Bert Errol in drag, wearing a light dress. Photographic postcard, 191-.

Date:
[between 1910 and 1919?]
Reference:
2044928i
Part of:
The James Gardiner Collection.
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view Bert Errol in drag, wearing a light dress. Photographic postcard, 191-.

Contains: 2 images

In copyright

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Credit

Bert Errol in drag, wearing a light dress. Photographic postcard, 191-. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Publication/Creation

Burnley : J. R. Brunton (F. R. S.), [between 1910 and 1919?]

Physical description

1 photograph : photographic print ; sheet 13.4 x 8.9 cm

Lettering

Bert Errol. Lettering printed in white on bottom recto

Notes

The following description was provided by James Gardiner: "He is holding a feathered headdress, gazing down at it; his hair is styled and he sits on a bench with draped fabric. Bert Errol (1883-1949), was to some extent extent the British counterpart to Julian Eltinge. By the age of eighteen he was appearing as a concert singer in his home town of Birmingham, singing in a strong tenor voice. By the time of his first appearance in London, at the Pavilion in 1909, his act had evolved into a series of impersonations of popular female singers, as well as characters of his own devising. As his act developed into the 1920s, it became more comedy-based, and his routines featured lightning-fast costume changes. Film exists of one such routine, showing how the rapid changes were effected with the unseen help of his wife, who waited in the wings with specially made costumes and props at the ready. His long and successful career took him all over Europe and on several highly successful tours of America. Despite his large and definitely masculine features, photographs reveal a very stylish and fashionable figure, and he enjoyed a long and successful career, dying in Brighton in 1949. The catalogued item, circa 1925, shows Errol in a beautiful tiered and beaded 'flapper' dress, in a pensive pose."
This work is untitled: the title has been supplied by the cataloguer.

Reference

Wellcome Collection 2044928i

Where to find it

  • Photograph album labelled ‘Drag'

    LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores

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