Henry Lytton, Jr. (2 July 1906 – 16 September 1965) was an English actor and singer who appeared in musical comedy and a few screen roles, and later as a pantomime dame and Ringmaster of the Blackpool Tower Circus.
Early life and career
Lytton was born Lord Alver Lytton in Chiswick in 1906, the youngest child of Gilbert and Sullivan performers Henry Lytton and Louie Henri. He was disinherited from his father's will as Lytton Sr. disapproved of his son's marriage to Jessie Matthews and his following a career in the theatre. However, on her death in 1947 he found himself in his mother's will.
He appeared in The Charlot Show of 1925, and the following year as Reggie opposite the singer and dancer Jessie Matthews in The Charlot Show of 1926 at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. Following a whirlwind romance the two married in Hammersmith in London on 17 February 1926, aged 19 and 18 respectively. They divorced in November 1929 owing to Lytton's numerous infidelities. Lytton played Lord Campton in the musical Virginia (1929) at the Palace Theatre in London and later on tour. In 1931 he was touring in the musical Here Comes the Bride opposite Pola Negri. He married the actress Barbara Joan Weale (1906–2000) in Kensington in London in 1931, and by 1939 the couple were living in Sunbury-on-Thames.
Later years
Lytton appeared in the pantomime Goody Two Shoes at the Grand Theatre in Leeds (1938); in High Time (1946–1947) with Nat Jackley and Tessie O'Shea, and in Here There and Everywhere (1947–1948) opposite Tommy Trinder, both at the London Palladium.
His film appearances included the short After Dinner (1938), in which his wife Barbara Lytton also appeared, and George in Laugh It Off (1940), both opposite Trinder, while his television appearances included four episodes of The Charlie Chester Show (1951).
From 1954 to his death Lytton lived in Blackpool in Lancashire, having moved there to take over as Ringmaster each summer at the Blackpool Tower Circus, a position he held until his death. During the Christmas period Lytton appeared as a pantomime dame, on one occasion in Goody Two Shoes at the Empire Theatre in Leeds. Other panto appearances included Dame Horner in Jack and Jill (1948–1949) at the Manchester Hippodrome, Dame Horner in Jack and Jill (1951–1952) and Queen Hysteria in Little Miss Muffet (1952–1953; 1958–1959), the latter all at the New Palace Theatre of Varieties in Plymouth.
Lytton died of a heart attack in Blackpool in 1965, aged 59. In his will he left £1,205 to his widow Barbara Joan Lytton.
References
- London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1917, Lord Alver Lytton, Ealing, St Alban, Acton Green, 1888–1906, via Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- Jones, Brian. Lytton: Gilbert and Sullivan's Jester, Basingstoke Books, London (2005), p. 192
- Will of Dame Louie Lytton (1947), The London Gazette, 31 October 1947, p. 5167
- Jessie Matthews (1907–1981), Encyclopedia.com
- ^ London Revues 1925–1929, Over the Footlights
- England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005 for Lord A Lytton, 1926, via Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- "Rudolf Valentino and Charlie Chaplin’s sweetheart stars at the Manchester Hippodrome", Manchester Theatre History
- England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005 for Lord A Lytton, 1931, via Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- "Alva Lytton Re-Weds; Son of the Actor, Sir Henry Lytton, Takes Joan Barbara Weale as Bride", The New York Times, 17 May 1931
- 1939 England and Wales Register for Lord Alva Lytton, Middlesex, Sunbury-on-Thames UD, via Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- Poster for Goody Two Shoes (1938), The Victoria and Albert Museum
- London Revues 1945-1949, Over the Footlights website
- Laugh It Off (1940), British Film Institute
- Blackpool Tower Circus, National Fairground and Circus Archive, University of Sheffield
- "Charlie Cairoli", Circopedia
- Hudd, Roy, A Fart in a Colander: The Autobiography, Michael O'Mara Books (2010)
- New Palace Theatre of Varieties, Plymouth, Old Plymouth
- England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995 for Lord Alver Lytton, 1965, via Ancestry.com (subscription required)