Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British

music halls Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls Rebranding, rebranded their entertainment as Variety show, variety. Perceptio ...

. Stratton was a member of the

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership an ...

Biography

Stratton first performed at the age of 10 in an acrobatic act called the ''Two Welsleys''. He appeared as a dancer in 1873 under the name of ''Master Jean''. He spent some time in a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...

before joining a

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer w ...

group. He went to England in 1880 and was by this time using the name of Stratton. In England, he worked his way up to the main song & dance man in the Moore & Burgess Minstrel Show, and in 1883 he married Moore's daughter, Annie Matilda Moore. He left the minstrels to go on the music hall circuit in 1887, first as a double act, then solo. Although at one time he used an Irish voice, he mainly appeared as a " black-faced" singer. He also performed in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

, for the first time in 1896. His friendship & association with

Leslie Stuart Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 – 27 March 1928) born Thomas Augustine Barrett was an English composer of Edwardian musical comedy, best known for the hit show ''Florodora'' (1899) and many popular songs. He began in Manchester as a church organ ...

gave him many of the songs for which he was known. During the period 1899 to 1911 he made records of most of Stuart's songs. He died in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

on September 15, 1918, and is buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery in Wallington in Surrey. In 1935 his friend Joe Elvin was buried next to him. In

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

’s novel Ulysses (1922) in the fifteenth episode “Circe”, there are references to Stratton, as well as the adoption of a faux Negro dialect.

Songs

*Aunt Mandy *The Cake Walk *A Carol of Stars *The Dandy Coloured Coon *Hoodoo *Idler *Is yer mammie always with ye? *I don't know nobody *I Lub a Lubly Gal *I'm the father of a little black coon * Lily of Laguna (There is a poster and a recording of him singing this, with a remarkable Irish accent) *Little Dolly Daydream *Love me little *My little octoroon *My second time on earth *She's mine, I'm hers *Waitress' love letter *When de golden sun went down *Whistling Coon *Won't you love me

References

*''Oxford Companion to Popular Music'' by Peter Gammond - *''Harrington, J. "A Closer Look at Eugene Stratton (1861-1918)."'', in: Dublin James Joyce Journal 2.2 (2009): 78-88. Project MUSE. Web. 30 Aug. 2016. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stratton, Eugene 1861 births 1918 deaths 19th-century British male singers Musicians from Buffalo, New York Music hall performers Blackface minstrel performers