Marie Lloyd Jr. (born Marie Matilda Victoria Courtenay; 19 May 1888 – 27 December 1967) was a British entertainer, composer and actress notable for her performances impersonating her mother, the

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

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy ...

Early life

She was born as Marie Matilda Victoria Courtenay in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

in London in 1888, the daughter of ticket-tout Percy Charles Courtenay (1862—1933) and the popular

performer

(1870—1922). Her mother was only 18 years old when she was born, and was already gaining notice as an up-and-coming performer. However, her parents' marriage was a mostly turbulent and unhappy one, as Percy Courtenay was disliked by Lloyd's family and friends. Before long, Courtenay became addicted to alcohol and gambling, and grew jealous of his wife's close friendship with the 13-year-old actress

Bella Burge Bella Burge (born Leah Belle Orchard; 29 September 1877 – 3 September 1962) was an American-born British music hall performer and actress and friend and colleague of Marie Lloyd and her sisters. Later in life she was the world's first fem ...

. He also became angry at the numerous parties Lloyd hosted for fellow members of the music hall profession, including

Gus Elen Ernest Augustus Elen (22 July 1862 – 17 February 1940) was an English music hall singer and comedian. He achieved success from 1891, performing cockney songs including "Arf a Pint of Ale", "It's a Great Big Shame", "Down the Road" and "If It ...

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 ...

and

Eugene Stratton Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. He adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British music halls. Biography Stratton was born in Buffalo, ...

."Marie Lloyd Divorced", ''The Western Times'', 5 November 1904, p. 6

Career

Her first appearance on a stage was as a child in 1896 when, billed as Little Maudie Courtenay, she toured South Africa with her mother and

Alec Hurley Alexander Hurley (24 March 1871 – 6 December 1913) was an English music hall singer, and Marie Lloyd's second husband. Born in London, Hurley began a boxing career, during which he would perform a song entitled "The Strongest Man on Earth" af ...

, her mother's lover and later second husband. Bella Burge NPG 1910

After her mother's death in 1922, Courtenay impersonated her, performing her mother's act as Marie Lloyd Jr. in music halls and on variety bills. She acted in several films, including the Deforest

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 ...

''Marie Lloyd'' in 1926, appeared in the shorts ''Old Timers'' and ''Pal O'Mine'' in 1936, and in the early television broadcast ''Music Hall Cavalcade'' in 1937. She appeared as Marie Lloyd in the 1943 wartime British

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

Variety Jubilee ''Variety Jubilee'' is a 1943 British historical musical film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Reginald Purdell, Ellis Irving and Lesley Brook. It depicts life in a London music hall from 1892 to the Second World War. It was made at the ...

''. In 1958, she was among the studio guests when Bella Burge was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

for the television series '' This Is Your Life''. During the 1960s, she toured in ''Thanks for the Memory'' for Don Ross, a nostalgic revival of music hall entertainment first staged in 1947. She also appeared in the act The Lloyd Family with her aunts Rosie, Daisy and Alice Lloyd, singing songs they and Marie Lloyd had made famous.

Personal life

Like her mother before her, Marie Courtenay married aged 18, and, like her mother was to do a few years later, she married a jockey. In Courtenay's case, this was Harry Aylin (1885—1927), with the two tying the knot in 1907 at the church of St Stephen the Martyr in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

. A witness to the marriage was her mother's friend and dresser, Bella Burge, a boxing promoter known as Bella of Blackfriars. The couple divorced in 1913 following his alleged adultery and desertion.England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1918 (1913), Aylin v. Aylin: Ancestry.com
/ref> The divorce was rescinded in 1914 when Harry Aylin provided evidence to the Court of Lloyd's numerous acts of adultery with various men, which she had not disclosed in her original divorce petition the previous year. Costs were awarded against her.

Death

Marie Lloyd Jr. died in 1967, aged 79, in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. She was buried in the same grave as her mother and grandparents in

Hampstead Cemetery Hampstead Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Hampstead, London, located at the upper extremity of the NW postcode area, NW6 district. Despite the name, the cemetery is three-quarters of a mile from Hampstead, and bears a different postcode. ...

.Music Hall and Variety Artistes Burial Places
Arthur Lloyd: The Music Hall and Theatre History Site Dedicated to Arthur Lloyd, 1839-1904

References

External links

*
Portrait of Marie Lloyd Jr.
on 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 ...

website
Film of Marie Lloyd Jr. singing two of her mother's songs - The Huntley Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd Jr., Marie 1888 births 1967 deaths Actors from the London Borough of Hackney English women comedians English women singers British music hall performers British vaudeville performers English film actresses Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses Burials at Hampstead Cemetery Comedians from the London Borough of Hackney People from Shoreditch