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Harry Weldon (1 February 1881 – 10 March 1930) was an English comedian and music hall performer popular in the 1910s.

Life and career

Weldon was born James Henry Stanley in Liverpool, England on 1 February 1881.

He made his first stage appearance in the Tivoli Music Hall in Barrow in March 1900, making his London debut that year in the Marylebone Music Hall. He appeared with Fred Karno’s troupe and Charlie Chaplin in 1910 at the Nottingham Empire. He was known for having eyes that seemed always shut, and for speaking with a whistle - especially when saying his catchphrase: "'s no use". Among several comic characters, ‘Stiffy the Goal-keeper’ was perhaps the most popular. He performed at the Royal Variety Performance in 1922.

Weldon married twice: first on 29 August 1902, to Clarice Mabel Holt. They had a daughter, Mabel, in September 1906. The couple formally separated in March 1922, and divorced in 1925. Weldon's second marriage was in June 1926 to American Hilda Glyder, who was some 16 years younger than Clarice. Weldon died at 132 Maida Vale on 10 March 1930, leaving his widow just over £1,000. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery. The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America restored Weldon's grave from a dilapidated state in or around 2017.

Weldon was an advocate for women’s football, organising a number of matches in the early 20th century. The most notable took place on 14 February 1921, when he invited Dick, Kerr Ladies to Anfield to play his own side which was made up of the best players from the rest of Britain, including one player travelling as far as the island of Unst in the Shetland Isles. The prize was The Harry Weldon Cup in aid of unemployed ex-servicemen, which is on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester. A record 25,000 fans were in attendance that day as Dick, Kerr Ladies went on to win 9-1.

Widow and daughter

Weldon's widow, Hilda Glyder, was herself a popular music hall singer and comedienne. She returned to the stage for some years after Weldon's death. Walter Sickert painted her singing "You'd Be Surprised" in about 1923. Hilda remarried and died in New York in 1962. Weldon's daughter Mabel also went on the stage, as Maisie Weldon. There exists a 1941 British Pathé film clip of Maisie Weldon singing and doing impersonations, including one of her father.

References

1. ^ "Harry Weldon, music hall comedian". West Hampstead Life. 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
2. "Caricature". Victoria and Albert Museum. 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
3. "Latest News". Music Hall Guild. 2018. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
4. Meschke, Jacob (24 July 2023). "Overlooked No More: Lily Parr, Dominant British Soccer Player". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
5. Gibbs, Stuart (20 October 2021). "Women's Football in the North West". University of Wolverhampton. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
6. Gorton, Mark (1 August 2022). "Last night the Lionesses won English football's first major trophy since 1966 - this is how a ban of 1921 put them at a 50 year disadvantage". Haswell News. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
7. Newsham, Gail (26 February 2024). "Team Highlights". Dick,Kerr Ladies Official. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
8. "Harry Weldon Cup 1921". The National Football Museum. 14 February 1921. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
9. Baron, Wendy (2006). Sickert: Paintings and Drawings. New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press. p. 499. ISBN 0300111290.
10. "Maisie Weldon . . . (1941)". Pathé. 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

External links

• Harry Weldon: What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes For?
• Harry Weldon: Stiffy The Goalkeeper
• Harry Weldon: Sleuthy, The Dread Of The Heads (1918)
• Harry Weldon: The White Hope

• 1881 births
• 1930 deaths
• Music hall performers
• Comedians from Liverpool
• 20th-century British comedians