Harry Randall

Harry Randall (born Thomas William Randall; 22 March 1857 – 18 May 1932) was an English comic actor in music halls and pantomime.

After performing as an amateur from age 11, he made his first professional music hall appearance in 1883, quickly gaining notice. By the 1890s, he was a popular pantomime dame. With Dan Leno, Herbert Campbell and Fred Williams, he formed a theatre management company, operating and building several theatres, including the Grand Theatre, Clapham. The enterprise failed after a few years.

In 1903 Randall appeared for the first time at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with Leno and Campbell. After their deaths in 1904, he continued in the dame roles for several more years at Drury Lane and also performed in music halls. He retired in 1913.

Early life Randall was born in High Holborn in London in 1857. His father, a bootmaker, initially wanted his son to work as a stone engraver, but Randall wasn't enthusiastic about this career. Randall became an amateur actor, making his first appearance on stage at the age of 11 as an extra at the Princess's Theatre, London. As a youth he spent his time touring various hotels, performing monologues and short, one-man sketches.

He first appeared professionally at Deacon's Music Hall in Islington, London in 1883 and the following year, he was engaged in his first major performance at the Oxford Music Hall and then the London Pavilion. He became a popular pantomime dame at the Grand Theatre, Islington, where he appeared in shows including Old Mother Hubbard and Dick Whittington; he played there for ten consecutive years from 1891.

Later years

In 1903 Randall appeared for the first time at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in Humpty Dumpty, as "second Dame" supporting Leno, who was in poor health. Campbell was also in the production. After Leno and Campbell's deaths in 1904, Randall continued for several more years at Drury Lane, in the role of Dame. In 1905 he travelled to Colwyn Bay, Wales, where he appeared on the Victoria Pier in a short sketch entitled "The Plumber". The Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald reported that his performance provided the audience with "a thrilling experience" who rewarded the comedian by "clapping so hard that the building rang with loud applause". In 1909 he appeared at the Empire, Leicester Square, where he performed "Harry the Handy Man" and a slavery song which the Yorkshire Evening Post called "extremely clever" owing to the "inimitable style which is peculiarly his own."

In 1913, after the death of his wife Annie, he retired. He died in a nursing home in Hendon, North London in 1932, and was buried in Hampstead Cemetery. The obituarist from the Hull Daily Mail opined that he was "one of the greatest music hall and pantomime comedians of his time."