Arthur Roberts
Encyclopedia
Arthur Roberts was an English comedian, music hall
entertainer and actor. He was famous for portraying the pantomime
dames and later for his comic characters and "gagging" in farces, burlesques and musical comedies
.
. Beginning in 1871, Roberts entertained in music halls as a vocal comedian and mimic and developed a reputation for relatively "blue" songs.
In the legitimate theatre, he starred as Dr. Syntax in the Drury Lane Theatre
pantomime
Mother Goose (1880); as Mrs. Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe (1881 and 1886); in Sindbad the Sailor (1882; a show he repeated in 1906); in H. B. Farnie
's Nell Gwynne
(1884); in Farnie's The Grand Mogul (1884 with Florence St. John
, Fred Leslie and Frank Wyatt
); Joe Tarradiddle in Offenbach's La vie parisienne
; Stanley the explorer in the 1991 burlesque of Joan of Arc by Adrian Ross
and J. L. Shine, popularising the song "I went to find Emin"; In Town
(1892); Captain Arthur Coddington in Don Juan (1893, by Meyer Lutz
, A. C. Torr and Ross); Claude Du Val (1894), the title character in Gentleman Joe
(1895); Black-Eyed See-Usan; and Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman (1898), among others. Roberts had success in the 1890s with the hit song "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow
".
In 1907, Roberts was a leader in the 'Music Hall War', striking for better working conditions, which led to the founding of the Variety Artist's Federation. At the end of his career, Roberts played in variety shows.
Roberts originated the word "spoof" which was popularised by a card game that he invented called Spoof
, which involved trickery and nonsense. The first recorded reference to the game is in 1884. Soon the word took on the general meaning of "nonsense, trickery," first recorded in 1889. The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These senses are now less widely used than the noun meaning of "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927.
Later in his career Roberts starred as Charioteer in Phi-Phi
(1922). In 1926, he popularised the song "Topsey-Turvey", which he also used as the basis for a short 1927 film made in the Phonofilm
sound-on-film process. In 1927, Roberts wrote an autobiography called Fifty Years of Spoof.
He died in London at the age of 80 and is buried in Paddington Cemetery, London.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
entertainer and actor. He was famous for portraying the pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
dames and later for his comic characters and "gagging" in farces, burlesques and musical comedies
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
.
Life and career
Roberts was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Beginning in 1871, Roberts entertained in music halls as a vocal comedian and mimic and developed a reputation for relatively "blue" songs.
In the legitimate theatre, he starred as Dr. Syntax in the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Mother Goose (1880); as Mrs. Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe (1881 and 1886); in Sindbad the Sailor (1882; a show he repeated in 1906); in H. B. Farnie
Henry Brougham Farnie
Henry Brougham Farnie , often called H. B. Farnie, was a British librettist and adapter of French operettas and an author...
's Nell Gwynne
Nell Gwynne (operetta)
Nell Gwynne is a three-act comic opera composed by Robert Planquette, with a libretto by H. B. Farnie. The libretto is based on the play Rochester by William Thomas Moncrieff. The piece was a rare instance of an opera by a French composer being produced first in London...
(1884); in Farnie's The Grand Mogul (1884 with Florence St. John
Florence St. John
Florence St. John , was an English singer and actress of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras famous for her roles in operetta, musical burlesque, music hall, opera and, later, comic plays.-Life and career:...
, Fred Leslie and Frank Wyatt
Frank Wyatt (singer)
Frank Wyatt was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright.In a two-decade career on stage, Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit...
); Joe Tarradiddle in Offenbach's La vie parisienne
La vie parisienne
La vie parisienne is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects...
; Stanley the explorer in the 1991 burlesque of Joan of Arc by Adrian Ross
Adrian Ross
For the NFL player see Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes , better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
and J. L. Shine, popularising the song "I went to find Emin"; In Town
In Town (musical)
In Town is a musical comedy written by Adrian Ross and James T. Tanner, with music by F. Osmond Carr and lyrics by Ross. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 October 1892, and transferred to the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1892, running for a...
(1892); Captain Arthur Coddington in Don Juan (1893, by Meyer Lutz
Meyer Lutz
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz was a German-born English composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works....
, A. C. Torr and Ross); Claude Du Val (1894), the title character in Gentleman Joe
Gentleman Joe
Gentleman Joe, The Hansom Cabbie is a farcical musical comedy with music by Walter Slaughter and a libretto by Basil Hood.It opened at that Prince of Wales Theatre on 2 March 1895 and ran for a very successful 391 performances. The show was written as a vehicle for the comedian Arthur Roberts...
(1895); Black-Eyed See-Usan; and Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman (1898), among others. Roberts had success in the 1890s with the hit song "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow
Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow
"Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow Wow" is a song written in 1892 by prolific English songwriter Joseph Tabrar.It was written for, and first performed in 1892 by, Vesta Victoria at the South London Palace, holding a kitten. The same year it was recorded by Silas Leachman for the North American Phonograph...
".
In 1907, Roberts was a leader in the 'Music Hall War', striking for better working conditions, which led to the founding of the Variety Artist's Federation. At the end of his career, Roberts played in variety shows.
Roberts originated the word "spoof" which was popularised by a card game that he invented called Spoof
Spoof (game)
The game of Spoof is a strategy game, typically played as a gambling game, often in bars and pubs where the loser buys the other participants a round of drinks. The exact origin of the game is unknown, but one scholarly paper addressed it, and more general n-coin games, in 1959. It is an example...
, which involved trickery and nonsense. The first recorded reference to the game is in 1884. Soon the word took on the general meaning of "nonsense, trickery," first recorded in 1889. The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These senses are now less widely used than the noun meaning of "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927.
Later in his career Roberts starred as Charioteer in Phi-Phi
Phi-Phi
Phi-Phi is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the latest rhythms of jazz along with a plot which emphasised...
(1922). In 1926, he popularised the song "Topsey-Turvey", which he also used as the basis for a short 1927 film made in the Phonofilm
Phonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film process. In 1927, Roberts wrote an autobiography called Fifty Years of Spoof.
He died in London at the age of 80 and is buried in Paddington Cemetery, London.