Ada Barbara Harriett Tarry (2 January 1881 – 10 October 1955), known by her stage name Suzette Tarri, was an English comedian and singer, popular on radio as well as on stage in the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

She was born in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

, London.Richard Anthony Baker, ''Old Time Variety: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2011, , pp.25-26 She performed as a child violinist in the 1890s, "Cockney Comedienne Suzette Tarri Dies", ''The Corpus Christi Caller-Times'', October 10, 1955, p.24
/ref> and made her first stage appearance as a singer in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

in 1905. In her early career, she specialised in roles as a theatrical soubrette, singing light comic songs, and by 1913 was regularly accompanied by her husband, the Scottish singer and comic entertainer Tom Copeland. She and Copeland made their first appearance on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

in 1923. By 1929, her accompanist was David Jenkins, and by the early 1930s they were billed together in radio performances as a "comedy duo"."Suzette Tarri", ''BBC Radio Times 1923-2009''
/ref> They later married. When Jenkins moved into music publishing, Tarri continued as a solo act, performing in clubs and theatres. By her mid-fifties, she developed into a successful "character comedienne" – as she was billed in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' in 1937 – emphasising her

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

background, and typically taking on the persona of an earthy, harassed and gossiping

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

charwoman Charwoman, chargirl, charlady and char are occupational terms referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually lives as part of the ho ...

or waitress, often called "Our Ada".Oliver Double, ''Stand Up: On Being a Comedian'', A&C Black, 1997, , pp.75-77 Much of her material was drawn from overheard real life conversations. In 1938, she made her first television appearance, on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

show ''Variety''. She was sometimes billed as "Radio's Own Comedienne", and it was claimed that her comic talents, which in fact had developed over several decades, had been "discovered" by the radio producer

Ernest Longstaffe Ernest Longstaffe (5 April 1884 – 23 November 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and radio producer. He was born in Newport, Essex, the son of the landscape painter Edgar Longstaffe. He started his career in concert parties and summ ...

. She also made recordings, some with Harry Hemsley, and joined touring shows managed by

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz ...

. She continued to end her onstage appearances with a 'straight' performance of her

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

, " Red Sails in the Sunset". J. J. Kennedy, ''The Man Who Wrote the Teddy Bears' Picnic'', AuthorHouse, 2011, p.94
/ref> She remained a popular performer on stage and on radio during the Second World War. She headlined her own 1939 radio programme, ''Tarri Awhile'', and appeared as a guest on many radio shows such as ''

ITMA ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other ch ...

'' during the war, and afterwards. She featured as the character "Mrs Spam" in the 1943

Frank Randle Frank Randle (born Arthur Hughes, also known as Arthur McEvoy or Arthur Twist; 30 January 1901 – 7 July 1957) was an English comedian. A contemporary of fellow Lancashire, Lancastrians George Formby, Jr., George Formby and Gracie Field ...

film ''

Somewhere in Civvies ''Somewhere in Civvies'' is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Frank Randle, George Doonan and Suzette Tarri. Private Randle is discharged from the army and finds it difficult to adjust to civilian life. It was fo ...

'', and won the ''

Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the '' Sporting C ...

s "Number 1 Comedienne" award in 1945. Academic and former

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

comedian Oliver Double describes one of her immediate post-war routines about

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...

as "an exceptional piece of stand-up. Without any apparent effort, Tarri manipulates the audience's responses like a conductor controlling an orchestra... The routine uses rationed meat as a way of making sexual innuendo to conjure up some grotesque, almost poetic images." A climax of her career was her appearance on stage at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

in 1950, in a show starring

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

. She continued to perform on stage and on radio, in programmes such as '' Workers' Playtime'', in the early 1950s. She also appeared on television in '' The Good Old Days'' in 1954.

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

briefly worked with Tarri on stage at the start of his career in the early 1950s. According to Dodd's producer John Fisher, Tarri's use of a

feather duster A feather duster is a cleaning tool that is typically made from a wooden dowel handle onto which feathers are wound with a wire. The feathers are most often long. Some dusters have a retractable casing instead of a dowel handle and these are t ...

as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

in her act was the inspiration for Dodd's tickling stick. Louis Barfe, ''Happiness and Tears: The Ken Dodd Story'', Head of Zeus Ltd, 2019, pp.1704-1705
/ref> She was at one time the president of the Concert Artistes Association.''The Stage Year Book 1956'', p.25 Her final appearances both on radio and stage came in 1954, by which time she was suffering from cancer. She died in

Southgate, London Southgate is a suburban area of north London, England, in the London Borough of Enfield, north of Charing Cross. History Southgate was originally the south gate of Enfield Chase, the King's hunting grounds. This is reflected in the street n ...

, in 1955, aged 74.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarri, Suzette 1881 births 1955 deaths 20th-century English comedians English women comedians People from Hoxton Comedians from the London Borough of Hackney