29 Facts About Vesta Tilley

Vesta Tilley adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era.

Vesta Tilley typically performed as a dandy or fop, playing other roles.

Vesta Tilley found additional success as a principal boy in pantomime.

Vesta Tilley was a star in the vaudeville circuit in the United States, touring a total of six times.

Vesta Tilley married Walter de Frece, a theatre impresario who became her new manager and songwriter.

Vesta Tilley then supported her husband when he became a Member of Parliament and later retired with him to Monte Carlo.

Vesta Tilley died in 1952 on a visit to London and is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.

Vesta Tilley was the second child out of a total of thirteen and shared her first name with her mother Matilda Powles.

Vesta Tilley's father was William Henry Powles, known as Harry Ball.

Vesta Tilley was a musician and comic who in 1870 became manager and master of ceremonies at the Star Music Hall, Gloucester.

Vesta Tilley was billed as Vesta Tilley for the first time in April 1878, when performing at the Royal Music Hall in Holborn, London.

Vesta Tilley's success continued into the 1880s and she was able to command ever higher fees for her performances.

Vesta Tilley's father had died in 1888 and two years later she married Walter de Frece, a theatre impresario who owned music halls across Great Britain.

Vesta Tilley toured extensively in Britain and played the vaudeville circuit in the United States on six separate visits.

Vesta Tilley was known for her painstaking attention to detail in preparing for her roles: she wore her hair tightly plaited and hidden under a wig; she took to wearing men's underwear so her appearance looked believable, since contemporary women's underclothing would have distorted her shape.

Vesta Tilley had found her niche, performing as a male impersonator and working-class men adored her mockery of the upper classes.

Vesta Tilley sang a favourite song, "The Piccadilly Johnny with the Little Glass Eye" wearing trousers as part of her act.

Alongside other stars such as Dan Leno and Ada Reeve, Vesta Tilley made some of the first sound recordings in England in 1898.

Vesta Tilley played the principal boy in a number of pantomimes.

Vesta Tilley often performed in male roles in pantomimes such as Beauty and the Beast and Sinbad the Sailor, and occasionally played female parts, such as the Queen of Hearts at the Theatre Royal, Brighton.

Vesta Tilley was nicknamed "England's greatest recruiting sergeant" since young men were sometimes asked to join the army during her show.

However, Vesta Tilley was prepared to question the carnage of war.

Walter de Frece was knighted in the 1919 King's Birthday Honours List for his services to the war effort, with Vesta Tilley becoming Lady de Frece.

De Frece decided to stand for Parliament and Vesta Tilley chose to end her stage career.

Vesta Tilley made her final appearance at the Coliseum Theatre, London on Saturday 5 June 1920.

In 1923, Vesta Tilley was presented at the royal court as Lady de Frece.

Vesta Tilley's husband served as an MP until 1931 and then the couple moved to Monte Carlo for their retirement.

Vesta Tilley died in St James's, London while visiting on 16 September 1952, aged 88.

Vesta Tilley's body was buried alongside her husband, at Putney Vale Cemetery.