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Lily Elsie

Lily Elsie
Lily Elsie (Mrs Bullough) by Sir James Jebusa Shannon.jpg
Lily Elsie, by James Jebusa Shannon, c.1916
Born Elsie Hodder
(1886-04-08)8 April 1886
Armley, West Yorkshire, England
Died 16 December 1962(1962-12-16) (aged 76)
Cricklewood, London, England
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1895–1929

(not to be confused with actresses Lilie Leslie or Elsie Leslie)

Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962) was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era, best known for her starring role in the hit London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow.

Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in The Merry Widow, opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals. Admired for her beauty and charm on stage, Elsie became one of the most photographed women of Edwardian times.

Elsie was born in Armley, West Yorkshire. Her mother, Charlotte Elizabeth Hodder (1864–1922), was a dressmaker who operated a lodging-house. She married William Thomas Cotton, a theatre worker, in 1891, and Elsie became Elsie Cotton. The family lived in Manchester. Elsie was also the niece of Wilfred Cotton, who married actress Ada Reeve.

A precocious child star, Elsie appeared in music hall and variety entertainments as a child impersonator known as "Little Elsie". Nevertheless, she was reportedly painfully shy, even as an adult. By 1895–96, she appeared in concerts and pantomimes in theatres in Salford. In 1896, she played the role of Princess Mirza in The Arabian Nights at the Queen's Theatre in Manchester. Then, at Christmas 1896–97, at the age of ten, she appeared in the title role of Little Red Riding Hood at the same theatre for six weeks and then on tour for six additional weeks. Her first London appearance was at Christmas 1898 in King Klondike at Sara Lane's Britannia Theatre as Aerielle, the Spirit of the Air. Elsie then toured the provinces, travelling as far as Bristol and Hull for a full year in McKenna's Flirtation, a farce by American E. Selden, in 1900. She then played in Christmas pantomimes, including Dick Whittington (1901), The Forty Thieves (1902), and Blue Beard (1903) and toured in Edwardian musical comedies, including The Silver Slipper by Owen Hall, with music by Leslie Stuart (1901–02), and Three Little Maids (1903). From about 1900, she adopted the stage name "Lily Elsie".


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