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| − | {{Infobox |
+ | {{Infobox icon |
| + | |image=Bert Errol.jpg |
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| − | |image1= |
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| + | |birth=August 11, 1883<br />Birmingham, England, UK |
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| − | |name=Bart |
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| + | |death=November 28, 1949 (aged 66)<br />Brighton, England, UK |
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| − | |sexuality=[[File:Polysexual Flag.svg|25px]] [[Polysexual]] |
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| + | |alias= |
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| − | |pronouns=[[Pronouns|He/him]] |
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| + | |active=1901 - 1940s |
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| − | |birthday=July 5 |
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| + | |name=Bert Errol |
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| − | |birthplace=The Netherlands |
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| − | |nationality= |
+ | |nationality=British |
| − | |occupation= |
+ | |occupation=Singer,<br />Drag Queen |
| + | |known= |
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| − | |study=Sociology |
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| + | |pronouns=}} |
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| − | |zodiac_sign=Cancer |
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| + | '''Bert Errol''', stage name of '''Isaac Whitehouse Jr.''', (August 11, 1883 - November 28, 1949) was a British singer and female impersonator who achieved great success in both Britain and the United States.<ref name="GBB">{{Cite print |author=Kilgarriff, Michael |title=Grace, Beauty and Banjos: Peculiar Lives and Strange Times of Music Hall and Variety Artistes, |publisher=Oberon Books |date=1998 |isbn=1-84002-116-0}}</ref> |
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| − | |languages_spoken=Dutch<br>English<br>German<br>French<br>Danish<br>Afrikaans |
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| − | |colors=Yellow |
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| − | |gender=[[Cisgender]] man |
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| − | |romance=[[Polyromantic]] |
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| − | |age=20 |
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| − | |movies=[https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/What_Dreams_May_Come_(film) What Dreams May Come]<br>[https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/Clue_(1985) Clue] |
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| − | |tv_shows=[https://rupaulsdragrace.fandom.com RuPaul's Drag Race]<br>[https://orange-is-the-new-black.fandom.com Orange Is The New Black]<br>[https://brooklyn99.fandom.com Brooklyn Nine-Nine]<br>[https://titans.fandom.com Titans]<br>[https://pose-fx.fandom.com Pose] |
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| − | |books=[https://harrypotter.fandom.com/ Harry Potter]<br>[https://neilgaiman.fandom.com/wiki/Good_Omens Good Omens] |
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| − | |comic_books=[https://dc.fandom.com/ DC Comics]}} |
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| − | Hi there! Welcome to my page! |
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| + | ==Early life== |
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| − | My name is Bart and I'm one of the admins here on this Wiki! |
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| + | Errol was born Isaac Whitehouse Jr. on 11th August, 1883, in Birmingham.<ref name="GBB" /> His father was Isaac Whitehouse Sr., a brass lock founder.<ref name="JazzAge">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jazzageclub.com/the-female-impersonator-bert-errol/5938/ |title=The Female Impersonator Bert Errol |date=October 21, 2021 |archivedate=20220317140807 |author=Jazz Age Club |work=https://www.jazzageclub.com/author/jazz-age-club/ |publisher=Jazz Age Club}}</ref> In 1901, at the age of 17, Errol was living with his family in Handsworth, Birmingham, and was working for his father as a ‘brass dresser’.<ref name="JazzAge" /> |
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| + | Errol studied chemistry and always wanted to pursue a career in that field.<ref name="JazzAge" /> However, his voice had not changed much to his chagrin. One day, his sister’s singing coach arrived at the house and heard a soprano voice upstairs, and Isaac’s unusual singing voice was discovered. She asked Isaac to sing for her and began teaching him for free. In a short period of time, he became a choir-boy and was trained to appear on the stage.<ref name="JazzAge" /> |
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| − | I joined this wonderful community a couple of years ago and I'm very devoted to making (and keeping) it as informative, accurate and inclusive as possible. I originally started on the [https://rupaulsdragrace.fandom.com Drag Race Wiki], where I'm also an admin. |
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| + | ==Career== |
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| − | If you need help with anything, are having disputes with other users, or if you just want to talk, leave a message on my wall or send me a friend request on Discord! |
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| + | {{Stub|section}} |
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| + | {{Warning|title=Content Warning|text=This section contains mentions of blackface. Reader discretion is advised.}} |
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| + | He began his career in 1901 as a concert singer and was part a concert party for a few years. At some point around 1907 or 1908, he appeared in blackface as a member of Harry Reynolds’s Minstrels, which was probably when he ventured into drag.<ref name="JazzAge" /> Reynold’s later described him as 'that famous male soprano and double voice vocalist' who had a remarkable voice and became known for his artistic singing. He 'created a great impression with his cultured singing and finished burlesque prima donna business. When he first joined me he had a rather poor speaking voice which somewhat handicapped him in the sketches and burlesques'.<ref name="JazzAge" /> But within a short space of time he ‘had developed quite an exceptional, robust tenor voice that added interest to his clever show. In his particular line of business he now seems to stand in a class by himself.’ For example, in May 1908 he was with Harry Reynold's Minstrel Quintette at Hastings Pier where he was described as being very popular and his falsetto register and female impersonations that were 'captivating'.<ref name="JazzAge" /> |
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| + | He first visited the United States in 1910, when there was publicity over the fact that he had paid $1,000 customs duty on his gowns, many of which he had bought from Henry Paget, the Marquess of Anglesey. He returned to the U.S. several times, receiving good reviews and touring on the Orpheum and Keith vaudeville circuits,<ref name="EoV">{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Encyclopedia_of_Vaudeville/Hu3nNSmRjZ0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Bert+Errol%22+impersonator&pg=PA161&printsec=frontcover |title="Bert Errol", The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, University Press of Mississippi |date=2012 |archivedate=20220317140807 |author=Slide, Anthony |work= |publisher=}}</ref> and also toured Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.<ref name="BMH">{{Cite print |author=Baker, Richard Anthony |title=British Music Hall: an illustrated history |publisher=Pen & Sword |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-78383-118-0}}</ref> He was said to have a "Tetrazzini voice". He always appeared with his wife, Ray Hartley, whom he presented on stage, "for fear of any suspicion of homosexuality",<ref name="JazzAge" /><ref name="EoV" /> and who assisted with his rapid changes of clothes. |
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| + | He was in great demand and appeared at the London Hippodrome in August 1913, but finally the lure of America was triumphant due to his agent Will Collins who secured a tour of the Keith vaudeville circuit, this time with favourable renumeration. The Errol’s arrived in New York for the first time in October 1913. Errol made his debut at Keith’s Alhambra on November 10th. He was an instant hit and it was acknowledged that his main forte was his voice.<ref name="JazzAge" /> He was declared to be ‘one of the first class in the manipulation of the paints and powders and the lingerie things’ and was compared to the leading America female impersonator as 'almost as close to a [[Julian Eltinge]] in the art as Julian himself'.<ref name="JazzAge" /> |
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| + | |||
| + | ==Later life== |
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| + | In later years, he developed the comedy side of his act, and became known in Britain for his performances as a pantomime dame.<ref name="EoV" /> In 1935, he appeared in the pantomime ''Cinderella'' on BBC radio, and was described as "one of the finest female impersonators of modern times, who must have played in nearly every music-hall in the country".<ref name="BBC">{{Cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/5ca807f4260e4bc1820b307d57a98932 |title=Radio Times, no. 638 |date=December 22, 1935 |archivedate=20220317140807 |author= |work=publisher=BBC}}</ref> |
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| + | |||
| + | Errol died in Brighton on November 28, 1949, at the age of 66.<ref name="BMH" /> |
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| + | |||
| + | ==References== |
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| + | {{Scroll|{{reflist}}}} |
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| + | [[Category:Drag]] |
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Revision as of 20:52, 17 March 2022
Bert Errol, stage name of Isaac Whitehouse Jr., (August 11, 1883 - November 28, 1949) was a British singer and female impersonator who achieved great success in both Britain and the United States.[1]
Early life
Errol was born Isaac Whitehouse Jr. on 11th August, 1883, in Birmingham.[1] His father was Isaac Whitehouse Sr., a brass lock founder.[2] In 1901, at the age of 17, Errol was living with his family in Handsworth, Birmingham, and was working for his father as a ‘brass dresser’.[2]
Errol studied chemistry and always wanted to pursue a career in that field.[2] However, his voice had not changed much to his chagrin. One day, his sister’s singing coach arrived at the house and heard a soprano voice upstairs, and Isaac’s unusual singing voice was discovered. She asked Isaac to sing for her and began teaching him for free. In a short period of time, he became a choir-boy and was trained to appear on the stage.[2]
Career
|
Expansion needed |
| This section is incomplete. You can help LGBTQIA+ Wiki by expanding it. |
|
Content Warning |
| This section contains mentions of blackface. Reader discretion is advised. |
He began his career in 1901 as a concert singer and was part a concert party for a few years. At some point around 1907 or 1908, he appeared in blackface as a member of Harry Reynolds’s Minstrels, which was probably when he ventured into drag.[2] Reynold’s later described him as 'that famous male soprano and double voice vocalist' who had a remarkable voice and became known for his artistic singing. He 'created a great impression with his cultured singing and finished burlesque prima donna business. When he first joined me he had a rather poor speaking voice which somewhat handicapped him in the sketches and burlesques'.[2] But within a short space of time he ‘had developed quite an exceptional, robust tenor voice that added interest to his clever show. In his particular line of business he now seems to stand in a class by himself.’ For example, in May 1908 he was with Harry Reynold's Minstrel Quintette at Hastings Pier where he was described as being very popular and his falsetto register and female impersonations that were 'captivating'.[2]
He first visited the United States in 1910, when there was publicity over the fact that he had paid $1,000 customs duty on his gowns, many of which he had bought from Henry Paget, the Marquess of Anglesey. He returned to the U.S. several times, receiving good reviews and touring on the Orpheum and Keith vaudeville circuits,[3] and also toured Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.[4] He was said to have a "Tetrazzini voice". He always appeared with his wife, Ray Hartley, whom he presented on stage, "for fear of any suspicion of homosexuality",[2][3] and who assisted with his rapid changes of clothes.
He was in great demand and appeared at the London Hippodrome in August 1913, but finally the lure of America was triumphant due to his agent Will Collins who secured a tour of the Keith vaudeville circuit, this time with favourable renumeration. The Errol’s arrived in New York for the first time in October 1913. Errol made his debut at Keith’s Alhambra on November 10th. He was an instant hit and it was acknowledged that his main forte was his voice.[2] He was declared to be ‘one of the first class in the manipulation of the paints and powders and the lingerie things’ and was compared to the leading America female impersonator as 'almost as close to a Julian Eltinge in the art as Julian himself'.[2]
Later life
In later years, he developed the comedy side of his act, and became known in Britain for his performances as a pantomime dame.[3] In 1935, he appeared in the pantomime Cinderella on BBC radio, and was described as "one of the finest female impersonators of modern times, who must have played in nearly every music-hall in the country".[5]
Errol died in Brighton on November 28, 1949, at the age of 66.[4]
References
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