|
Alfred Leslie Lester (25 October 1874 – 6 May 1925) was an English actor and comedian. Born into a theatrical family, he learnt his craft touring in melodramas, as a young man, but made his reputation as a comedian in musical comedy, music hall and, later, revue. Lester's gloomy stage persona was seen to its quintessential comic effect in the long-running musical ''The Arcadians'' (1909) in which he delivered optimistic lyrics in a lugubrious manner. Among his other hit shows were ''The New Aladdin'' (1906), ''Havana'' (1908) and ''The Bing Boys Are Here'' (1916). His co-stars included George Grossmith Jr., Phyllis Dare, George Robey and Violet Lorraine. Ill health brought Lester's career to a premature close, and he died of pneumonia at the age of fifty. ==Early life and career== Lester was born in Nottingham, the son of the comedian Alfred Leslie and his wife, an actress whose stage name was Annie Ross.〔Parker, pp. 561–562〕 Lester made his theatrical debut at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in the role of Little Willie Carlyle in ''East Lynne''. He toured the provinces for several years playing in some comedies in roles such as Charles Middlewick in ''Our Boys'', but the staples of the touring repertory were melodramas, including ''The Lights o' London'', ''The Shaughraun'' and ''The Colleen Bawn''.〔 An obituarist suggested that "the melancholy he had thus learnt to bathe in never quite dried off him; he used to let it drip on the musical comedy and revue stages."〔"Mr Alfred Lester – From melodrama to revue", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 7 May 1925, p. 10〕 In 1905 Lester was engaged to play in a musical comedy, ''The Officers' Mess – or How They Got Out of It'' at Terry's Theatre, London, where he was spotted by Alfred Butt, who ran variety shows at the Palace Theatre.〔 Lester made an immediate impression with his monologue "The Sceneshifter", in which a gloomy stagehand gives his ideas for the improvement and brightening of ''Hamlet''.〔 He was booked for further monologues and sketches by Butt, and in 1906 he appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in London as the Lost Constable in George Grossmith Jr.'s musical ''The New Aladdin'', in which the reviewer in ''The Times'' judged his performance the funniest thing in the show.〔"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 1 October 1906, p. 12〕 At the same theatre he played Nix, the bo'sun, in another musical ''Havana'' in 1908; again, his performance received critical praise as the best thing in the piece.〔"Gaiety Theatre", ''The Times'', 27 April 1908, p. 9〕 ''The Arcadians'' in 1909 confirmed Lester's reputation as a leading West End performer. In a cast that included Phyllis Dare, Dan Rolyat and Florence Smithson, he was singled out by ''The Times'', which found him "more hilariously melancholy than ever: the audience rocked to hear him sing that his motto was 'always merry and bright.'"〔"Shaftesbury Theatre", ''The Times'', 29 April 1909, p. 10〕 In 1912 he played Vodka in ''The Grass Widows'', and the following year was Byles in ''The Pearl Girl''. Between runs in musical comedy he returned to his music hall monologues.〔 ''Who's Who in the Theatre'' noted that Lester had "the unique distinction of being the only person who has been selected to appear at both the Royal Command Theatrical and Music Hall performances."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alfred Lester」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|