390:" was well assisted by Mr. Fawdon Vokes as the court fool who had apparently danced himself out of his mind in his infancy and had lived on tarantula spiders ever since. All the Misses Vokes (Victoria, Jessie and Rosina), fascinated in their attire, ravishing as to their back hair and amazing in their agility, were fully equal to the occasion. When they didn’t dance they sang and danced simultaneously and then all the Vokeses jumped on one another's backs and careered – so it seemed - into immeasurable space.’
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345:, making such comments as: "They were on stage far too long", "They are sublimely indifferent as to whether the story of Cinderella be a Sanskrit myth or a Greek fable", "If they want to retain their hold on the public, they should get someone to concoct for them new modes". Not being the draw they had once been, the Vokes Family discovered the pantomime was in debt and refused to drop their salaries which
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at Drury Lane as by now the public were wearying of the Vokes Family who had dominated the pantomime at Drury Lane for more than a decade but who had never updated their routines. The new manager
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in
January 1883, returning to England (again without Fred) in June 1883. Jessie Vokes's clever recitations and dancing were appreciated, but she was not so prominent in the cast as her siblings
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the manager could not meet, and the production closed owing ÂŁ36,000 in
February 1879 putting all involved out of work. The family returned to Drury Lane in 1879 in the pantomime
341:(1878) in which he was "remarkable for his activity. He spared himself not a jot to add to the fun. The critics were not kind concerning the contribution of the Vokes Family to
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in New York on 15 April 1872. The family then embarked on a six-month tour of the United States before returning to
Britain where in October 1872 they performed
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of entertainers popular in the 1870s in Great
Britain and the USA. For more than ten years they were the central attraction at the annual pantomime at the
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see lines 3,4and5...and by Walter Fawdon, who assumed the name of Vokes on joining the company, became known as the 'Vokes children,' a name which.....
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on 27 February 1869 at the
Standard Theatre in London. Their success was pronounced and continuous. They made their Paris debut in August 1870 at the
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it became unsafe to remain and they left the city with just a few hours notice. Back in London he appeared with the rest of the Vokes Family in
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with his wife Ann Vokes and children
Herbert Walter Henry Fawdon Vokes (1888-1957) and Irene Eugénie Fawdon Vokes (1893-1971).
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and remained in
America for the next year and nine months before returning to England. Their next season in America was at the
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both for
British and American theatre-goers. They made their début on Christmas night in 1861 at Howard's Operetta House in
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For about ten years (with the exception of 1873, when they were touring abroad) they were regulars in the annual
Christmas
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in London and on joining the Vokes Family troupe changed his name to Walter Vokes, being billed as the "foster brother" of
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found the Vokes Family to be too demanding, while they considered him a tyrant. For
Christmas 1880 the family were at
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and returned to England in June 1882 but without Fred Vokes; the family returned to the US in autumn 1882.
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79:. In the 1871 Census he was living with the Vokes' above the family business at 19 Henrietta Street in
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1901 England Census for Walter Fawdon Vokes: London, Battersea, Southwest Battersea - Ancestry.com
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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The Golden Age of Pantomime: Slapstick, Spectacle and Subversion in Victorian England
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1871 England Census for Walter Fawdon: London, St Paul Covent Garden - Ancestry.com
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Tom Thumb the Great; or, Harlequin King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
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The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel
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and Fred, who were especially happy in their rendering of the tower scene from
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in 1862 when they were billed as 'The Five Little Vokes'. They appeared at the
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In 1901 Walter Fawdon Vokes was "living on own means" at 3 Mintholme Road in
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325:(1874) in which he never spoke but was "thoroughly efficient" in all he did;
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672:'JESSIE VOKES DEAD. THE FIRST ONE TO DIE OF THE FAMOUS FAMILY OF COMEDIANS'
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A History of the New York stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901
524:. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 178.
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where they were an immediate success, but with the outbreak of the
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The piece that most successfully carried an audience by storm was
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With the Vokes Family he first appeared as Wiggins in the popular
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who had married in 1877) in April 1881 when they appeared at the
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in which Fawdon Vokes was Shacabac. This was to be their last
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Tom Thumb: or, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
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Fawdon Vokes poses as some of his characters - probably in
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Walter Fawdon Vokes (né Walter Fawdon) (1844-1904), Actor
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The Dragon of Wantley; or, Harlequin or Old Mother Shipton
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Fawdon (1844-1904) - The Adelphi Theatre Calendar website
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Beauty and the Beast! or, Harlequin and Old Mother Bunch
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Valentine and Orson; or, Harlequin and the Magic Shield
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from 1868 to 1879 when their popularity began to wane.
729:, Rowman & Littlefield (2014)- Google Books pg. 70
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in New York where they remained for three months. The
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The Vokes Family in about 1875: (l-r) Fawdon Vokes,
256:They made their last appearance in New York at the
83:in London on which he was listed as "no relation".
699:Pantomimes at Drury Lane - It's Behind You website
628:Career of Alice Hamilton - Footlight Notes website
604:Jessie Vokes (1851-1884) - Footlight Notes website
44:actor and dancer who performed as a member of the
591:. Its-behind-you.com, accessed 31 December 2010
229:. They returned to New York in April 1873 at
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647:, I. B. Tauris (2015) - Google Books pg. 301
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421:Dying in 1904, he outlived the rest of the
323:Aladdin or Harlequin and the Wonderful Lamp
221:made its debut in the United States at the
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16:British music hall and pantomime performer
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138:in London on 26 December 26, 1868 in
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380:at Drury Lane in 1871 the critic of
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394:In 1891 he played Bobbins opposite
157:Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
130:and made their London début at the
575:. Vol. 58. pp. 387–388.
179:in their début performance at the
32:(1844 – 1904) was a British
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769:National Portrait Gallery, London
566:"Vokes, Frederick Mortimer"
317:(1871); Geoffrey Nimble Legs in
146:. Early in their career, at the
820:19th-century English male actors
572:Dictionary of National Biography
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614:'The Late Miss Rosina Vokes' -
331:Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
195:Fawdon Vokes as Shacabac with
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830:British vaudeville performers
241:returned to the USA (without
835:19th-century British dancers
206:The Illustrated London News
140:Edward Litt Laman Blanchard
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661:Internet Broadway Database
150:in London, they danced in
800:English male stage actors
215:The Belles of the Kitchen
181:Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
165:The Belles of the Kitchen
50:Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
618:, 7 February 1894 pg. 62
815:Male actors from London
741:(subscription required)
521:Encyclopædia Britannica
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539:Thomas Allston Brown,
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313:(1870); the Jester in
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825:Music hall performers
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319:Children in the Wood
258:Mount Morris Theatre
235:Fifth Avenue Theatre
223:Union Square Theatre
183:in Christmas 1871.
404:Shaftesbury Theatre
173:Franco-Prussian War
169:Théâtre du Châtelet
25:Fawdon Vokes c 1875
677:The New York Times
641:Jeffrey Richards,
589:"The Vokes Family"
337:(1877); Kobold in
321:(1872); Karzac in
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752:Richards, pg. 179
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187:Theatrical career
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227:Fun in a Fog
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30:Fawdon Vokes
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790:1904 deaths
785:1844 births
410:Later years
406:in London.
369:written by
120:music halls
779:Categories
616:The Sketch
461:References
440:Fred Vokes
343:Cinderella
339:Cinderella
299:Drury Lane
124:pantomimes
109:Fred Vokes
34:music hall
416:Battersea
383:The Times
378:Tom Thumb
355:pantomime
351:Bluebeard
295:pantomime
201:Bluebeard
128:Edinburgh
114:With the
42:burlesque
38:pantomime
563:(1899).
429:See also
333:(1876);
329:(1875);
309:(1869);
305:(1868);
274:, or as
266:Victoria
101:Victoria
771:website
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402:at the
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122:and at
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289:(1872)
262:Harlem
251:Boston
105:Jessie
97:Rosina
73:Rosina
69:Jessie
516:Vokes
400:Hubby
107:and
75:and
65:Fred
61:Soho
40:and
518:".
398:in
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