Wilson, Keppel and Betty: Too Naked for the Nazis

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During their act Knox threw a flower at the Duchess of York. Unfortunately, it did not reach its target but landed amongst the decorations surrounding the Royal Box. This did not deter the Duke, who searched until he found the floral buttonhole, eagerly watched by the audience. Martin, Douglas (30 May 2003). "Sandman Sims, 86, Tap Dancer and Fixture at the Apollo". The New York Times . Retrieved 24 October 2018. My grandmother took me to meet him at Brinsworth House and I could see that he was very very ill at that time but again there was his humour, that's what I remember, I remember him very fondly." On The Air (UK 1934) – lost film, but the section with the act survives in Köbenhavn, Kalundborg, og – ?, featuring the duo with Betty Knox The magic and fascination continues! The final, final ever series of Dancing on Ice features Team Hayley leading (and losing) the Team Challenge using Wilson, Keppel and Betty visual stimulus at its best. Still taken from the ITV Player.

Jig Dancing is peculiarly an American institution and had its origins among the slaves of the southern plantations. No white man taught the original darkies the arts of Jig or Clog Dancing... It was original with them and has been copied by those who, in the early days of minstrelsy, made that a feature of their business...," Ed. James, Jig, Clog and Breakdown Dancing Made Easy…, (New York: Ed. James, 1873). Stafford’s research is excellent, not least in how he steers round the complexities of the trio’s filmography. They appeared in a number of variety feature films, in which the plot – such as it was – strung together a succession of variety acts. Some of these films are lost, but such was the nature of variety films that bits could be cut up and inserted into later films, and this is what frequently happened to Wilson, Keppel and Betty. Telling one clip from another is not always easy, and though most can be found on YouTube in one form or another, they are seldom identified by film title or date – simply because those posting the clips don’t know. I’ve used this post to bring together the main clips of the trio that are available in this way, also placing them chronologically.In addition to 1947, Wilson Keppel and Betty had also entertained in 1933 and 1945 - sourced from the British Newspaper Archive While I was doing a search for Alan's Book Award - I found these gorgeous sculptures by Stephen Dee 2016 - Stephen Dixon (Dee) Köbenhavn, Kalundborg, og – ? (Denmark 1934) (this uses sequences from the otherwise lost On the Air)

QUESTION What happened to Wilson, Keppel and Betty, a music hall act who dressed as Egyptians and performed a comic dance routine? In 1950 they appeared at the London Palladium on the same bill as Frank Sinatra. They toured all over the world, performing at shows in London, Europe, India, America, the Far East and Near East, Australia, Scandinavia and South Africa. They finally retired in 1962 after a performance in Great Yarmouth. [12] Duncan Gardham, 'MI5's hunt for the 'peripatetic' Nazi Martin Bormann' – The Telegraph 1 September 2009

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Further proof of how this music hall act still captures the imagination is seen in a commission for a costume interpretation by the Victoria and Albert Museum details of which can be found here Freda Utley (1949). "The Nuremberg Judgments". The High Cost of Vengeance. Henry Regnery Company . Retrieved 20 May 2018. On 11th December the death of Barbara Windsor was announced - she will be greatly missed. The radio tribute to Wilson Keppel and Betty is still available to listen to on the BBC iPlayer. See how they recreated the poses originated by Wilson and Keppel here BBCs 'What a Performance - Pioneers of Popular Entertainment'

In July 1944, Knox filed her first story from Normandy, as a US war correspondent working for the London Evening Standard. In common with most female war correspondents, she was expected to cover the war from a woman’s angle – with on-the-spot reports from military hospitals and articles on food shortages. However, she often bent the rules, and on one occasion, hitched a ride with the French Resistance and went Nazi hunting. [13] During this period, she worked closely with fellow war correspondent Erika Mann (the eldest child of novelist Thomas Mann) and the couple were briefly romantically involved. [14] Variety theater sand jigs, including "Kitty O'Neil's Champion Jig" and "Kitty Sharpe's Champion Jig" can be found in Elias Howe and William Bradbury Ryan, Ryan's Mammoth Collection... (Boston: Elias Howe, 1883). Variety Jubilee (UK 1943) – the film survives in various forms, with four routines from the act (with Patsy as ‘Betty’) which were re-used in some of the compilation films below The opening to the show was entitled ‘Portsmouth’ and contained dancing, singing and comedy on a nautical theme – so it wasn’t surprising that after the show the former naval officer, now King, announced, ‘It has been very funny indeed, a most amusing evening.’ New York Clipper, April 26, 1862, p. 14. Editor Frank Queen, in his account of the April 16, 1862 challenge dance, noted that Peel "brought out from the wings a paper of sand, which he scattered on the lower side of the stage where the principal part of the dancing took place" and that Carroll "also scattered the sand around with a free hand."

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Wilson, Keppel and Betty formed a popular British music hall and vaudeville act in the middle decades of the 20th century. They capitalised on the fashion for Ancient Egyptian imagery following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The " sand dance" that formed the highlight of their act was a parody of postures from Egyptian tomb paintings, combined with references to Arabic costume. The lithe and extremely lanky Wilson and Keppel, who wore long moustaches and make-up to emphasise the sharp angularity of their features and make them appear almost identical, demonstrated their impressive suppleness in adopting wild gestures and dancing in identical "stereo" movements, while Betty joined their antics. The act included a soft-shoe routine performed on a layer of sand spread on the stage to create a rhythmic scratching with their shuffling feet and was usually performed to the familiar Egyptian Ballet (1875), by Alexandre Luigini. Contents One newspaper described Wilson and Keppel as having the kind of limbs that make you understand why sleeves and trousers were invented. However, not everyone saw the funny side. A pre-war showing in Germany outraged Josef Goebbels who said the 'mens bare legs were bad for the morals of the Hitler Youth' but was it really a case of 'No knees please we're Nazis' or was it Wilson's close proximity to Keppels' rear end as they shuffled across the sand. Mussolini on the other hand loved them! Though the show was nearly a disaster when they mislaid their trusty supply of Bedfordshire sand. They hastily threw together a concoction of what Keppel described as 'salt, sugar and I don't know what.' When I first went into Variety in 1955 they were on the Bill with me, stood at the side of the stage, both of them and when I came off they said 'Aw you've got nothing to worry about kid' - they were wonderful. They took their own sand to Las Vegas you know. Can you imagine it. They were going to a desert and they took their own sand to do their dance on."