Frank William Greene (28 December 1878 – ) was an English

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer and comedian in Australia from 1909–20, when he left for America.

Biography

Greene was born in 1878 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England,''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915'' to Richard and Edith Green. His father was a retired navyman.''1881 England Census'' He married the actress Lottie Sargent in London in 1900. Both were brought to Australia, along with Dorothy Court and conductor

Fritz Hart Fritz Bennicke Hart (11 February 1874 – 9 July 1949) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and unpublished novelist, who spent considerable periods in Australia and Hawaii. Early life Hart was born in Brockley, originally in the English ...

, as members of

J. C. Williamson's J. C. Williamson's, formerly Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove and Williamson and Musgrove, was an Australian theatrical management company and theatre owner. With its beginnings in the theatrical productions of J. C. Williamson and his p ...

new company (the Musical Comedy Company having been disbanded) aboard R.M.S. ''China'' for the musical '' King of Cadonia'', which opened in Sydney on 21 August 1909, playing Captain Laski. He appeared in ''

A Country Girl ''A Country Girl, or, Town and Country'' is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens. Th ...

'', ''

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.The Dollar Princess ''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts, with music by Leo Fall, adapted into English by Basil Hood with lyrics by Adrian Ross (from the 1907 ''Die Dollarprinzessin'' with a German-language libretto by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbau ...

'', ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'', ''

The Girl in the Train ''Die geschiedene Frau'' (''The Divorcée''), is an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall with a libretto by Victor Léon based on Victorien Sardou's ''Divorçons!''. Conducted by the composer, It opened to considerable success at the Carltheater ...

'', Prince Carlo in ''

The Quaker Girl ''The Quaker Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts with a book by James T. Tanner, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and music by Lionel Monckton. In its story, ''The Quaker Girl'' contrasts dour Quaker morality with P ...

'', of fond memory, ''

Florodora ''Florodora'' is an Edwardian musical comedy. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the mus ...

'', and ''

The Sunshine Girl ''The Sunshine Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with a book by Paul A. Rubens and Cecil Raleigh, music and lyrics by Rubens and additional lyrics by Arthur Wimperis. The story involves a working girl who falls in love wit ...

''. He was in May 1914 recruited to ''Come Over Here'', dubbed "Australia's first revue" which was running successfully at

Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, refers to three theatres of the same name none of which remain standing. They were located in central Sydney on either Pitt Street or Quay Street. History First theatre (1887–1933) The original Her M ...

. He appeared in

Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing th ...

's ''

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...

'' with

Florence Young Florence Selina Harriet Young (10 October 1856 – 28 May 1940) was a New Zealand-born missionary who established the Queensland Kanaka Mission in order to convert Kanaka labourers in Queensland, Australia. In addition, she conducted missi ...

, He participated in a charity fete organised by Hugh J. Ward in aid of the proposed "Hospice for the Dying", where each stall represented a popular stage show, manned by cast members in costume. He was associated with the ''

Tivoli Follies The Tivoli Follies was a series of vaudeville revue programs in Australia staged between 1914 and 1917 by the J. C. Williamson's organization through their "Tivoli" chain of theatres in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The name has since been revived ...

'' from June 1915 to April 1917. In March 1916 he recited

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

's ''

Carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

'' with the Brussels concert party, as a tribute to the Belgian nation, wearing a uniform borrowed from Albert Goossens, the Belgian baritone. He took part in the

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

concert in Sydney, 25 April 1916, with other members of the Tivoli Follies. He took part in several of

Jack Haskell John Thomas Haskell (April 30, 1919 – September 26, 1998) was an American singer and announcer in the era of old-time radio and later in television. Early years Haskell was born in Akron, Ohio and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He majored in musi ...

's revues, including ''Bing Boys on Broadway'' in 1919, He left for America by the SS ''Sonoma'' on 17 August 1920. After a slow start, in 1922 he was reported as playing at the Apollo Theater, Chicago, followed by ''The Dancing Girl'' (

Marie Dressler Leila Marie Koerber (November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress and comedian, popular in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood in early silent film, silent an ...

's last stage appearance) at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Originally designed by architect William Albert Swasey, it opened in 1911. The Winter Garden's current des ...

. In 1925 he was playing second lead in ''

Rose-Marie ''Rose-Marie'' is an operetta-style musical with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The story is set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and concerns Rose-Marie La Flemme, a F ...

'' on Broadway.

Lottie Sargent

Sargent arrived in Sydney with Greene, and played in several musical comedies, including ''The Balkan Princess'' and ''The Dollar Princess'' and later ''Thank U'' with the John D. O'Hara company, but was troubled with ill-health which a move to Queensland failed to ameliorate. Reports that she left Brisbane to join her husband turned out to be false, as she died in a Brisbane private hospital on 28 October 1925.

Family

He was a brother of the actress

Evie Greene Edith Elizabeth "Evie" Greene (14 January 1875 – 11 September 1917) was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. She starred as Dolores in the internat ...

(1875–1917), star of the original ''

''. The film star

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ...

(1918–1985) was a nephew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Frank 1878 births Year of death missing 20th-century English male singers 20th-century English singers 20th-century Australian male singers British emigrants to Australia People from Portsmouth