T. W. Barrett
Sketch by Walter Sickert
Born
Thomas William Barrett

1851 (1851)
Birmingham, England
Died (aged 83)
Liverpool, England
OccupationMusic hall comedian

Thomas William Barrett (1851 – 19 April 1935) was an English music hall comedian and singer, most popular at the end of the nineteenth century.

He was born in Birmingham, the son of a shoemaker,[1] but at the age of ten was apprenticed as an acrobat. He ran away, and joined a concert party organised by Harry Clifford.[2] On tour, he gradually developed a reputation as a comic entertainer, and made his first appearance in London at Harwood's Varieties in Hoxton in 1878, performing songs that he composed, notably "What a Fool I Must Have Been to Marry Jane".[3] His other songs included "I've Got 'Em On", "The Marquis of Camberwell Green", "I've Been and Got Married Today", "I Don't Like London", and "Jolly as a Sand Boy".[1][2]

Blow me up an Apple Tree, sheet music

He is credited with being the first comic entertainer to perform in a deadpan manner, standing completely still and without a smile. Despite his modest upbringing, he was billed as "A Nobleman's Son", the title of another of his songs.[1] He was a favourite of the artist Walter Sickert, who sketched him with the inscription: "For countless hours between 1885 and 1922 [he had been] cheered and sweetened by [Barrett’s] gentle and reticent wit [and] his exquisite and lovable personality.”[4] Barrett's style became less fashionable in the early years of the twentieth century, and he performed less often, but in the early 1930s featured as a member of one of Albert de Courville's Veterans of Variety shows, presenting stars of the 1890s.[1]

For the last thirty years of his life, Barrett lived in Liverpool, where he died in 1935 at the age of 83. He was buried at Anfield Cemetery.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Busby, Roy (1976). British Music Hall: An Illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the Present Day. London: Paul Elek. p. 22. ISBN 0 236 40053 3.
  2. 1 2 3 "Comedian dead: Birmingham man's fame in many lands", Birmingham Gazette, 22 April 1935, p.1/ Retrieved 22 December 2022
  3. ↑ Lyrics, "What a fool I must have been to marry Jane", Monologues.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2022
  4. ↑ Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: an illustrated history, Pen & Sword, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78383-118-0, p.183


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