12 Facts About Hetty King

Hetty King was born in New Brighton, Cheshire, where her itinerant family were living temporarily; they were usually based in Manchester.

Hetty King's father, William Emms, was a comedian and musician who performed as Billy King and ran Uncle Billy's Minstrels, a troupe who constantly travelled around the country with a portable theatre and caravans.

Hetty King adopted the name Hetty King when she first appeared on the stage of the Shoreditch Theatre, at the age of six.

In 1907, King travelled to the United States with the Canadian comedian R G Knowles, and broke all records at the New York Theatre, performing songs including "I Want a Gibson Girl" and "When I Get Back To Piccadilly".

Hetty King said that she first sang it at the Liverpool Empire in 1908, but it did not become successful until 1909, when it became popular and, towards the end of the year, was described as the greatest pantomime hit for four years.

Hetty King's career spanned both World Wars, when she performed in the uniform of either a soldier or a sailor.

Hetty King continued to entertain until the end of her life, and regularly performed in the United States, Australia and South Africa.

Hetty King toured Britain from 1948 as one of the veteran music hall performers in the show Thanks for the Memory produced by Don Ross.

Hetty King was a music hall comedian, singer and theatre proprietor, billed as Dan Roe from 1898, who appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s, often as the comic character PC Jimmy Josser.

Hetty King's half-sister, Olive Emms, was an actress, who often travelled with her and acted as her dresser; her half-brother, Harold Emms, wrote many of Hetty King's songs with his French wife, Francine.

Hetty King died in Wimbledon, London, in 1972, aged 89, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.

Hetty King appeared in the movie Lilacs in the Spring, which was directed by Herbert Wilcox and starred Anna Neagle and Errol Flynn.