SIR HARRY LAUDER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 10 April 1945, Page 3

SIR HARRY LAUDER

FAMOUS COMEDIAN SINGS AGAIN A GLIMPSE OF HIM BACKSTAGE I had been writing stories about Sir Harry Lauder over a period of twenty years when he came into the office one day, kilted, mirthful, and bright as a morning star, says Waller W. Cunningham in the "Christian Science Monitor.” 1 had always wanted to find out what lay behind his genius. So I asked nim if I might come to his dressing room, talk with him there and sit in the wings on the stage while lie sang. His answer was as short as his stature. "I never let people on the stage with me,” he said. But I knew a soft hand eposed in the steel glove, and under a little persuasion he yielded The performance was a matinee at one of Boston's best theatres. We entered the building an hour ahead of the show and he spent the first fifteen minutes of conversation with me com- ! pleting a caricature of himself which he drew on the mirror with greasepaints. Then he began to prepare for his act. 1 observed every move, and 1 found what I believed accounted for his success as a comedian. It was his capacity for painstaking detail. I never remember an artist more meticulous about make-up, facial ex- ! pression, dress and gesture than he. | The jaunty tilt of his Glengarry boni net. the dazzling costume, the twisted stick, the bright-buckled shoes —everyj thing had to be right before he stepped ' into the flare of the footlights. | Sir Harry was extremely sensitive to I the response of his audience. When |he finished a song and came into the 1 wings for a change of costume 1 heard 1 him mutter, "They don't like ‘The 'Sailor.’” alluding to the not-too-hearty J reception his listeners gave to his ren- ! dering of "I Love to Be a Sailor.” Did that discourage him? No. it merely ! spurred him on to better effort. He 1 burst on the stage in "I Love a Lassie” ! with a gusto that, almost brought the ! audience to its feet. j His smile is irresistible, his voice ' rich. He enjoys singing. •Sing!” he used to say "Singing makes you cheery.” It has been truly said that millions of people who have never seen Scotland have experienced affection for the country through the characterisations so deliciously exaggerated in this little Highlander., He knows how to concentrate his effect on one good laugh. A master of detail, his art is touched by simplicity and sincerity. Sir Harry's career has been amazing. He started as a millhand at 50 cents a week, worked as a miner, sang on concert platforms, and then in the music halls, where his talent was immediately recognised. He was the first Scottish comedian to "capture” London. His fame was immediate and lasting. It is perhaps safe to say no I Scotsman is better known. His songs I are familiar in every land, and only the other day a friend of mine at a mere glimpse of his picture sang the complete chorus of the song : | “If Ever I Marry Again.” For years little has been heard of Sir Harry. Now he comes into the limelight. He is singing again. The war is calling, so he is doing his bit once more at benefit concerts all over the British Isles