Mae Bacon

Mae Bacon (3 April 1897 – 3 June 1981) was a British actress. She was often credited as Mai Bacon. She was the eldest daughter of Hartley Bacon, who was living in Roundhay, Leeds at the time of The Great War.

Promotional activities Mai Bacon appeared at the Sheffield Aviation Week (28 March - 4 April 1914) sponsored by the Sheffield Independent newspaper, promoted as "Little Miss Independent". On 2 April she flew in the Blackburn Type I monoplane piloted by Harold Blackburn that delivered souvenir editions of the Sheffield Independent to Chesterfield.

Early acting career During the early stages of World War I, she was often requested to perform at charity concerts and provided entertainment to wounded soldiers in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In February 1915, she appeared in a Leeds Grosvenor Amateur Dramatic Society’s comedy Brother Officers. According to a contemporary news report, Bacon's early performances also included comedic male impersonation routines. She became a professional actress later in 1915. By 1933, she had become a well-known figure to theatre-goers throughout in Yorkshire as a whole and was known for her musical comedy roles.

Start of film career In 1933, Bacon appeared as a London accented barmaid in the first film adaptation of J.B.Priestley's humorous novel The Good Companions She stated herself in an interview that she went to a screening of the film in Blackpool and reported that "Filmwork...is very interesting and fascinating and I hope to do more of it...but for preference please give me a happy laughing audience like this at Blackpool." the romantic comedy Second Best Bed (1939), and the Victorian set comedy Riding High (1939).

World War 2 and E.N.S.A performances In 1939, she joined ENSA and for the duration of World War II she performed as a comedian and singer entertaining armed forces personnel at home and overseas. In 1940, Bacon apparently regularly performed with the violinist Arthur Anton as part of her ENSA concert parties. She also performed with baritone player Denis Darling and pianist Miss Dorothy James. The tour which apparently kept going through the bitterly cold and notoriously bad winter of 1939–40 saw Bacon perform to soldiers in tents in freezing conditions. She claimed she had icicles on her dress during one ENSA concert party. She also had a role in the detective drama The Delavine Affair (1955) which starred Honor Blackman. She had a part in the unusual science fiction comedy Child's Play (1954) in which children are able to split the atom. She also appeared in an episode of The Veil entitled "Jack the Ripper", which was part of an American 11 episode horror TV series hosted by Boris Karloff. She still appeared in comedy-drama films and had a significant role as Maggie, the wife of the protagonist in the football centred comedy drama Up For The Cup. In the 1960s and 1970s, she appeared mainly in single episodes of particular television series such as the British police drama No Hiding Place, the BBC hospital drama Angels, and Yorkshire Television's Hadleigh.

Personal life In early 1916, she married Lionel Calvert, who was the only son of the James Calvert of Danehill, Sussex. He was an officer in the Royal Engineers. She was widowed shortly after marriage as Lionel was killed on the Western Front. Second-Lieutenant Lionel Calvert was killed on 30 January 1917 at Vimy Ridge whilst assigned to a Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers.

Her marriage to Lionel Calvert produced a son named James Lionel. He went on to attend Sedbergh School between 1931–4 and then joined the Royal Air Force. James had qualified as a pilot some time before the outbreak of WW2. However, tragedy was to strike the family again on 20 September 1939, when he died of wounds after his Fairey Battle light bomber crashed while on a reconnaissance flight while serving with the RAF's 150 Squadron. The inscription on James's gravestone reads: "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM".

Selected filmography The Public Life of Henry the Ninth (1935) Chick (1936) Riding High (1937) Second Best Bed (1938) Double or Quits (1938) Ten Days in Paris (1940) Up for the Cup(1950) Pool of London (1951)