Lionel Logue

{{Short description|Australian speech and language therapist (1880–1953)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Lionel Logue

| honorific_suffix = CVO

| image = Lionel Logue 1937.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Logue in 1937

| birth_date = {{birth date|1880|2|26|df=y}}

| birth_place = College Town, Adelaide, South Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1953|4|12|1880|2|26|df=y}}

| death_place = London, England

| fields = Speech and elocution

| known_for = {{nowrap|Speech therapist to King George VI}}

| work_institutions = British Society of Speech Therapists
Royal College of Speech Therapists

| spouse = {{marriage|Myrtle Gruenert
|1907|1945|end=died}}

| children = 3, incl. Valentine Logue

}}

Lionel George Logue {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CVO}} (26 February 1880 – 12 April 1953) was an Australian speech and language therapist and amateur stage actor who helped King George VI manage his stammer.

Early life and family

Logue was born on 26 February 1880 in College Town, South Australia. He was the oldest of four children born to Lavinia (née Rankin) and George Edward Logue. His father was an accountant at his grandfather's brewery who later managed the Burnside Hotel and the Elephant and Castle Hotel.Logue and Conradi, p. 16. His grandfather Edward Logue, originally from Dublin, was the founder of Logue's Brewery, a predecessor of the South Australian Brewing Company.{{cite book |title=The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy |author1=Logue, Mark |author2=Peter Conradi |year=2010 |publisher=Quercus, London |page=[https://archive.org/details/kingsspeechhowon0000logu/page/15 15] |isbn=978-0-85738-110-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsspeechhowon0000logu/page/15}} His uncle by marriage was barrister and social activist Paris Nesbit.{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/211411186 |title=Engagements |newspaper=Critic |location=Adelaide |date=28 March 1906}}

Logue attended Prince Alfred College between 1889 and 1896. Unable to decide what to study, Logue came across Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha:{{cite book |title=The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |author=Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth |year=1876 |publisher=Osgood & Co |location=Boston |page=148}}

{{blockquote|

Then Iagoo, the great boaster,

He the marvellous story-teller,

He the traveller and the talker,

He the friend of old Nokomis,

Made a bow for Hiawatha

}}

The poem's rhythm inspired Logue to put his interest in voices to good use. After leaving school at sixteen, he received elocution training from Edward Reeves. Reeves had moved to Adelaide in 1878 and taught elocution to his pupils by day and gave popular recitals to audiences in Victoria Hall by night. Logue worked for Reeves as a secretary and assistant teacher from 1902, while studying music at the University of Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium. While working for Reeves, Logue began to give recitals of his own for which he was praised for his "clear, powerful voice."Logue and Conradi, p. 18.

After his father died on 17 November 1902, Logue set up his own practice as a teacher of elocution. By 1904, he had gained a good reputation and was receiving praise from the local newspapers.Logue and Conradi, p. 19. However, he decided to take a contract with an engineering firm some {{convert|2000|km|mi}} westward in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, installing an electricity supply at a gold mine.{{cite book |chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150145b.htm |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=Suzanne |last=Edgar |chapter=Lionel George Logue (1880–1953) |publisher=Australian National University |access-date=17 December 2010}}

Professional career

File:Lionel Logue 2 crop.jpg

His professional career began in Perth, where, in addition to teaching elocution, acting, and public speaking, he put on plays and recitations, and also founded a club for public speakers. He was also involved with YMCA Perth and schools such as Methodist Ladies' College, Loreto Convent, Scotch College, Perth Technical School, and Claremont Teachers College.

In 1911, Logue and his wife set out on a tour of the world to study methods of public speaking. Later he developed treatments for Australian First World War war veterans who had shell shock-induced impaired speech.{{cite web |url=http://www.stutteringhelp.org/default.aspx?tabindex=822&tabid=835 |title=Stuttering and The King's Speech |publisher=The Stuttering Foundation |access-date=17 December 2010}} In addition to physical exercises, which helped with patients' breathing, Logue's distinctive therapy emphasised humour, patience, and "superhuman sympathy".

In 1924, Logue took his wife and three sons to England, ostensibly for a holiday. Once there, he took jobs teaching elocution at schools around London, and in 1926 he opened a speech-defect practice at 146 Harley Street. Logue used fees paid by wealthy clients to subsidise patients unable to pay. It was here that the Duke of York – the future King George VI – sought Logue's help.Logue and Conradi, p. 39. Logue became a founding fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 1944.{{cite journal |url=http://leader.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2278981 |title=Lionel Logue: A Pioneer in Speech-Language Pathology |first=Caroline |last=Bowen |journal=The ASHA Leader |year=2011 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=10–12 |doi=10.1044/leader.FTR1.16022011.10 |access-date=1 May 2011}}

=Treatment of George VI=

As a speech therapist, Logue was self-taught and was initially dismissed by the medical establishment as a quack, but he worked with the Duke from the late 1920s into the mid-1940s.[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8203371/The-Kings-Speech-how-Lionel-Logue-cured-King-George-VIs-stammer.html The Daily Telegraph] The King's Speech: how Lionel Logue cured King George VI's stammer.

Before ascending the throne as George VI, the Duke of York dreaded public speaking because of a severe stammer;{{cite web |url=http://www.stammering.org/publicspeech.html |title=Public Speech and Public Silence |author-link=Margaret Drabble |first=Margaret |last=Drabble |publisher=The British Stammering Association |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000740/http://www.stammering.org/publicspeech.html |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead}} his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 31 October 1925 proved an ordeal for speaker and listeners alike. The Duke resolved to find some way to manage his stammer, and engaged Logue in 1926{{cite book |last=Bousfield |first=Arthur |author2=Toffoli, Garry |title=Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1900–2002: The Queen Mother and Her Century |publisher=Dundurn Group (CA) |year=2002 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6PQ84ovPcMC&pg=PA50 |isbn=978-1-55002-391-6}}{{cite news |title=Mr. Lionel Logue |date=13 April 1953 |newspaper=The Times |location=London |page=8 |access-date=29 April 2011 |url=https://login.thetimes.com/oidc/rp/login/thetimescom?gotoUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.com%2Farchive%2Fpage%2F1953-04-13%2F8.html |url-access=subscription |issue=52,594}} after being introduced to him by Lord Stamfordham.BBC, [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12607852 Note reveals story behind King's speech film], 1 March 2011.

Diagnosing poor co-ordination between the Duke's larynx and thoracic diaphragm, Logue prescribed a daily hour of vocal exercises. Logue's treatment gave the Duke the confidence to relax{{cite book |last=Erickson |first=Carolly |title=Lilibet: An Intimate Portrait of Elizabeth II |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2005 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOeFJymoZQ4C&pg=PA15 |isbn=978-0-312-33938-8}} and avoid tension-induced muscle spasms. As a result, he only occasionally stammered. By 1927, he was speaking confidently and managed his address at the opening of the Old Parliament House in Canberra{{cite web |url=http://aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels/official-opening-canberra/clip2/ |title=Official Opening of Canberra by His Royal Highness the Duke of York |date=1927 |publisher=Australian National Film and Sound Archive }} without stammering.{{cite book |last=Shawcross |first=William |author-link=William Shawcross |title=The Queen Mother: The Official Biography |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2009 |page=460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hH3ueeoWy2kC&pg=PT460 |isbn=978-1-4000-4304-0}}

Logue was often called over the years when the king was expected to make a speech, and he was regularly invited to the royal family's Christmas dinner party to assist with the Christmas message.{{cite news |title=One Man Saved King's Voice: Beat time as he spoke to world |work=Sunday Pictorial |issue=1,925 |date=10 February 1952 |page=3}} Their relationship was featured in a film, a play and a book.

Honours

In 1944, King George VI appointed Logue a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO), elevating him from Member of the Order (MVO), which had been conferred upon Logue at the time of George VI's Coronation.{{London Gazette|issue=34396|date=11 May 1937|page=3084 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=36544|date=2 June 1944|page=2571 |supp=y}}{{cite video |people=David Seidler (screenwriter) |date=2010 |title=The King's Speech |medium=Motion picture |publisher=See-Saw Films |location=UK |time=1:51:43}}

King George VI died on 6 February 1952. On 26 February 1952, Logue wrote to the late king's wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother:

{{blockquote|No man ever worked as hard as he did, and achieved such a grand result. During all those years you were a tower of strength to him and he has often told me how much he has owed to you, and the excellent result could never have been achieved if it had not been for your help. I have never forgotten your gracious help to me after my own beloved girl passed on.Logue to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, 26 February 1952, The National Archives (U.K.).}}

The Queen Mother replied: "I think that I know perhaps better than anyone just how much you helped the King, not only with his speech, but through that his whole life and outlook on life. I shall always be deeply grateful to you for all you did for him."The Queen Mother to Lionel Logue, 28 February 1952, The National Archives (U.K.).{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Walker |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/8182390/Queen-Elizabeths-posthumous-endorsement-of-Lionel-Logue.html |title=Queen Elizabeth's posthumous endorsement of Lionel Logue |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=6 December 2010 |access-date=2 June 2013}}

Personal life

File:Lionel Logue 1906.jpg

Logue married Myrtle Gruenert, a 21-year-old clerk, at St George's Anglican Cathedral, Perth, on 20 March 1907.Logue and Conradi, p. 20. They had three sons, Valentine, Laurie, and Anthony.Logue and Conradi, p. 35. Valentine trained at King's College London and St George's Hospital and went on to become one of the most distinguished neurosurgeons of his generation.{{Cite web |url=https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/lives/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ASSET$002f0$002fSD_ASSET:380928/one?qu=%22rcs%3A+E008745%22&rt=false%7C%7C%7CIDENTIFIER%7C%7C%7CResource+Identifier |title=Logue, Valentine Darte (1913 - 2000) |website=livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk}}

Lionel Logue was a Freemason, initiated, passed, and raised in 1908, and became Worshipful Master in 1919; he was a member of St. George's Lodge (now J.D. Stevenson St. George's Lodge No.6, Western Australian Constitution).{{cite web |url=http://forum.mastermason.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9081&title=film-the-kings-speech |work=Mastermason.com Forums |title=Film "The King's Speech" |date=18 February 2011 |access-date=26 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816152051/http://forum.mastermason.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9081&title=film-the-kings-speech |archive-date=16 August 2011 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/ugle-sgc/ugle/item/286-the-kings-freemasonry |work=Freemasonry Today magazine |title=The King's Freemasonry |date=March 2011 |access-date=21 February 2014}}

He lived in a 25-room Victorian villa called Beechgrove in Sydenham from 1932 until 1947,Logue and Conradi, pp. 94, 212. now demolished and part of Sydenham Hill Wood.

Myrtle died suddenly from a heart attack in June 1945,{{cite web |url=https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Lionel-Logue-and-His-Wife-Myrtle |title=Lionel Logue and His Wife Myrtle |work=Awesome Stories |access-date=2 June 2020}}{{Cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/25/kings.speech.grandson/index.html |title=Forgotten archive reveals true story behind 'King's Speech'}} and Logue died in London, on 12 April 1953. His funeral was held on 17 April in Holy Trinity Brompton before his body was cremated.{{cite news |title=Deaths |date=14 April 1953 |work=The Times |location=London |page=1}} Representatives of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother attended the funeral.{{cite news |title=Court Circular |date=18 April 1953 |work=The Times |location=London |page=8}}

In popular culture

With Peter Conradi, Logue's grandson Mark wrote a book, The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy, about his grandfather's relationship with the king.{{cite book |title=The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy |author1=Logue, Mark |author2=Peter Conradi |year=2010 |publisher=Quercus, London |isbn=978-0-85738-110-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsspeechhowon0000logu}} In the 2010 British film The King's Speech, written by David Seidler, Logue was played by Geoffrey Rush, his wife by Jennifer Ehle, and his patient by Colin Firth. In the West End stage adaptation of The King's Speech at Wyndham's Theatre, Australian actor Jonathan Hyde played Lionel Logue, and in the US stage premiere, Logue was played by James Frain.

Welsh actor Michael Elwyn played Logue in the 2002 television film Bertie and Elizabeth. Derek Lawson portrayed Logue in the 2015 comedy A Royal Night Out.

References

=Notes=

=Sources=

[http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150145b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography]
BBC [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12116320 Interview with Mark Logue] (4 January 2011), about finding Lionel Logue's notes
[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18247773 "Chance Meeting Led to Cure of King's Stutter"], The Sydney Morning Herald (Monday, 11 February 1952), p. 3.
Darbyshire, T., The Duke of York: an intimate and authoritative life story of the second son of Their Majesties the King and Queen by one who has had special facilities, and published with the approval of His Royal Highness, Hutchinson (London), 1929
{{Citation |last1=Logue |first1=Mark |last2=Conradi |first2=Peter |author2-link=Peter Conradi |title=The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy |place=London |publisher=Quercus |date=November 2010 |isbn=978-0-85738-110-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsspeechhowon0000logu}} (Note: co-author Mark Logue is a grandson of the subject, Lionel Logue).
Moses, E., & E. M. Foley, [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17299592 "The King's Speech"], The Sydney Morning Herald (Thursday, 24 December 1936), p. 5.
{{Citation |first=Robert |last=Rhodes James |author-link=Robert Rhodes James |year=1998 |title=A Spirit Undaunted: The Political Role of George VI |location=London |publisher=Little, Brown and Co |isbn=978-0-316-64765-6}}
St. Claire, M. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52254012 "An Australian Cures Defect in King's Speech"], The Australian Women's Weekly (Saturday, 2 January 1937), p. 12

External links

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9377000/9377098.stm "Lionel Logue 'never swore in front of King George VI'"], BBC Radio Leicester
Bowen, Caroline (2002). [http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:lionel&catid=11:admin&Itemid=108 Lionel Logue: Pioneer speech therapist.] Retrieved 1 January 2011
Hutchinson, Norman C. (2010). Lionel Logue: the King's Mentor, self-published, Box Hill South, Victoria, Australia
* [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/05/11/94373569.pdf "King Honors Australian Who Alleviated Stammer"], New York Times (11 May 1937)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110105160545/http://www.rcslt.org/about/docs/lionel_logue_letter Letter sent by Logue to George VI], Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists archives
[http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/lionel-logue-laurie-jo Rare photo of Lionel Logue near the end of his life, from the UK National Archives]