Leopoldo Fregoli

Leopoldo (Luigi) Fregoli (Italian pronunciation: [leoˈpɔldo ˈfreːɡoli]; 2 July 1867 in Rome – 26 November 1936 in Viareggio) was a stage star and Italian actor.

Fregoli was the greatest protean (quick-change) artist of his day. He was famous for his extraordinary ability in impersonations and his quickness in exchanging roles-so much so that while he was performing in London in the 1890s unkind rumours spread that there was more than one Fregoli. He quickly quashed these rumours by inviting journalists and doubters backstage to see him at work: Fregoli had no secrets. He even went to see the host of imitators he inspired ("The Great Trickoli" and "Fregolina" were some examples) and offered them advice about how to improve their performances.

Originally an amateur entertainer, he took his first steps to professionalism while serving in the Italian army in Abyssinia under General Baldissera in 1890. A troupe of theatrical performers the general hired to entertain his soldiers did not materialise. Fregoli offered to fill in and was an immediate success. General Baldissera subsequently had Fregoli posted, not as a soldier but as a performer, to the theatre at Massowah, which he used to entertain soldiers. Fregoli became the director and stage manager of the theatre and casino. After a year he returned to Italy and performed in Rome, Genoa and Florence. In the audience at Florence was a government registry clerk, Ugo Biondi, who was so impressed with Fregoli's performance that he sought him out and asked for some lessons in how to follow in his footsteps. Fregoli generously complied and Biondi went on to be another great quick change artist-first claiming to be a pupil but later set up as the 'original' Fregoli.

From Italy Fregoli went to Brazil, Spain, and the United States. While he was in Madrid he was watched in performance by Alfred Moul, the general manager of the Alhambra Theatre in London's Charing Cross Road (which was being refitted at that time in the Moorish style under the direction of the great designer Owen Jones). Moul had heard of Fregoli's genius and wanted to be the first impresario in Britain to sign him up. He subsequently claimed that Fregoli (and his team of supporting assistants) were being paid £350 per week to perform at the Alhambra—a remarkable amount for the time. This was nothing compared to what Fregoli was to generate in ticket sales.

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