deezer Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in ...

Lyrics to "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" as sung by Ida Barr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Ida 1882 births 1967 deaths Music hall performers Singers from London 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers