Johnny Danvers (born John Danvers Harold; December 1860 – 1 April 1939) was an English actor, comedian and

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 ...

performer who made a number of appearances in the annual

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 ...

at the

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

in the late 19th and early 20th-centuries, usually with his nephew

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...

Early life

Danvers was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, to Charles Dutton Harold (1843-1880) and Elizabeth Ann ( Calow; 1848-1894). The family moved to Glasgow when Danvers was young, but had returned to Sheffield by 1881, where he took a job as a he "silver plater".Barry Anthony
''The King's Jester: The Life of Dan Leno, Victorian Comic Genius''
London: I. B. Taurus & Co (2010) - Google Books pg.33

Dan Leno

In 1865

and his brother, Henry, formed a

clog dancing Clog dancing is a form of step dance characterised by the wearing of inflexible, Clog (British), wooden soled clogs. Clog dancing developed into differing intricate forms both in Wales and also in the North of England. Welsh clog dancing mainly ...

double act known as "The Great Little Lenos".

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Bri ...

, (1977) ''The Funniest Man on Earth: The Story of Dan Leno'', London: Hamish Hamilton Although initially successful, the brothers experienced many bouts of unemployment and often busked outside London pubs to make a living. Tired of surviving on little or no money, Henry took up a trade in London and was replaced intermittently in the act by Danvers, who was the boys' uncle. Similar in age, Leno and Danvers had a close relationship.

Stage career

In the 1885

at the

Surrey Theatre The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided entertainment of both horsemanship and drama ( hippodrama). It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the j ...

, London, Danvers played Silly Billy in ''Robinson Crusoe''; in 1886 he and Leno toured the

s of northern England in a sketch called ''The Wicklow Wedding; or, the Leprechaun's Revels'', written by Leno's stepfather. For the piece, Danvers and Leno helped paint the scenery while Leno helped his mother make the costumes. Danvers moved to London in 1884 where he quickly became prominent in

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

s, appearing in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

with the Mohawk Minstrels, who sat in a half-circle exchanging jokes and with whom he performed the popular hits "Mc.Fadden Learning to Waltz", "I've Got the Ooperzootic", and "Hist! Here Comes the Bogeyman".Michael Pickering
''Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain''
Ashgate Publishing (2008) He rose through the ranks of the troupe and became 'Mr. Tambo', who shared the comedy with the 'Mr. Interlocuter' of Harry Hunter and the 'Mr. Bones' of Johnny Schofield. He later appeared with the more famous Moore & Burgess's Minstrels. Other songs Danvers popularised included "I Had No Luck That Day" and "I Know A Gal Dat Lubs A Coon" (1904). In 1895, in London, Danvers married Emily Rosetta King (1869-1955). In 1898 Leno,

Herbert Campbell Herbert Campbell (22 December 1844 – 19 July 1904), born Herbert Edward Story, was an English comedian and actor who appeared in music hall, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era. He was famous for starring, for ...

and Danvers formed a consortium to build the Granville Theatre in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

; the theatre was demolished in 1971.

Drury Lane and after

Danvers joined Leno in the annual

at the

in December 1898 in ''The Forty Thieves'' in which Danvers played Ali Baba, while in December 1899 in ''Jack and the Beanstalk '' he appeared again with Leno and

. In 1899 Danvers appeared with Leno in the musical farce ''In Gay Piccadilly!'' by George R. Sims. In 1905 Danvers played King Ivory of Oddland in the Drury Lane pantomime ''The White Cat'', Snap in ''Cinderella'' in 1906, a Robber in ''Babes in The Wood'' in 1907, and Alderman in ''Dick Whittington'' in 1908.History of the Drury Lane Pantomimes - It's Behind You website
/ref> During 1911 and 1912 he toured with

Agnes Fraser Agnes Fraser Elder Fraser-Smith (8 November 1876 – 22 July 1968) was a Scottish actress and soprano, known as Agnes Fraser, who appeared in the later Savoy Operas and in Edwardian musical comedy. She married the Gilbert and Sullivan perform ...

and

Walter Passmore Walter Henry Passmore (10 May 1867 – 29 August 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Passm ...

in the musical farcical sketch ''Sweet Williams''. Danvers played Wurzberger in ''

Baron Trenck ''Baron Trenck'' is a comic opera in three acts loosely based on the life of Baron Franz von der Trenck. The original German-language work was composed by Felix Albini to a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Robert Bodanzky and premiered at ...

'' (1911) at the Strand Theatre; Sarah in the

''Dick Whittington and His Cat'' at the Lyceum Theatre (1911); Laurens in ''Good News'' at the Princes Theatre (1917); and Mr. Middlemark opposite the

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

Seymour Hicks Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and p ...

in ''Scrooge'' at the Princes Theatre in London (1917). J. P. Wearing
''The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''
Rowman & Littlefield (2014)

Later years

In 1920 Danvers played Mr. Hooley in the revival of ''

The Shop Girl ''The Shop Girl'' was an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts (described by the author as a musical farce) written by Henry J. W. Dam, with lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ro ...

'' at the Gaiety Theatre; Mr Belcher in ''Old Bill, M.P.'' (1922) at the

Golders Green Hippodrome The Golders Green Hippodrome was built in 1913 by Bertie Crewe as a 3,000-seat music hall, to serve North London and the new London Underground Northern line expansion into Golders Green in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England. Tak ...

; Count Hogginarmo in the

''The Rose and the Ring'' at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

(1923); and ' Old Bill' in

Bruce Bairnsfather Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather (9 July 188729 September 1959) was a prominent British humour, humorist and cartoonist. His best-known cartoon character is Old Bill (comics), Old Bill. Bill and his pals Bert and Alf featured in Bairnsfather's ...

's musical comedy ''Carry On Sergeant!'' (1925) at the

New Oxford Theatre Oxford Music Hall was a music hall located in City of Westminster, Westminster, London, at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. It was established on the site of a former public house, the Boar and Castle, by Charles Morton (im ...

in London. The show failed, running for only 35 performances and with Danvers described as "an excellent Old Bill and his cheery optimism and broad good humour kept things from flagging at several awkward moments."

Death

Danvers died in Brixton on 1 April 1939, aged 78, and is buried in

Streatham Park Cemetery South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium on Rowan Road in Streatham Vale. It has always been privately owned and managed and is now part of the Dignity plc group . The South London Crematorium is situ ...

References

External links

Photographs of Danvers
in the Collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danvers, Johnny 1860 births 1939 deaths English male comedians English male musical theatre actors British music hall performers Pantomime dames Blackface minstrel performers Male actors from Sheffield Burials at Streatham Park Cemetery Comedians from Sheffield