Arthur Roberts (21 September 1852 – 27 February 1933) was an English comedian,

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

entertainer and actor. He was famous for portraying the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

dames and later for his comic characters and "gagging" in farces, burlesques and musical comedies. He is credited with coining the word "spoof".

Biography

Early life and career

Roberts was born in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

, London,Baker, p. 49 the son of a

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

tailor who attended to Edward, Prince of Wales. His father's death when Roberts was 12 left the family in "a grim struggle for existence".Roberts, p. 4 Roberts walked three miles a day to work in a seed shop in Covent Garden. He joined a choral society and sang at the Crystal Palace. Roberts began performing professionally in 1871 after being persuaded to sing by an impresario from

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

who was

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

near Roberts' home in Bayswater. He performed "The Mad Butcher", which he was later paid £1 a week to sing on the beach at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

. The following summer, Roberts moved to Great Yarmouth and regularly performed for tourists on a makeshift stage erected on the nearby pier. He later progressed to appearing in upmarket hotels at the seaside resort. In 1875, Roberts was engaged to appear at the New Star theatre in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

. The following year he performed "If Only I Was Long Enough" at the Oxford Music Hall, which he considered a major breakthrough in his career. In 1877 he toured the London music hall circuit and culminated each round of touring with an appearance at Evans's supper room, where he developed a reputation for performing risqué songs. In 1879, one of his "saucy" songs caused Evans's to lose its licence for a year.

Theatre successes and later years

In the legitimate theatre, he starred as Dr. Syntax in the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dru ...

''Mother Goose'' (1880); as Mrs. Crusoe in ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1881 and 1886); in ''Sindbad the Sailor'' (1882; a show he repeated in 1906); in H. B. Farnie's '' Nell Gwynne'' (1884); in Farnie's ''The Grand Mogul'' (1884 with Florence St. John, Fred Leslie and Frank Wyatt); Joe Tarradiddle in the English adaptation of Offenbach's '' La Vie parisienne''; Stanley the explorer in the 1891 Gaiety Theatre

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

of ''Joan of Arc'' by

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific English writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and J. L. Shine, popularising the song "I went to find Emin"; in the early

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...

'' In Town'' (1892); Captain Arthur Coddington in the Gaiety burlesque of ''Don Juan'' (1893, by

Meyer Lutz Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and Victorian burlesque, burlesques of well-known works. Emigrating to the UK at the age o ...

, A. C. Torr and Ross); ''Claude Du Val'' (1894), the title character in '' Gentleman Joe'' (1895); ''Black-Eyed See-Usan''; and ''Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman'' (1898), among others. Roberts had success in the 1890s with the hit song " Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow". Roberts originated the word "spoof" which was popularised by a card game that he invented called ''Spoof'', which involved trickery and nonsense. The first recorded reference to the game is in 1884. Soon the word took on the general meaning of "nonsense, trickery," first recorded in 1889. The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These senses are now less widely used than the noun meaning of "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927. In 1907, Roberts was a leader in the " Music Hall War", striking for better working conditions, which led to the founding of the Variety Artist's Federation. At the end of his career, Roberts played in variety shows.Information about Roberts's career
/ref> Later in his career Roberts starred as Charioteer in '' Phi-Phi'' (1922). In 1926, he popularised the song "Topsey-Turvey", which he also used as the basis for a short 1927 film made in the

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. In 1919 and 1920, de Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofi ...

sound-on-film process, directed by

Bertram Phillips Bertram Phillips was a British film director of the silent era. In 1927–29, he directed several short films in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, including ''Arthur Roberts (comedian), Arthur Roberts Sings "Topsey-Turvey"'' (April 192 ...

. In 1927, Roberts wrote an autobiography called ''Fifty Years of Spoof''. He died in London at the age of 80 and is buried in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

cemetery, London.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

Sources

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External links

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Description of Roberts' comedic styleArthur Roberts
at the National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Arthur English male stage actors English male singers English humorists British music hall performers 1852 births 1933 deaths