Gaston and Andree
Gaston and Andree were a duo of British adagio dancers and gymnasts, who were popular performers in variety shows in the 1930s, and later became theatrical producers. They were Jimmy Gaston (born James Thomas; c.1887–1966) and Rosemary Andree (born Rose Wallis; c.1909–1974).
Biography
James Thomas was the son of a Welsh dairy farmer.{{cite book |last=Baker |first=Richard Anthony |year=2011 |title=Old Time Variety: An Illustrated History|location=Barnsley |publisher=Pen & Sword |page= 208|isbn=978-1-78340-066-9}} He initially became a wrestler, but before the First World War, under the name Jimmy Wood, worked as a gymnastic act with Arthur Cragg, one of the Cragg family of acrobats. After the end of the war, he formed his adagio act with a succession of at least five female partners, billed as Gaston and Andree, and toured the world, appearing in 1926 in an "All English" show at the Palace Theatre, New York.{{cite book |last=Busby |first=Roy |year=1976 |title=British Music Hall: An Illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the Present Day |location=London |publisher=Paul Elek |page= 68|isbn=0-236-40053-3}}
In 1928 he teamed with Rose Wallis, who became known as Rosemary Andree. They are credited with being the first to introduce adagio dancing to variety shows in Britain. During the 1930s, they topped the bill around the country, and appeared at the Folies Bergère in Paris,Robert V. Kenny, The Man Who Was Old Mother Riley - The Lives and Films of Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane, ch.9, 2014 and in the Royal Variety Performance in 1933, and again in 1938. They also invented and promoted personal exercise equipment.[https://www.kraveantiques.co.uk/products/Gaston-Andree-Exerciser-1897.html Gaston & Andree Exerciser, Krave Antiques]. Retrieved 12 January 2023 The pair appeared in the 1934 Will Hay film Those Were the Days, and the 1936 Nervo and Knox film It's in the Bag.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200103133355/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ad639e2 "It's In the Bag", BFI]. Retrieved 12 January 2023 In 1933, Walter Bird published a book of nude photographs of the pair, Beauty in the Human Form,[https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1930s-beauty-human-form-gaston-andree-955599784 Beauty in the Human Form, WorthPoint]. Retrieved 12 January 2023 followed by Andrée, Britain's Venus, in 1943.[https://www.worldcat.org/title/820033150 Andrée, Britain's Venus, WorldCat]. Retrieved 12 January 2023
After the Second World War, Gaston and Andree gave up their adagio act, and worked together as theatre show agents and producers. They put on pantomimes, and devised shows for Arthur Lucan, better known as "Old Mother Riley", between 1952 and 1954. It was at one of their shows, in Hull, that Lucan died while waiting to make his stage entry, and was immediately replaced by his understudy.Baker, p.174[https://www.britishmusichallsociety.com/Arthur%20Lucan%20&%20Roy%20Rolland.pdf Robert V. Kenny, "Arthur Lucan and Roy Rolland: Fact and Fiction", The Call Boy, 2020, Vol.57 No.1]
Rosemary Andree published an autobiography, My Life Story, in 1951.[https://www.worldcat.org/title/30168033 "My Life Story", WorldCat]. Retrieved 12 January 2023 Jimmy Gaston died in 1966, and Rosemary Andree in 1974.
References
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External links
- [https://www.britishpathe.com/video/dance-doings-by-gaston-andree 1933 film performance]
- [https://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/Rosemary+Andree/search-field/record_keywords Filmed dance and gymnastic exercises]