We’ve briefly mentioned Dan Leno, AKA the King’s Jester on this blog before. He was a Vaudevillian act of immense popularity, famous in the Victorian era for his clog-dancing, singing and his Pantomime Dames.
Music Halls were a unique form of entertainment; they were very quick-change sketch shows consisting of songs, dance and comedy. Performers frequently indulged in cross-dressing and acrobatics were also a popular part of the act.
Leno was born George Galvin into an already theatrical family – his father was a comedian, his mother a vocalist. When his father died young, Galvin’s mother remarried one Will Leno, from whom George was to eventually take his stage name.
With such a pedigree, it’s not surprising that George was performing from a young age, in scenes which sound suspiciously like Don Lockwood’s vaudevillian rise to fame in Singing in the Rain. He quickly rose to the top of the bill and at the height of his popularity in the 1880s he would perform at anything between three and 20 music halls each evening.
Popular performers would be placed at different points of the bill in different music halls, giving them the chance to get between the various locations.
Dan Leno was a World Champion Clog Dancer, a form of dance that combines folk and tap traditions. Even more remarkable, despite his ability to command some of the biggest stages in England, and his larger than life persona, Leno was only 5ft 3”.
Leno was central to the development of Victorian pantomime, from which originated many of the hallmarks of today’s Christmas theatre. He became attached to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1887; and between Christmas and Easter for the next 16 years, he could be seen playing any one of a number of dames, from Mother Goose to Widow Twankey.
Today the Dame is an integral part of pantomime, played by talented comic performers in outrageous costumes. Our interpretation, and expectation, of how a dame should perform is largely dictated by Leno’s work during his time at Drury Lane, when he essentially created the modern pantomime dame. He was the first ever Mother Goose, after the role was written for him, bringing topical humour, and sly innuendo to the role, along with his own brand of wit.
It’s for this reason we’re featuring Leno on the blog at this time of year, as there’s nothing like a dame!
By the time he was commanded to perform for the King in 1901, Leno was known as The Funniest Man on Earth. Unfortunately there was very little comedy in his death, which was tragically young. Leno suffered a mental breakdown in 1903 and died soon afterwards aged just 43. His death certificate listed insanity, some murmured syphilis; modern medicine thinks he probably suffered from a brain tumour.
His funeral was public and on a scale normally reserved for royalty and military commanders, with crowds flocking to see his funeral procession. He was interred in Lambeth Cemetery and his grave, with the epitaph King of Laughter-Makers, can still be visited today.
We’re not much for advertising on this blog – but if you want a truly remarkable, fictionalised account of Leno’s character and life, wrapped up in one of the most startling murder mysteries ever created, London Hunts can highly recommend Peter Ackroyd’s Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem. Just don’t read it when you’re sleeping alone...
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