Beatrice Gladys Lillie, Lady Peel (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1989), known as Bea Lillie, was a Canadian-born British actress, singer and comedic performer. She began to perform as a child with her mother and sister. She made her West End debut in 1914 and soon gained notice in

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

s and light comedies, becoming known for her parodies of old-fashioned, flowery performing styles and absurd songs and sketches. She debuted in New York in 1924 and two years later starred in her first film, continuing to perform in both the US and UK. She was associated with revues staged by

André Charlot André Eugène Maurice Charlot (26 July 1882 – 20 May 1956) was a French impresario known primarily for the successful musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937. He also worked as a character actor in numerous films. Early li ...

and works of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

, and frequently was paired with

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...

and

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1897 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 1939 Metro-G ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Lillie was an inveterate entertainer of the troops. She won a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

in 1953 for her revue ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie''.

Early life and career

Lillie was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

to Irish-born John Lillie and his wife Lucie Ann (née Shaw).Morley, Sheridan
"Lillie, Beatrice Gladys"
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', accessed 12 March 2021 She had an elder sister, Muriel (1893–1973), at one time an aspiring concert pianist who later played the piano at silent movie houses, married firstly to the Egyptologist, stage designer and writer

Arthur Weigall Arthur Edward Pearse Brome Weigall (1880 – 3 January 1934) was an English Egyptologist, stage designer, journalist and author whose works span the whole range from histories of Ancient Egypt through historical biographies, guide-books, popula ...

, and secondly to Sir Brian Dean Paul, 6th Baronet of Rodborough. Her father was a cigar seller at the time of Lillie's birth, later working as a guard at the Toronto city jail. He had been a soldier in the British Army stationed in India, and on his honourable discharge went to Toronto rather than returning to Ireland. Lucie Ann Lillie (who had changed her name from "Lucy Ann"), who had "a modest reputation as a concert singer" was the daughter of a Manchester clothing retailer who had retired to a farm outside Toronto. Lillie performed in Ontario towns as part of a family trio with her mother and older sister, Muriel, her father running the family home in Toronto as a boarding house in their absence. Eventually, her mother took the girls to London, England, where she made her West End début in the 1914 show ''Not Likely!'' Lillie followed this with about a dozen London shows and musical

s until 1922. In her revues, Lillie developed her sketches, songs and parodies. These won her lavish praise from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' after her 1924 Broadway début in ''

's Revue of 1924'', starring Gertrude Lawrence. In some of her best known bits, she solemnly parodied the flowery performing style of earlier decades, mining such songs as "There Are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden" and "Mother Told Me So" for every double entendre. Other numbers ("Get Yourself a Geisha" and "Snoops the Lawyer") showcased her exquisite sense of the absurd. Her performing in such comedy routines as "One Dozen Double Damask Dinner Napkins", (in which an increasingly flummoxed matron attempts to purchase said napkins) earned her the frequently used sobriquet of "Funniest Woman in the World". In 1926, she returned to New York City to perform. While in the United States, she starred in her first film, '' Exit Smiling'' (1927), opposite fellow Canadian

Jack Pickford John Charles Smith (August 18, 1896 – January 3, 1933), known professionally as Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford. After their father ...

, the younger brother of

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

. This was followed by a small role in ''

The Show of Shows ''The Show of Shows'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost $850,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor. ''The Show o ...

'' (1929) and her only starring role in a sound feature film, '' Are You There?'' (1930).Slide, Anthony
"Beatrice Lilly"
''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012, , pp. 316–317 After a 1927 tour on the Orpheum Circuit, Lillie returned to Broadway in Vaudeville at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia * Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, M ...

in 1928 and performed there frequently after that.

Later career

From the late 1920s until the approach of World War II, Lillie repeatedly crossed the Atlantic to perform on both continents. She played at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

in 1928. On stage, she was long associated with the works of

, beginning with '' This Year of Grace'' (1928) and giving the first public performance of " Mad Dogs and Englishmen" in Coward's ''The Third Little Show'' (1931).

and others wrote songs for her. With Bobby Clark, she appeared in London and New York in ''

Walk a Little Faster ''Walk a Little Faster'' is a musical revue with sketches by S. J. Perelman and Robert MacGunigle, music by Vernon Duke, and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg. Production The Broadway production opened on December 7, 1932 at the St. James Theatre and then ...

'', in 1935 she starred on Broadway in ''

At Home Abroad ''At Home Abroad'' is a revue with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. It introduced the songs "Love Is a Dancing Thing", "What a Wonderful World" and "Got a Bran' New Suit", among others. The revue follows a bored couple who ...

'', and in 1936 she starred in New York in ''The Show Is On'' with

. She returned to Broadway in 1939 in ''

Set to Music Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

'' and in 1944 in ''Seven Lively Arts''. The same year, Lillie appeared in the film '' On Approval''. Other Broadway appearances included '' Inside USA'' (1948), ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie'' (1952) (Broadway and London), ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

of 1957'', ''

Auntie Mame ''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father. The book is often desc ...

'' (1958) (Broadway and London) and '' High Spirits'' (1964). Her few other film appearances included a cameo role as a revivalist in ''

Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

'' (1956) and as Mrs. Meers (a white slaver) in ''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical- romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve yo ...

'' (1967), her last film. After seeing ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie'', critic Ronald Barker wrote "Other generations may have their Mistinguett and their

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " T ...

. We have our Beatrice Lillie, and seldom have we seen such a display of perfect talent."

Sheridan Morley Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 − 16 February 2007) was an English author, biographer, critic and broadcaster. He was the official biographer of Sir John Gielgud and wrote biographies of many other theatrical figures he had known, includin ...

noted in the ''

'' that "Lillie's great talents were the arched eyebrow, the curled lip, the fluttering eyelid, the tilted chin, the ability to suggest, even in apparently innocent material, the possible double entendre".

Marriage and children

Lillie was married, on 20 January 1920 at the church of St. Paul,

Drayton Bassett Drayton Bassett is a village and civil parish since 1974 in Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England. The village is on the Heart of England Way, a footpath. Much of the housing is clustered together but more than half is 20th century in ...

Fazeley Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Fazeley is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and the civil parish of Fazeley also inc ...

, Staffordshire, England, to Robert Peel, son of Sir Robert Peel, 4th Baronet, and at the time a used car salesman. The Peel family had "fallen on hard times", and Peel "had little else to offer besides the title of 5th baronet". He inherited the title on his father's death in 1925. Peel was an enthusiastic gambler and, due to his limited means, he generally used his wife's money; on their honeymoon in Monte Carlo, he lost all their money gambling. Peel had expensive tastes, and the couple were entirely dependent on her theatrical income throughout their marriage. Following the marriage, she was known in private life as Lady Peel. She eventually separated from her husband, but the couple never divorced. He died in 1934, aged 35. Their only child, Sir Robert Peel, 6th Baronet (1920–1942), was killed in action aboard in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Harbour, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) in 1942. During World War II, Lillie was an inveterate entertainer of the troops. Before she went on stage one day, she learned that her son was killed in action. She refused to postpone the performance, saying "I'll cry tomorrow." In 1948, while touring in the show ''Inside USA'', she met singer/actor John Philip Huck. He was a former US Marine, almost three decades younger, who became her friend and companion for the rest of their lives, and she boosted his career. As Lillie's mental abilities declined at the end of her career, she relied more and more on Huck, whose intentions and loyalty to her were viewed with suspicion by her friends. She suffered a stroke in the mid-1970s, and in 1977, a conservator was appointed over her property; she retired to England.

Death

Lillie died in 1989, aged 94, at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckin ...

. Huck died of a heart attack the next day, and the two were buried in the churchyard of St Margaret's in

Harpsden Harpsden is a rural and semi-rural village and civil parish immediately south of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England. Its scattered centre is set from the east border which is the River Thames, marking a short boundary ...

, Oxfordshire, near Henley-on-Thames.

Filmography

Features

* '' Exit Smiling'' (1927) as Violet * ''

'' (1929) as Performer in 'Recitations' Number * '' Are You There?'' (1930) as Shirley Travis * ''Dr. Rhythm'' (1938) as Mrs. Lorelei Dodge-Blodgett * '' On Approval'' (1944) as Maria Wislack * ''

'' (1956) as London revivalist leader * ''

'' (1967) as Mrs. Meers

Short subjects

* ''Beatrice Lillie'' (1929) as Herself * ''Beatrice Lillie and Her Boyfriends'' (1930)

Vitaphone Varieties Vitaphone Varieties is a series title (represented by a pennant logo on screen) used for all of Warner Bros.', earliest short film "talkies" of the 1920s, initially made using the Vitaphone sound on disc process before a switch to the sound-on-fil ...

short released 15 May 1930 * ''Broadway Highlights No. 1'' (1935) as Herself * ''Broadway Highlights No. 2'' (1935) as Herself

Stage appearances

* ''Not Likely'' (1914) (London) * ''5064 Gerrard'' (1915) (London) * ''Samples'' (1916) (London) * ''Some'' (1916) (London) * ''Cheep'' (1917) (London) * ''Tabs'' (1918) (London) * ''Bran Pie'' (1919) (London) * '' Oh, Joy!'' (1919) (London) * ''Now and Then'' (1921) (London) * ''Pot Luck'' (1921) (London) * ''The Nine O'Clock Revue'' (1922) (London) * ''Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924'' (1924) (Broadway) * ''Andre Charlot's Revue of 1926'' (1925) (Broadway and US national tour) * ''Oh, Please'' (1926) (Broadway) * ''She's My Baby'' (1928) (Broadway) * '' This Year of Grace'' (1928) (Broadway) * ''Charlot's Masquerade'' (1930) (London) * ''

The Third Little Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1931) (Broadway) * '' Too True to Be Good'' (1932) (Broadway) * ''

'' (1932) (Broadway) * ''Please'' (1933) (London) * ''

'' (1935) (Broadway) * ''The Show Is On'' (1936) (Broadway) * ''Happy Returns'' (1938) (London) * ''

'' (1939) (Broadway) * ''All Clear'' (1939) (London) * ''Big Top'' (1942) (London) * ''Seven Lively Arts'' (1944) (Broadway) * ''Better Late'' (1946) (London) * '' Inside USA'' (1948) (Broadway) * ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie'' (1952) (Broadway and London) * ''

of 1957'' (1957) (Broadway) * ''

'' (1958) (replacement for

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

) (Broadway and London) * ''A Late Evening with Beatrice Lillie'' (1960) (

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

) * '' High Spirits'' (1964) (Broadway)

Radio and television

She was the star of three radio programs: * ''The Beatrice Lillie Show'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

4 January – 28 June 1935 * ''The Flying Red Horse Tavern'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

7 February – 22 May 1936 * ''Broadway Merry-Go-Round'' on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Comp ...

6 January – 28 July 1937Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . p. 76. In 1950 she appeared on ''The Star Spangled Revue'' with

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

. (This includes the "One Dozen Double Damask Dinner Napkins" sketch.)

Awards and honours

* 1945:

New York Drama Critics Award The New York Drama Critics Awards (formed 1943) are awarded through the composite opinion of a sample of New York Drama Critics to recognize Excellence in Broadway Theater. Awards are given each season for Best Performance by an Actor, Best Perfor ...

for Best Femme Performance in a Musical – ''Seven Lively Arts'' * 1948:

for Best Femme Performance in a Musical – '' Inside USA'' * 1953: Special Tony Award – ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie'' * 1954: Sarah Siddons Award * 1958:

Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical is awarded to the best actress in a Musical theatre, musical, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have o ...

– ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1957'' (nominee) * 1964:

– '' High Spirits'' (nominee) For her contributions to film, in 1960 Beatrice Lillie was awarded a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

at 6404 Hollywood Blvd. Her portrait, painted by

Neysa McMein Neysa Moran McMein (born Marjorie Frances McMein; January 24, 1888 – May 12, 1949) was an American illustrator and portrait painter who studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York. She began her ca ...

about 1948 or 1949, is in the collection of The

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

in England.

References

Sources

* Laffey, Bruce. ''Beatrice Lillie: The Funniest Woman in the World'', Wynwood Press (1989) * Lillie, Beatrice, with John Philip Huck and James Brough, ''Every Other Inch a Lady'' (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1972).

External links

* *
Records in the Theatre Archive at the University of Bristol of stage performances by Beatrice Lillie
*
Beatrice Lillie papers, 1911–1995
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lillie, Beatrice 1894 births 1989 deaths 20th-century British actresses Actresses from London Actresses from Toronto Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom British film actresses British musical theatre actresses British silent film actresses British stage actresses Entertainments National Service Association personnel Musicians from Toronto Singers from London Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in England Donaldson Award winners Special Tony Award recipients Vaudeville performers Bisexual actresses 20th-century British women singers