MR. DAN LENO AND HIS LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12740, 17 December 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

MR. DAN LENO AND HIS LIFE.

A GREAT COMEDIAN, Evertoxe, old and young, will regret ; to Leal of the death of Dan Leno. For many ■ year- past he had been regarded as the principal comedian on the British musichall stage, and playgoers were looking for■ward to bearing -his quaint voice and seeing his equally quaint figure in the pantomime at Drury Lane Theatre. The news of his '■;■. > ;T death was communicated first m all to Mr. ''/'■ Arthur Collins, who was at Dairy Lane, -.. and the intelligence arrived at a somewhat dramatic moment. ,■;■ »? The manager was engaging an understudy . for the comedian at the time the telephone ■'•bell rang, and he heard over the wire of the loss of Ids friend. Mr. Leao, whose ''- read name, by, the way, was George Galvilt, began his connection with Drury Lane in 1888, when he appeared there with his wife, "at a joint salary of £25 a week. For the ; just five years be has been enjoying there a salary of £250 a week. '..'.:. Le»o was a genuine humorist, and never spoke or suggested anything on the stage '■« that would bring a blush. "A healthy moral tone should always oe observed in ; places of amusement." he once remarked:. ■. and this healthy moral tone he attempted to preserve. He was very fond, of children, and he was never funnier than at matinees at Drury Lane, when he would specially ■ ». play to and for the juveniles in the house. '- Though Ida face had "a fortune in it." "3 it was sometimes a matter for regret with .Dan that even in ordinarv Hie he could not V, help making people laugh. Endowed with ~ the kindest heart in the world, he would ; smile ia mere courtesy, and was greeted with a roat. x As with all true artistes. V there was an underlying vein or seriousness in Dan JLeno's characier. and his pattei was the often enough, ot quite anxious labour. No one. lie said, could write exactly what he wanted, and he would go for long lonely walks thinking out in his ow:n way practically even- line of those ecstatic " arguments of the '"bouse near the gas- ■ i works" type that were his later specialty. Many a time he would sigh far the d:tvs ,:; when lie was merely champion clog-dancer .; of the North, and this strange responsibility had not begun to weigh down his spirits. ■ Socially ,lie_ was very entertaining, was smart in his repartee, mid never vulgar. , -All bis characters were drawn from life. The Tower of London guide, who so long l m declared that everything" couid be best seen p "from the refreshment-room.'' was for years t$ well-known figure on Tower Hill. To get accustomed to the life of a waiter he accepted an engagement at a restaurant for '•-» day- and for his fireman's song he became .. attached to a provincial brigade in order to see for himself how things were done. - so that he might better appreciate the i'saumorons side of the business. His last v ; ; appearance was at the London Pavilion. \ .. TOLD BY HIMSELF. - •I tame" into the world a mere child, without a rag to my back and without a poiiiv ~' in my pocket. That was in the year 1851, .and it occurred in Eveeonrt, King's Cross. ■ London. The place is now covered over =. ' by St. Pancras Station. . ~ I am sorry to say that I have a verv inr distinct recollection of mr earir childhood ; "' ''■■' J only remember that I had a longing to V. chew everything within reach, more' /.p>ecia% lucifer matches and kid gloves. And I remember that I very soon displayed ; artistic ability, for having procured "a large - quantity of strawberry jam I varnished all the furniture of a room with it. including the exterior of the cat and the interior of a pair of my dad's new boots, which he ■ declared went on more easily next time he tried them. The cat had no "taste for strawberry jam, and only washed itself at the rate of about two square inches a day. My first appearance in public: was" when ; -: 1 was three years old. Thev put me on a pair of stockings and nothing else; ladies" stockings they, were (I- blushed, I can tell you), and one was red and the other blue. -Then, when they had put the stockings on, I they fastened them round mv neck with a • garter, and I was ready My parents were known in the profes- . sion as Mr. and Mrs Johnnv Wilde, and they acted; as my agents-. \ I "went on with them m my ladies' stockings as an acrobat. 1 dicta sing or patter, but mostlv looked at the audience, and wondered what thev ■ were mating their time. there lor, and I cicm t get very, good money for that. On the second night there was an alarm ; of fire, my dad picked up a pair of opera -masses and looked round the stage to find me a to so small that I used, to set mislaid or slip in a chink between the boards), and then he picked me up with his finder and thumb. - " . J . . ° The first performance .took place at the ■ CosmoTheatre Hall. Bell-street, Paddin"ton. When. 1 was fire vears of age I hid an accident, and I decided to give up the profession of acrobacy and start as a dancer. My brother taught me a few stem, and we impelled as the Brothers Leno. Mv mother had married again, and mv stepfather wade me a wedding present of the name of " - It was not until 1881 that I reappeared £ .he metropolis, find in the meantime I had been all over England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was in Dublin that I was first •dacovered by the public as the possessor "SL a lovely Voice ' and as an Irish comic • Mnger I wag very- successful, earning a hicdt salary for my seven years. At Manchester '"Thf^f » «P**acular ballet, called Ins Wrcklow Wedding,"' in which I played the principal part and painted the scenery .. '.-.:;■: ■;'■:■■■':: ■ I toured all over the three kingdoms, as ? e ill **? ° f Gennan -V, with mv parent*. iT*I sJ*?f a »PM*te reputation for mv«dl at Dublin. One week I was singing at the smallest hall in the town at 15e a week, and the next I was engaged at the Exhibition Palace for £1 15s a night, which was a very pleasant change, I can assure vou. i became well i known ™ Ireland, and at Jieitast I had the honour to receive a hi<di compliment from Charles Dickens, who saw .me at the time he "was lecturing there. '. All this time I kept on practising dancing, which is one of the .most exacting of arts In 1880 my father saw an advertisement in the Era announcing a clog-dancinff competition at Leeds for the championship ? x t t V^ M ' aod on his advice .7 entered, cut 1 had no expectation of winning However, after dancing against seventeen of the nnttrt performers in the profession. the judges awarded me; the championship belt, and I held my title in three more competitions. I have been- working; hard all mv life linoe I was three, but about this time I : tbinfc I die more than ever before or since : foometimes our familv party nearly filled the entire programme. We"have appeared : - 0,, the bills as "The Leno Family/" " Mr and Mrs. Leno." "The Brothers Leno" and 'Dan I>eno. ! * I„ a few vears I was able to allow my parents to retire on a com;fortable pension, and then I go* married to Miss Lydia Reynolds. I Started on the conquest- of Loudon by singing at three halls, the Foresters', Middlesex, and Gatti's. with songs and dances. . My first great success in the'sonc line was a charming little ballad called " Milk for the Twins.'' for which I was disguised as a distressed female. Because Mr. George Con- :' ■■ quest saw me in this costume I was engaged to play old women in pantomimes forborne years" after, my first part' being Jack's : ?mother in "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the 'i Surrey Theatre in 1886. Next year I reappeared there in " Sinbad," and then I wa.; engaged by Sir Augustus Harris for Drury Lane as the Baroness in. "Babes in the Wood." '.;■ Since then I haw plaved in "Jack and " - the BeaDs (1889). " Beauty and the Beast" (1890), " Humptv. Dump'tv" (1891), •Little 80-Peep" (1892), "Robinson ™f~ '1893). "Whittington and his Cat" S' "£ ind «-*Ha" (1895). "Aladdin" '.Sr 6 ■■' abes in the Wood- (1897), Forty Tbieves" ,1893 »- >.., k and the Bear;stalk< (1899). and "Sleeping Beautv and the Beast" (1900), and am engaged to • appear in pantomime at good old Drurv Lane until the end or rny natural life. A ROYAL COMMAND. l£*was in 1901 that Mr. Leno was commanded to perform before the King at Sandringham. "People have wen asking illl3e;a\ great deal lately about my visit to -S-'.indringhaHi,',' he'oaco said. " I" tell tbein ' what my sensations were as well a* I could, <iait neither bv speaking nor writing can I express the effect it had upon me. I ini ijvod it - bevond everything. * "'On the Saturday, as I was sitting dowi .with my wife,, the"news' first '.came to me.

* It is- ' the King's wish,' I was told, 'that you should go to Sandringham on Tuesday and; give a performance.' :'' I can't,' I replied, ' I'm performing at Brixton.' You Bee, I get so many applications for extra entertainment that before I quite realised the news I thought it was another benefit or something. 'It is the King's command,' .1 was told, and then it broke upon me, and I said '"On* very suddenly. "Was I nervous? Not in the least. I was told my performance was to occupy ten minutes, or twelve at the outside. As a matter of fact, it was about, thirty-five minutes before they would let me go." Leno was veiy clever with a paint box and a brush. A few years ago he. created some alarm at Drurv Lane by painting a property cow black; it. was originally white. The stage manager could not understand the change of colour, and inquiries were instituted as to who was responsible for damaging the " prop."' jDaii looked on and pretended to make a fuss. " I expect she has been out in a thunderstorm," he said ; " lightning turns everything black."'

"THE LOST CHORD."

Oil one occasion Leno sting a serious song with results that were discomforting to his audience. In a Yorkshire town he was invited to appear at a religious meeting, and the chairman, a clergyman, in announcing him, said : " Mr. Daniel Lsno will now sing that beautiful tone picture 'The Lost Chord," ami I hope, my friends, some of us will find that chord to-night."' Leno started quietly, but eventually he forgot himself and* his "audience, and sang with "all his expression," as he put it. Everyone started laughing at the spectacle of the little comedian attempting to be serious, and the applause at the end was so loud that he had to sing another, though not quite so pathetic a ballad. Dau't first meeting with Fred Leslie was under amusing circumstances. Leslie was in a barber's shop in Lancashire, and had just been shaved. He had no small change, and the barber went out to get some silver. In walks Dan Leno, ! Slid, not knowing Leslie, asked him to cut his hair. "Certainly, sir," said the Gaiety humorist. Leno sat in the chair, was covered with an apron, and Leslie commenced lathering his face. " I want my hair. cut. not a shave," said the irate Leno.

"Well, before I cut the hair on your face I must first of all lather you," replied Leslie. Leno got out of the chair, and was about to assault Leslie, when in walked the barber, and matters were explained. Desperately ill as he frequently was, Leno would jest concerning his condition at all times. A telegraphic summons, of an unusually imperative character, arrived one afternoon. Although scarcely able to speak without an effort, he sent in reply, " Dead! Coming along a week's time. Send coffin and hearse." To a bystander he commented with unaccustomed bitterness, "They are all the same—all Shvlocks. Sign a contract", and they will keep you to it to the last drop of your blood." Once when his sunken eyes and thin face made him 0.11 oject of deepest sympathy to his friends he looked in the glass and commented—" It will have to be ' Leaner,' not Leno. if I go on like this." Driving home one night be called at the house of a friend. A boy who stood at the gatea wretched, neglected little —eyed him curiously as he passed in. Turning back. Dan remarked. "Do you know me?" The boy replied, "No, unless you're the hangman,' pointing to a card which some wag had earlier fastened to his back, on which Leno was depicted as dangling at the end of the rope. Having surveyed the sketch for a moment. Leno remarked, " It's not that kind of drop that is dangerous to most people," and then turning to the lad again, he commented, " You seem to have found that out. Who drank those holes into your get up?" The boy had. no answer ready, but be understood well the sympathy that prompted the donation of half a sovereign, with the advice, " Put something inside, and the rest on top." One evening, recently. Leno was walking along the Strand with a friend. Suddenly the comedian stopped in front of a street musician, who was singing most melancholy dirges in the night air. " What are you doing singing in the streets?" said Leno; "you oughtn't to be doing that, you know." The bewildered minstrel could only stammer forth: "Well, guvnor. I've got to do sutthin' for a living." "Nonsense," said Dan. "Here, take this." and he put a £5 note in the astonished man's hand. The man looked at it for one bewildering moment, and then bolted as fast as his legs could carrv him. "What's the mater with the man?" said Leno to his companion. " I haven't said anything to him." " No,'.' said bis friend, "but you've given him a fiver." "Is that all?" said Leno: "he might have had ten if he wanted "em."