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Caricature
Cooke, George - Enlarge image
Caricature
- Date:
09/1906 (drawn)
- Artist/Maker:
Cooke, George (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink and wash on paper
- Museum number:
S.393:32-2002
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This caricature is of Tom Leamore (1866-1939) when he was performing at the Grand Theatre of Varieties, Hanley, during the week of 17 September 1906. It is one of the many superb caricatures of Edwardian music hall performers that were drawn by the artist George Cooke when he was based at the Grand. He compiled them in a series of albums. Leamore’s act at the Grand consisted of patter and two songs - one about marrying Liza, and the second about the tribulations of a park-keeper. Other performers on the bill that week with Leamore included The Egbert Brothers, who were also drawn by Cooke.
Leamore’s first professional appearance was as an eccentric comedian and clog dancer at the Old Rodney Music Hall in 1880. He then appeared at the Star, Bermondsey, in 1882, at the Middlesex Music Hall, and in the West End of London at the Trocadero. He became one of the most successful character comedians of the 1890s and a regular performer at all the leading London halls as well as the provincial circuit. His most famous songs included ‘Hi! Hi! Hi! I Thought She Was So Shy’ and ‘Percy from Pimlico’. Leamore was one of the first music hall performers to make commercial recordings.
