Basil Hallam (3 April 1888 – 20 August 1916), born Basil Hallam Radford, was an early 20th century English actor and singer, known for the character of Gilbert the Filbert in ''

The Passing Show ''The Passing Show'' was a musical revue in three acts, billed as a "topical extravaganza", with a book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and music by Ludwig Engländer and various other composers. It featured spoofs of theatrical productions of ...

''. He died in action on the Western Front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Early life

Hallam was born on 3 April 1888 at 55 Marine Parade, Brighton,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the youngest son and child of Walter Thomas Hindmarsh Radford, a ship and insurance broker, (1845–1927) and Ann Louisa Maria Radford (née Wulff) (1847–1924). He was the youngest of six siblings: Annie Marguerite (1874–1943), Walter Guy (1875–1947), Ethel May (1880–?), Archibald Campbell (1881–1958) and Maurice Clive (1884–1915). He was baptised on 23 May 1888 in St Mary's,

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, Middlesex. He was educated at the Meads preparatory school in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

Theatrical career

He began his career in

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

roles with Sir

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous programm ...

's company in 1908. He had an early success as Archie Graham in

Cosmo Hamilton Cosmo Hamilton (29 April 1870 – 14 October 1942), born Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, was an English playwright and novelist. He was the brother of writers Arthur Hamilton Gibbs, Francis William Hamilton Gibbs, Helen Katherine Hamilton Gibbs an ...

's ''The Blindness of Virtue'', opposite Doris Lytton as Effie. He appeared in New York City with

Billie Burke Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...

in ''Mrs. Dot''. On 2 April 1911 he was resident at 25 Park Crescent, St Marylebone, London, England. He created the character of a privileged young "knut", Gilbert the Filbert, for ''The Passing Show'' (1914), the original

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 du ...

of that title by

Herman Finck Herman Finck (November 4, 1872 – April 21, 1939) was a British composer and conductor of Dutch extraction. Born Hermann Van Der Vinck in London, he began his studies training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established a caree ...

, which opened at the

Palace Theatre, London The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red- brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Palac ...

, on 20 April 1914. He also recorded the song of the same name for the

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

label on 4 June 1914. (The song can be heard on a 2012 release by the Diversions record label, ''The Finck Album'', sung by

Mart Sander Mart Sander (born 10 August 1967) is an Estonian singer, actor, director, author, artist, and television host. Life and career In his youth, Mart Sander studied violin and conducting. He started singing in the choir of the Estonian National Op ...

Personal life

Before entering service for World War I Hallam fell in love with

Elsie Janis Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as " the sw ...

, with whom he had starred in ''The Passing Show of 1915''. They set up home in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Death

Hallam died aged 28 whilst serving as a Captain with a Kite Balloon Section of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in France at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

."How Basil Hallam Died", ''Western Daily Press'', 24 August 1916, p. 8 In the afternoon of 20 August 1916 on the Northern part of the Somme battlefield he was crewing a tethered un-powered

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

watching the German line near the village of Gommecourt, when its steel cable tether snapped, and the balloon, caught in an Easterly wind, began to drift towards enemy lines out of control. To avoid capture, Hallam bailed out of the balloon's basket but he was obstructed from jumping clear, and fell several hundred feet to his death after his emergency parachute failed to deploy. His body was buried at a British military cemetery at the nearby village of

Couin Couin () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A small farming village located 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Arras at the junction of the D25 and D2 roads, by the banks of the river ...

.Casualty Details for Basil Hallam Radford
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.org, accessed 1 November 2012

References

External links

*
Photos of Hallam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallam, Basil 1889 births 1916 deaths British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme English male stage actors 19th-century British male singers 20th-century English male actors Alumni of the University of Oxford People educated at Charterhouse School Parachuting deaths 20th-century British male singers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps officers Military personnel from Sussex