Elsie Carlisle, The Carlyle Cousins, Jeanne De Casalis, Arthur Catterall, Clapham and Dwywer, Peggy Cochrane, Collinson and Dean, Mabel Constanduros, Cicely Courtneidge, Noel Coward, Frank Crumit.


Elsie Carlisle. Elsie Carlisle was a Lancashire girl. She was singing and dancing at concerts in Manchester when she was six, and at twelve was a box office draw in her first revue. Four years later she was a top-liner in advertisements. Her first appearance on the air was in a variety programme in 1927. It was said that a BBC official heard her speak at a luncheon and asked her to sing before the microphone, and she was booked straight away. Short Sound Clip	The Carlyle Cousins. These three Scottish lassies were not cousins at all. Two were sisters, Helen and Cecile Thornton, and the other was Lilian Taylor. The original third member was Pauline Lister, but she went to India in 1933. Cecile and Lilian made their radio debuts in 1931, and Helen made hers in 1933.
Jeanne De Casalis. In private life, Mrs Colin Clive. To listeners, Mrs. Feather. Miss De Casalis was born in Basutoland. She was educated in Paris, and studied for the stage in Moscow. She made her professional debut at the casino in Cannes. One of her best remembered roles was in "The Yellow Streak" in which she met her husband. Jeanne created the radio character of Mrs. Feather herself, the inspiration coming from a morning in her own home. It was based on the average harassed housewife, and although a caricature, it was sufficiently real to make it very popular.	Arthur Catterall. Leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music, Arthur Catterall enjoyed the reputation of being one of the greatest violinists of the 1930s. He was born in Preston and studied at the Manchester Royal College of Music.
Clapham and Dwyer. Before becoming known to listeners, Clapham was a clerk in the office of a King's Counsel, and Dwyer was a commercial traveller. After the partnership was formed, a booking came in the first week, which was to appear at a private party before the Duke and Duchess of York (Later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). At their BBC audition, they were asked to sing, and replied that they couldn't. Instead, they talked the first nonsense that came into their heads, and got the booking. Dwyer, the one who kept trying to be sensible was the fat one. Clapham, the "silly ass" who could never find the right word at the right time, was the thin one. Short Sound Clip	Peggy Cochrane. Violinist, pianist, composer, cabaret star and well loved broadcaster, Peggy Cochrane was one of the most versatile radio celebrities. At the age of eight she was the youngest pupil at the Royal Academy of Music. When she was fourteen she won both the open pianoforte and the open violin championships on the same day, and the same year she had her first two ballads published.
Collinson and Dean. Real names William Valentine Malivoire (Will Collinson) and Alfred Corfiled (Alfred Dean). They met in 1925 and were so successful in a sketch which Collinson wrote for entertaining wounded soldiers that they have been together ever since. Collinson wrote all the broadcast material. In earlier times he had toured Australia, American and Europe as a sketch artiste. Dean joined a Juvenile Troupe when he was thirteen. Both were well known pantomime artistes.	Mabel Constanduros. Mabel Constanduros started broadcasting in 1925 with one of her own inimitable sketches. "The Buggins Family" was the most famous of these. At one time she was the whole family, but when Michael joined her, Father and Bert came into being. Mabel always wanted to be an actress, but by the 1930s she was busy on radio, stage, and film, and also did a little journalism, writing of short stories and novels. She invented all her own sketches.
Cicely Courtneidge. Cicely Courtneidge was just as famous on stage, screen, and radio, and was born in Australia, the daughter of Robert Courtneidge, who was a well known theatrical manager and producer. She made her debut as Peaseblossom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Manchester, and after appearing in Australia, came to England again. While playing in "The Arcadians" she first met her husband, Jack Hulbert, who had just finished at Cambridge University. That was quite a broadcasting family, with Cicely, Jack Hulbert, Claude Hulbert, Enid Trevor, and Peter Haddon. Short Sound Clip	Noel Coward. Noel Coward was perhaps the man who invented the modern concept of celebrity. He was in films, he broadcast, he made records, he was on stage, and yet he was, above all, Noel Coward. Whether you listen to an old 78, or watch The Italian Job, you meet the same Noel Coward. One night in the London Blitz, he was in the Savoy Hotel, listening to the Savoy Orpheans playing their dance music, when a bomb landed very close-by and blew Carroll Gibbons off his piano stool. While he collected his thoughts and found his specs, Noel Coward leapt onto the piano stool and carried on playing; the band hardly missed a beat. Noel Peirce Coward was born in Teddington, on December 16th 1899. His father, Arthur, was a piano salesman. Hear Noel Coward: Mad Dogs and Englishmen Noel Coward Links: The Noel Coward Society Musicals101.com Biography
Frank Crumit. Frank Crunit was born on September 26th 1889 in Jackson Ohio. He was a popular singer of novelty songs, and although he never performed in the UK, he was very popular here as well as in his native America. His biggest hits were made during the 1920s and 1930s, and some titles he recorded more than once for different record companies. He married Julia Sanderson in 1927. Through the 1930s and 1940s, he could be heard on American radio with his wife. Frank died suddenly on September 7th 1943 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Hear Frank Crumit: Abdul Abulbul Amir Has anyone got a photo I can use here?