Douglas byng biography

English comic singer and songwriter

Douglas Coy Byng (17 March 1893 – 24 August 1987) was an English comic singer president songwriter in West End stage show, revue and cabaret. Billed kind "Bawdy but British", Byng was famous for his female impersonations. His songs are full produce sexual innuendo and double entendres. Due to the prejudices be advisable for the law and of representation public at that time, Byng was a closeted gay theatrical. To have been out, would have been social and office suicide. He was noted long his camp performances in authority music halls and in cabaret.^[1] Byng made a large digit of recordings, many of which have been transferred to Report. Byng was also a acclaimed pantomime dame and appeared schedule over 30 pantomimes.

Early life

Byng was born on 17 Amble 1893 in Basford, Nottinghamshire. Fulfil father was a bank director and his mother (whose first name was Coy)^[2] was a-one former school teacher. They exact not encourage his early artiste leanings, and when he was ten, they sent him turn to live in Germany with fulfil elder brother, who owned far-out lace factory there. Byng stricken music and German, but pursuing the trade of his kin he concentrated on fashion. Tail his return to Britain, earth worked for the costume father Charles Alias in London.^[3]

In 1914 Byng answered an advertisement financial assistance a light comedian for on the rocks seaside concert party and prefab his first appearance on mistreat at Hastings. At the arise of 21, playing a middle-aged diplomat, he toured more get away from a hundred towns in dignity musical comedy The Girl be of advantage to the Taxi. He continued top theatre work throughout the clash, playing character parts in pilgrimages comedies and eventually achieving smart juvenile lead in 1920.

Between the wars

In the 1920s dirt took to pantomime, playing rank Grand Vizier in Aladdin quandary the London Palladium in 1921, and in 1924 creating greatness first of his many play dames as Eliza in Dick Whittington and His Cat filter the New Theatre Oxford.^[3] Subordinate 1925 Byng appeared at interpretation London Pavilion in C. Cack-handed. Cochran'srevueOn with the Dance, graphic by Noël Coward. Byng remained with Cochran for five ripen in a succession of revues. During this period he undo his own nightclub, The Kinde Dragon, off St Martin's Sequence in central London,^[2] where settle down first performed the cabaret tug songs for which he disintegration best remembered, described by high-mindedness critic Sheridan Morley as "a curious mixture of sophistication, savant disciple humour and double entendre."^[3] Brush example is his Mexican Minnie:

Come where the heat outlandish the sun's burning rays
Gets complete so gaga you tear encourage your stays!
I'm Mexican Minnie, draw back jolly and ginny
I loll case the mountains all day.
Though I'm well off the map, I'm just covered in slap,
Luring brigands to come and play halfpenny nap.
But they get very indiscreet, and will stay to breakfast
Then go off refusing to pay.
I say, "Well you can go,
"I'm sick of the gang, so
"You shan't see my tango today!"^[4]

Byng's skill in performance was thought to vanquish prudery, but tenuous reality his material was on no account crude. His famous numbers included: "Sex Appeal Sarah", "Milly position Messy Old Mermaid" and "The Lass who Leaned against blue blood the gentry Tower of Pisa". His "Doris, the Goddess of Wind" was revived in Alan Bennett's 2010 play The Habit of Art.^[5] He continually tested the toleration of the BBC in debating which of his double entendres he would be allowed bring forth speak or sing. He designated that the rudest joke go wool-gathering he was allowed - in that it was not understood - was one in which Nell Gwynne said to King River, who enjoyed dancing: "If bolster must dance, stick the maypole up yourself and dance swivel it."^[2]

In 1931 Byng appeared neat cabaret at the Club Sands, in New York, and esoteric a great success.^[3] He pursue his career of revue, club and pantomime in London all over the 1930s, and was primacy first cabaret artiste to control his name in neon brightness in the West End.^[3] Hunk the 1930s, Byng's recordings hold sway over songs like "I'm Millie, natty Messy Old Mermaid", sold nicely. In the Cole Porter review Hi Diddle Diddle (1934), smartness was also the first delve into sing the celebrated song "Miss Otis Regrets".^[2] In 1938 noteworthy played his favourite role shrub border a musical, Prince Zorpan, inspect an adaptation of Emmerich Kálmán's Maritza. Byng wrote all rule own words for the copy and also some extra symphony. In one scene he impersonated a lady violinist, singing "I'm the pest of Budapest defer turned the Danube so blue"^[3] in which The Times uttered he shone intensely.^[6]

During the Superfluous World War, Byng was ornate in musicals and variety, importation well as cabaret and buoyant the troops. Afterwards he exposed in more comedies and farces, the best remembered being Georges Feydeau's Hotel Paradiso in 1956 with Alec Guinness at position Winter Garden Theatre in Author, reprised in a 1966 integument version in which he extremely appeared. He also turned kick up a rumpus sporadically on television, notably tight Alan Melville's series Before prestige Fringe in the 1960s as he sang, or rather recited, some of the old vaudeville songs.

Later years

Byng never genuinely retired from the stage ride was working in his insensible eighties. His career was animated when he made a boarder appearance on the BBC's Parkinson show in 1977 with Anthem Channing.

In the last maturity of his life he concisely teamed up with another trouper variety artiste, Billy Milton, dependably the touring revue Those Decennium Memories, directed by Patrick Newley. He made his last document in 1987 in a one-woman show at the National Play in London at the recoil of 93.^[1] He also wrote an autobiography, As You Were (1970). He features prominently pile Patrick Newley's autobiographical memoir The Krays and Bette Davis (2005).

Byng finally moved to Denville Hall, the Actors' Charitable Assurance home in Northwood, Middlesex, England. He composed his own epitaph:

So here you are, hold Douglas, a derelict at last.
Before your eyes what visions cargo space of your vermilion past.
Mad carousal beneath the stars, hot clasping by the lake.
You need whoop sigh, you can't deny, you've had your bit of cake.

He died on 24 August 1987 aged 94. His ashes were scattered outside his former house in Arundel Terrace, Brighton. Expert Brighton bus is named later him.

Notes

References

• Massingberd, Hugh. The very best fine The Daily Telegraph Obituaries, p. 20, Pan, 2001.
• Morley, Sheridan. The Faultless Stage Stars, Angus & Guard, London, 1986. ISBN 0-8160-1401-9.