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Lydia Thompson, born Eliza Hodges Thompson (19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actress and theatrical producer. After dancing and performing in pantomimes in Britain and then in Europe as a teenager in the 1850s, she became a leading dancer and actress in burlesques on the London stage. She introduced Victorian burlesque to America with her troupe the "British Blondes", in 1868, to great acclaim and notoriety. Her career began to decline in the 1890s, but she continued to perform into the early years of the 20th century. ==Early years== Thompson was born in Brydges Street, Covent Garden, London. Her father was Philip Thompson (c.1801–1842) and her mother was Eliza (''née'' Cooper). Her father owned the Sheridan Knowles, a public house. Thompson was the second of three surviving children, including actress Clara T. Bracy.〔Gänzl, Kurt. "Lydia Thompson", ''Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre'', Blackwell/Schirmer (1994)〕 Her father died in 1842, and her mother remarried Edward Hodges. By the age of fourteen, Thompson had left home and joined the stage professionally as a dancer.〔W. J. Lawrence, rev. J. Gilliland, "Thompson, Lydia (1838–1908)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008〕 In 1852 she became a member of the corps de ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre. By the following year she was playing a solo role, Little Silverhair, in the pantomime ''Harlequin and the Three Bears, or, Little Silverhair and the Fairies'' at the Haymarket Theatre.〔 In 1854 she danced at the old Globe Theatre in Blackfriars Road, in James Planché's extravaganza, ''Mr Buckstone's Voyage Round the Globe''.〔 She gained wider public attention later that year at the St James's Theatre in ''The Spanish Dancers'', a burletta by Thomas Selby, playing the famous dancer Señora Perea Nena. ''The Times'' dismissed the piece but praised her performance highly: "It was no burlesque; it was one excellent dancer following in the steps of another, catching the spirit of her model, and rivalling her in the audacity of her execution. The youth and beauty of Miss Thompson gave an additional charm to her Andalusian feats."〔''The Times'', 18 October 1854, p. 6〕 There, she also played in the burlesque ''Ganem, the Slave of Love'', and in the ballet-farce ''Magic Toys''. These performances brought a period of prosperity to what had come to be regarded as one of the unluckiest theatres in London.〔''The Daily Mirror'' obituary, 19 November 1908, p.4〕 She also appeared that year in ''The King's Rival'' by Tom Taylor and Charles Reade (J. L. Toole's first London role),〔Sherson, Erroll. (''London's lost theatres of the nineteenth century'' ), pp. 307–08, Ayer Publishing, 1925 ISBN 0-405-08969-4〕 ''Beauties of the Harem'', and, again at the Haymarket, in the title role in the Christmas pantomime ''Little Bo Peep, or, Harlequin and the Girl who Lost her Sheep''. She then returned to complete the season at the St James's in ''Cupid's Ladder'' and the fairy spectacle, ''The Swan and Edgar''.〔 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「Lydia Thompson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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