British singers Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth are viewing a Rolls Royce with Patricia Swain -1950.Over afternoon tea British singers, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth listen to the advert. 1950.British singer, Webster Booth is shown the interior of a Rolls Royce by Patricia Swain. 1950.British singer Anne Ziegler (left, 1910 – 2003) is shown the interior of a Rolls Royce by Patricia Swain, director of her husband’s HR Owen luxury car showroom at Berkeley Street, Mayfair, London, November 1954. She is inspecting a make-up mirror which unfolds from behind the cocktail cabinet in the Rolls she and her husband Webster Booth have purchased. (Photo by John Drysdale/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
British singers, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth in Rolls Royce with Patricia Swain. 1 November 1954..1 November 1954. Buying a Rolls Royce.
Less than two years later in July 1956 they left the United Kingdom on the Pretoria Castle bound for Cape Town. They settled in Johannesburg, South Africa and stayed there until 1978. When they were first in South Africa they drove a Ford Zephyr and a Hillman Minx convertible.
Hillman Minx, 1956, Highlands North.
On my page on Facebook Charles Regan pointed out in a comment:
Nice choice. A Standard Steel Silver Dawn, fitted out to your own requirements, or a Silver Wraith, built by your coachbuilder of choice, and made exclusively for you.
I was very sad to hear of the death of Brian Willey on 17 January 2023. He worked for the BBC for over forty years. He started working there as a young man on the ITMA show with Tommy Handley and there was a lovely photo of him doing some of the sound effects for the show.
Here is the piece he wrote in my book, Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth in 2006:
Brian Willey from Esher, Surrey wrote:
During the 1950s I was a radio sound engineer for the BBC and frequently had the pleasure of working with Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. The weekly programmes were recorded in a temporary studio the BBC were using – the Criterion Ballroom. Its entrance was on the left-hand side of Lower Regent Street just down from Piccadilly Circus, London.
On those occasions they were accompanied by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Frank Cantell. The recording sessions were about three hours long and always a great delight. They were a most charming couple and totally professional in their work.
Years later I became a producer and responsible for the Public Concert engagements of the BBC Concert Orchestra. I can’t recall the exact date, but somewhere around 1980, I had arranged a concert in the Astra Cinema in Llandudno, North Wales and, much to my surprise, discovered that Anne Ziegler lived nearby.
Well I just had to invite her to appear in the show and she was delighted to have been remembered. (However could I forget!) On the night of the transmission she walked on to the stage looking as elegant and beautiful as ever and sang Ivor Novello’s We’ll Gather Lilacs . What memories that brought back to the audience – and me. I can remember having quite moist eyes during the performance – and what an ovation she got. There were screams of “Encore” for more, but that was more than enough for her. She took many bows and left the stage to a continuing tumult of cheers and applause. What a night that was. She lived to the great age of 93 – dying in October 2003 – and I sincerely hope that her final years were comfortable.
Anne referred to this concert in a letter she wrote to me. She had gone to South Africa in 1985 but the trip had not been a particularly happy one. She was taken ill and had to return earlier than planned.
Because of her early return she was able to accept an invitation to appear in a cinema in Llandudno on 2 November for a live concert broadcast on Radio 2 to celebrate fifty years of the BBC in North Wales. This is the concert to which Brian Willey refers in his article in Memories of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth and tells of the great ovation Anne received when she sang.
Anne wrote,
“I was treated like royalty and I felt really ‘“wanted”’ again.”
Brian wrote a number of articles about musical and theatrical personalities in The Best of British Magazine. I must look them out again. When the magazine was no longer available in South Africa he often sent me scans of these articles. He was kind enough to listen to some of the podcasts I did about Anne and Webster.
Shortly before Anne and Webster left the UK a small advert had appeared in the Musical Times.
Whether Webster had ever taken any pupils while he was still in the UK, I do not know. He and Anne were very busy in 1955 so I cannot imagine that he had time to fit in pupils into the bargain. They went on a tour of the Cape in October of that year and, at the request of Percy Tucker, had agreed to return to South Africa to do a further more extensive tour of the country districts in January 1956.
Anne and Webster at a concert in 1957, Anne had her hair cut in an ‘Italian Boy’ style. She was the talk of Johannesburg!
Because of worsening tax problems they decided to emigrate to South Africa and left the UK in July of 1956, intending to settle permanently in the country, not realising that there was not really enough first-class professional work for them after the initial excitement of their arrival. Most South Africans wondered why a successful couple like the Booths had chosen to settle in the country. Most assumed that they had not been doing as well in the UK as before and that was why they had moved to South Africa. Few knew about the income tax demands.
Eventually they realised that they could not live comfortably on their performances alone and would have to turn to teaching to augment their income. Neither had taught singing before. Despite their extensive singing and acting experience, neither had professional musical qualifications. Anne had reached Grade 8 in her piano studies.
They found a pleasant studio in the centre of Johannesburg, on the eighth floor of Polliack’s Corner and decided to rent it at a very reasonable fee. Several other musicians and the Madge Wallace modelling school, had studios in the same building, including pianist, Nigel Dennis, a fellow emigré from the UK whom they knew from the BBC.
Polliack’s Corner, the building with the balconies to the right of the photo. Anne and Webster’s studio was on the eighth floor. Corner Pritchard/Eloff Streets, Central Johannesburg.Balconies of Polliack’s Corner, lighter coloured. As it is today.
They applied to join the South African Music Teachers’ Association but were refused admission as 1) They had no teaching experience and 2) They had no teaching diplomas!!
I always thought the association should have made an exception from their rigid rules in Anne and Webster’s case! Surely years of success on the stage in all forms of musical entertainment could have made up for their lack of teaching experience?
They opened their studio in February 1957 and entertained many curious Jo’burg musical celebrities. They had created a wall of photographs above the studio couch showing many of their successes and their illustrious friends from their days in the UK. They had a beautiful Chappell Grand piano and a length-size mirror in the studio. They insisted on bashful pupils regarding themselves in this mirror to make sure they were keeping their tongues flat, dropping their jaws on the high notes and adopting a suitable facial expression depending on the songs they were singing.
Articles appeared in the Jo’burg newspapers about the occasion.
This awful photo (from a microfisch) shows Anne, Webster and Percy Tucker at the opening of the studio.Percy Tucker who brought Anne and Webster to South Africa in 1956. He died recently in Cape Town from Covid complications at the age of 92.
Unfortunately, they initially asked London prices for lessons and attracted very few pupils. Mabel Fenney, who had sung Jill-all-Alone with them in a production of Merrie England in East London, Border Region, was one of their first serious pupils. She won the teacher’s scholarship in the Unisa competition and was able to go to Berlin to study at the Hochschule there. She was the temporary music teacher at Jeppe High School for Girls in Kensington, Johannesburg in 1960 and it was there that I came into contact with her and, after hearing her tales of studying with Anne and Webster, I decided that I too would like to study singing with them when I finished school. By that time they had reduced their fees so that they had quite a number of pupils by the time I began studying with them in 1961.
Mabel Fenney (later Perkin) in 1960.
Webster didn’t like teaching much. From early childhood he had an outstanding voice and everything came very easily to him. He really couldn’t understand why some people had vocal difficulties and he probably didn’t know how to fix them either!
Anne was the one who had worked hard at singing to correct her own vocal faults. She always said that he was the one with the great voice while she was nothing but a two-a-penny soprano. This probably made her a better teacher as she could understand how best to help struggling singers. She also had the most work to do in the studio as she accompanied the singers and played for them when they sang at eisteddfodau or in examinations. By 1964 I was playing for their pupils at some of the events so this gave her a bit of a break.
Webster was a very heavy smoker while Anne did not smoke at all. It didn’t seem to worry me when I was young but I don’t think I could have survived in the smoke-laden atmosphere of their studio today.
I studied with Anne and Webster for five years and did my ATCL and LTCL singing diplomas under their tutelage. I was delighted when they asked me, at the age of nineteen, to be Webster’s studio accompanist when Anne was away on other engagements. Although we had our ups and downs, we remained close friends for the rest of their lives and, as you can see, they certainly exerted a very strong influence on my own life. Anne was kind enough to leave me a legacy when she died in 2003.
They taught in Jo’burg until they went to live in Knysna in 1968, and to Somerset West in 1975. When they returned to the UK they had a few pupils in Penrhyn Bay but by that time the rise of their unexpected ‘third career’ meant that they were soon appearing all over the UK and Ireland as though they had never been away from the country for twenty-two years.
The only times Webster Booth appeared in pantomime were during the winter seasons of 1927 and 1928 when he was a young man in his mid-twenties, He and Tom Howell had been performing together in Tom Howell’s Opieros for several years, appeared together in two of Fred Melville pantomimes at Brixton. The first pantomime in 1927 was St George and the Dragon. St George was played by principal boy, Vera Wright, while Webster played King Arthur.
30 December 1927, Saint George and the Dragon, The Brixton – On Monday, December 26 1927, Mr Frederick Melville presented here his twentieth annual pantomime, written and produced by him, the music composed and arranged by F Gilmour Smith.
Brixton Theatre, renamed the Melville Theatre but destroyed during World War 2.
St George of England: Miss Vera Wright, St Patrick of Ireland: Miss Eileen O’Brian, St Andrew of Scotland: Miss Maggie Wallace, St David of Wales: Mr Lloyd Morgan, St Denis of France: Miss Marie Fontaine, St Anthony of Italy: Miss Lily Wood, St Michael of Russia: Miss Agnes Moon, King Arthur of England: Mr Webster Booth, Sir Mordred de Killingsbury: Mr Tom Howell, Stephen Stuffingley: Mr C Harcourt Brooke, Tricky Dicky: Mr Willie Atom, Princess Guinevere: Miss Doris Ashton, Fairy Starlight: Miss Hilda Goodman, Mary Fairly: Miss Marjorie Holmes, Demon Ignorance: Mr Fred Moule, Dame Agatha Lumpkin: Mr Leslie Paget, Jerry Lumpkin: Mr Larry Kemble.
One of the crits reads as follows:
There is a fine patriotic flavour, to say nothing of sundry allusions to the need for keeping old England healthy, both bodily and mentally, by sweeping out the germs of disease and distrust, all worked in the usual deft Melvillean fashion in this year’s Brixton pantomime. Choosing the unusual subject of St George and the Dragon, Mr Melville has written a story at once original and arresting.
The story is sustained by a clever company through 12 scenes, some of them notably the Ancient Village near London, King Arthur’s Banqueting Hall, the Hall of the Seven Champions with the knightly Saints in shining armour, and the King’s Palace being the setting of striking beauty, splendid too, wherein, as in former years, the clever pupils of Miss Euphan Maclaren, led by Miss Babs Livesey and with a graceful solo dancer in Miss Margery Holmes, perform most charmingly their operatic ballet.
Considerable care has been spent on the dressing of this, one of the finest of the Brixton’s many pantomimes. No more inspiring figure could easily have been found for the part than Miss Vera Wright, who carries the role of St George with a fine air of dignity. Solos are not numerous in the pantomime, team work, duets, and concerted items comprising most of the vocal side, but Miss Wright gives a dramatic rendering of The Dream Passes, besides duets, and Say it again with Guinevere, a trio with Guinevere and the King, In a Little Spanish Town and another with Guinevere and the Fairy, One Summer Night.
Needless to say, with Miss Doris Ashton playing the part, Guinevere is one of the outstanding vocal successes of the pantomime. Miss Ashton has her chief chance in a medley of present day popular songs and many old favourites, with interpolated selections on the violin, her duets with St George and the one with the King, When You Played the Organ and I Sang the Rosary winning favour.
Mr Webster Booth adds stateliness and a pleasing tenor voice, heard in England, Mighty England and Tired Hands, and with Sir Mordred, Tenor and Baritone, to the part of the King. Mr Tom Howell’s Sir Mordred is a sound piece of character work, though he finds small scope in the part for his powerful baritone. Messrs C Harcourt Brooke and Willie Atom are an always amusing pair as Steven Stuffingley and Tricky Dicky, and Mr Leslie Paget’s Dame Agatha Lumpkin, with typical dame numbers in We’re All Getting Older Together and I’m a Widow is full of humour. It is Mr Larry Kemble, who as Jerry Lumpkin, walks away with the comic honours. He gives an original twist to the ubiquitous Stewdle-oodle-oo number, and can dance nimbly, but it is in his funny bicycle act and his deadly serious attempts to teach the Brixton’s popular musical director, Mr F Gilmour Smith, his business that his talents as a humorist shine most brightly. Miss Hilda Goodman is such a charming Fairy Starlight that she almost has us answering in the affirmative when she sings Do You Believe in Fairies?
A word of praise must also be given to ladies who impersonate the National Patron Saints with such dignity. Mr Chris Mason, the manager smiles as one who has “another winner”. (Stage)
December 1927 ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON: PANTOMIME, BRIXTON THEATRE Fred Melville production – At the Brixton Theatre this year there is a patriotic pantomime, of which the hero is St. George of England, while villainy is represented by the Dragon and attendant demons. During the course of the pantomime these two forces wage a combat which quite puts to shame the mythical struggle on which the reputation of our patron saint is based. Although in the pantomime the Dragon always gets the worst of it, yet he is an unconscionable time a-dying, while, in the original legend, St George slew his opponent with uncommon dispatch and neatness. Fortunately, St. George has a number of distractions in this new version of his life, and, although the combat is a protracted one, he is able to have refreshing waits in between the rounds while young women sing, dance, and smile and while comic men make diverting remarks and execute quaint antics. His struggle may be a longer one, but it is at least much more pleasant. One’s sympathy, on the other hand, goes out to the Dragon, who is not so much slain as slowly tortured to his end.
St. George, of course, is a lady, and Miss Vera Wright makes him an excellent principal boy. She sings well, poses attractively, and generally makes one feel what a good kind of fellow St. George must have been. She is in high company, for there is King Arthur (Mr.Webster Booth) to give encouragement, some of it in song, and there is the Fairy Starlight (Miss Hilda Goodman), as determined a good fairy as ever rescued virtue from the hands of vice during the Christmas theatre season. There is also Princess Guinevere, the lady in the case, attractively played by Miss Doris Ashton, and “comic relief,” provided by Mr. Leslie Paget and Mr. Larry Kemble. (Times)
1928’s pantomime at the Brixton Theatre was a freely adapted version of Babes in the Wood. Once again Vera Wright played principal boy, this time in the role of Robin Hood. 20 December 1928, written by Frederick Melville. Principal boy, Vera Wright; principal girl, Teresa Watson; principal comedians, Tom Gumble and Jimmy Young; Fairy Queen, Gwen Stella, baritone Tom Howell; tenor Webster Booth. Specialities by Euphan Maclaren’s Operatic Dancers, Babette, Grar and Grar. Principal scenes: The Village, The Schoolroom, Ballet, Children’s Bedroom, Sherwood Forest, and Palace. Stage manager, Fred Moule. Produced by Frederick Melville on December 26, at 2pm, for run of about 7 weeks.
27 December 1928, BABES IN THE WOOD. PANTOMIME AT BRIXTON S.W. Fred Melville production – Comical Pantomime. Twice Daily, at 2 and 6.30. Seats booked. 8/6, 4/9, 5/9. Children half-price to Matinees. ‘Phone, Brixton 0050.
The Babes in the Wood, which opened at Brixton Theatre yesterday, departs freely from the conventional story, as any pantomime may do. The father of the children (not according to accepted legend) leaves with King Richard to fight the Saracen, and Maid Marion steps out of a wholly different tale to become their nurse. It is only natural, therefore, that Sherwood Forest should be just on the other side of the hill from the village green, and that Robin Hood should arrive at the right moment to tweak the wicked uncle’s nose and scatter the contents of that rascal’s purse among the villagers. It was also in the appropriate order of things that Little John and Will Scarlet (Webster Booth), and a band of archers should then come to help the great outlaw; but, if he had already beaten the local Dogberry and, the watch, they merely stayed to enjoy the dance. This and much more is woven round the old story of the babes and their friends the robins in the wood. If a pantomime is still to be regarded, as it ought to be, as primarily a play for children, this one preserves the right proportions to that end. The fairies cast their spell over whole scenes, and the babes are led through enchanted valleys where fairies and elves are never tired of dancing. The robbers (Jimmy Young and Tom Gamble) are fierce in appearance as the tale requires, but they are amusing, and they provide most of the comedy, with the wicked uncle (Fred. Moule) as a foil for their wit, the latter enjoying his lighter moments when he is not plotting mischief. Miss Vera Wright (Robin Hood) and Miss Teresa Watson (Maid Marion), who are respectively the principal boy and the principal girl, sing effectively, and the choruses and dances help to make a good Christmas entertainment. (Times)
In 1930 Webster made his West End debut in The Three Musketeers at Drury Lane and stopped working with the Opieros. He never appeared in pantomime again.
ANNE ZIEGLER
Anne Ziegler had a great deal more to do with pantomime throughout her career except for the period when she and Webster were at the top of the tree in the 1940s and she didn’t have enought time to appear in pantomime. Her first pantomime was a triumphant return to her home when she was principal boy in MOTHER GOOSE at the Liverpool Empire. Tom Arnold presented the pantomime with Anne as Principal Boy, George Formby, George Lacey, Mollie Fisher (principal girl), and Babs Wilson-Hill (principal dancer).It was in this production that Anne first met Babs Wilson-Hill (Marie Thompson), who was to become her life-long friend.
Anne as principal boy, Mollie Fisher, principal girl, and George Lacey (Dame) in Mother Goose. 1935.Anne and Mollie Fisher in a scene from the panto.
Anne appeared in two more pantomimes in the 1930s. In 1936 she appeared in Cinderella at the Edinburgh Empire Theatre with Will Fyffe as the Dame. Babs Wilson-Hill was also the principal dancer in this production.
In 1938 to 1939 Anne was once again principal boy in The Sleeping Beauty at Streatham Hill Theatre.
Despite the outbreak of war, Anne was principal boy at Golders Green Hippodrome in another production of The Sleeping Beauty as Prince Silverthistle.
This was to be Anne’s last appearance in panto for some time. When she and Webster went on the variety circuit as a double act they soon reached the pinnacle of their fame as duettists and were kept extremely busy. It was not until 1953 that Anne made another appearance in pantomime, this time in another production of The Sleeping Beauty at Streatham Hill.
The following year from 1954 to 1955, Anne was principal boy at the King’s Theatre, Hammersmith in Dick Whittington. Anne and Webster’s joint autobiography had been published in 1951 and she presented the book to Betty Wood, a young member of the cast and inscribed it as follows:
That was Anne’s last appearance in panto in the UK for quite a while.
When Anne and Webster lived in the small town of Knysna, South Africa, Anne appeared as principal boy for the last time, at the age of nearly 60! There was a write-up about this performance in one of the national newspapers.
Anne and their singing pupil, the late Ena Van den Vyver, were the two principal boys in that panto.
The last panto in which Anne appeared was not a happy experience for her. She was asked to play the Good Fairy in a production at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley for the 1985/1986 season. Webster had died the year before and the terms of her contract were changed without consultation. Because of this and also because she developed a virus, she was able to leave the show two weeks before it closed. She told me that she had no wish to take any other part in the theatre as it had changed so much since the days when they were performing regularly.
With the recent sad death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, I thought I would examine Webster and Anne’s association with British Royalty over the years.
They first went on the Variety Circuit in 1940, during World War II when Royal Variety Concerts were not held because of security reasons, so it was not until the Victory Royal Variety Concert on 5 November 1945 (their seventh wedding anniversary) that they appeared in one of those illustrious concerts.
Webster and Anne at the rehearsal for the Royal Variety Performance. 5 November 1945.
6 November 1945 – King and Queen at the Coliseum.
The Royal Variety Performance: The King and Queen were the guests at the London Coliseum last night of the Variety Artistes Benevolent Fund and Institution for the first Royal performance held in aid of the fund since the outbreak of war. They were accompanied by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose. As the King, who was in naval uniform, stepped into the flower-decked box an audience representative of the light theatre in all its aspects rose and sang the National Anthem. All was, as nearly as it could be, as it had been in the old days. The famous globe on the roof of the Coliseum was alight, and the audience had contrived to put up a more uniform display of formal evening dress than has been seen in a theatre for some years, a somewhat arbitrary putting forward of the hands of the clock on which more than one comedian commented with more wit than kindness. The programme was, just as in the old days, as exact a reflection of the modern music hall at its best as it was humanly possible to make it. At the top of the bill was the irrepressible Mr. Tommy Trinder. who dismissed the orchestra and at once established the intimacy within which we no longer think of a comedian’s jokes as being either good or bad: each adds to our comfortable enjoyment of his personality.
Among other comedians well able to top any ordinary bill were Wilson, Keppel, and Betty – the two neatly ludicrous gentlemen from ancient Egypt and the smoothly gliding burlesque of Cleopatra. Mr. Sid Field presented the literal-minded golfer whose failure to comprehend the rather queer language of golfers turns his lesson into a boxing match. Mr. Vic Oliver struggled with The Unfinished Symphony, gravely handicapped by a piano so decrepit that he had in the end to take his tools to it. Mr. Will Hay broke his mind afresh on the pupils of St. Michael’s, one of them intolerably smart, another intolerably polysyllabic, and a third intolerably dumb, all familiar but with the freshness that comes from excellent timing. Mr. George Doonan was, as usual, the life and soul of a street corner party, and Mr. Duggie Wakefield and his confederates became inextricably mixed with the inner tubes of motor wheels. A corner of the programme between the comedians, the romantics and the clever ones was agreeably tenanted by Mr. Maurice Colliano and his troupe of eccentric dancers. Mr. Webster Booth and Miss Anne Ziegler, Delya, and Mr. Jules Adrian and Miss Grace Spero warbled or fiddled for the romantics; the Nine Avalons took the breath away with their feats on roller skates; and, for spectacle, there were two set pieces from The Night and the Mystic, that charmingly elaborate fiesta, and the Masque of London Town, and an exciting finale to which theColiseum chorus and corps de ballet contributed handsomely.
Artists appearing at the Royal Variety Concert.
24 May 1947 – Advertiser, Adelaide: Queen Mary at 80 – Best Loved Figure in the Empire, London 23 May Queen Mary, the most respected and perhaps the best-loved figure in Britain, whom the King and the Queen frequently consult on Royal Family policy, will be eighty on Monday, and at eighty she remains one of the most energetic, level-headed and clear-sighted women alive. Proof of the affection with which the nation regards her will be shown when a special three-hour radio programme in commemoration of her birthday will be broadcast next Friday. It is expected that the broadcast will break all previous listening records, even those for Mr Churchill’s wartime speeches, because it is known that Queen Mary herself is selecting the items and performers. Moreover, she will probably visit the theatre at Broadcasting House performance of a new thriller which Agatha Christie – Queen Mary’s favourite author of “who-dunnits” – has been specially commissioned to write. Queen Mary’s favourite artists include Tommy Handley and singers Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, who will participate in the variety programme, while the musical programme will consist of items typical of the whole British Isles. In addition, a special birthday television programme is being arranged.
Radio Times On Friday the Light Programme will devote the entire evening between 7.15 and 10.00 pm to a celebration in honour of the royal birthday. Listeners will hear a Gala Variety Show which will include such established favourites of radio as Richard Murdoch and Kenneth Horne, Elsie and Doris Waters, Tommy Handley, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, Eric Barker, and Albert Sandler. The celebration will close with a special performance of old-time dance music in Those Were the Days… All the contributions to the evening broadcasts have been approved by Queen Mary.
30 May, 1947 – Broadcast, Gala Variety: Anne and Webster sang in this broadcast for Queen Mary’s eightieth birthday. Queen Mary had chosen their act as one of her favourites.
When I had the pleasure of being presented to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at the end of 1967, she told me that Anne and Webster had been favourite artistes of the late Queen Mary.
Shortly before they left for their tour to New Zealand and Australia they were invited to sing for King George and Queen Elizabeth and their daughter, Princess Margaret.
26 February 1948 – Morning Service in King’s Private Chapel, Windsor.
Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler had the honour of singing to the King and Queen and Princess Margaret last Sunday during the morning Service in their private chapel adjoining Windsor Royal Lodge. They sang excerpts from Messiah and a hymn by Vaughan Williams. They were afterwards presented to their Majesties in Royal Lodge and spent half an hour chatting with them about their forthcoming world tour.
4 May 1949 It was the 21st year of Sir Malcolm’s conductorship of The Royal Choral Society. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and her daughter, Princess Elizabeth were present. Webster and other soloists were presented to them in the interval.
Sir Malcolm Sargent’s 21st year as conductor of the Society.
6 May 1949 – Albert Hall Concert. The Royal Choral Society have made Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha peculiarly their own, and it was most fitting that this work should be chosen for the Royal Albert Hall concert last night in honour of Sir Malcolm Sargent’s 21 years of conductorship of the Society. The performance was in aid of the Battersea Central Mission, at the request of Sir Malcolm, and both the Queen and Princess Elizabeth were present. On such an occasion the choir could not fail to give of its best, and one has nothing but praise for its singing. The soloists – Isobel Baillie, Webster Booth and Harold Williams – also sang their parts well, although the tenor’s volume could have been increased for so large a building.
14th March 1950 – Jubilee of Hiawatha.
The Duchess of Kent will attend a special jubilee concert at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, March 27, at 7.30 p.m. to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the concert, in March, 1900, at which the Royal Choral Society gave the first complete performance of .Hiawatha in the concert version by Coleridge-Taylor. Sir Malcolm Sargent, who has organised the concert, will conduct the performance, which will be given by the Royal Choral Society and the London Symphony Orchestra, and the soloists will be Miss Isobel Baillie, Mr. Webster Booth, Mr. Harold Williams, and Mr. Arnold Greir. The performance is in aid of the voluntary medical department of the Battersea Central Mission. Particulars can be obtained from the superintendent, Rev. J. A. Thompson. 20. York Road, London, SW II.
March 28 1950 – Albert Hall Jubilee Performance of Hiawatha. Sir Malcolm Sargent’s annual gift to the children of the Battersea Central Mission took the form this year of a performance of Hiawatha, which was sung last night by the Royal Choral Society at the Albert Hall in the presence of its president, the Duchess of Kent. The occasion was also the jubilee of Coleridge-Taylor’s Cantata, which was sung for the first time with all three parts complete exactly 50 years ago in this same hall. The work lives by its freshness and spontaneous sincerity. Some of its harmonic progressions may raise a smile, or even a frown, but they belong to its period, and so although they date the work they do not make it out of date. The solo writing is less open to this mild reproach if reproach it be, than the chorus, and the itching rhythm of the verse irritates less in the solo than in the choral parts. Yet it is, of course, the chorus which is protagonist and happily carries the easy yoke and the light burden of its euphony. The Royal Choral Society, Mr. Webster Booth (in Onaway Awake), Miss Isobel Baillie, and Mr. Harold Williams sang it with frank appreciation of its naive and melodious qualities and without the least self-consciousness, while Sir Malcolm Sargent was as whole-hearted about it as he is about the cause to which last night he wedded it.
This was the last concert before Anne and Webster went to live in South Africa which had Royal associations.
5 December 1967.
In 1967 I was living in Hertfordshire and working as a teacher of music and drama at Wheathampstead Secondary School. The Queen Mother came to the school to open it formally in December of 1967. I had the honour of being presented to her after the performance of the music group in the library, trained by my colleague Vera Brunskill and myself. Sir David Gilliat, the Queen Mother’s Private secretary, came to the school several months before the Queen’s visit to discuss with us what she would talk about.
The choice was Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. The Queen told me that she had been very fond of their act and it had been Queen Mary’s favourite act. She had chosen Anne and Webster to sing in her special eightieth birthday performance in 1947.
Our performance for the Queen Mother – Cheelo, Cheelo. Vera Brunskill playing the flute, I singing and playing the guitar with the music group of Wheathampstead Secondary School. December 1967.
There was to be yet another Royal connection with Anne and Webster after their return to the UK in 1978. On 29 May 1981 they were invited to sing in a Royal Performance in Blackpool in the presence of Prince Charles, now King Charles III.
By this time Webster was far from well but they both went to sing at this performance along with a number of other older performers.
Webster can be seen in the background, bottom left. When he and Anne were presented to Prince Charles he asked them whether they were married!
I know that Princess Alexandra always sent Anne a Christmas card. On the death of the Queen Mother, Anne went into mourning for her, not very long before her own death in October 2003.
After Anne and Webster’s long association with Royalty, I wish King Charles III well in his new role as King of England. Long live the King.
I am not sure of the origins of Femina and Women’s Life – it may have been a supplement to a newspaper at the time. It should not be confused with the Women’s magazine, Femina, which appeared in the 1980s. The photographs are taken from a rather over-the-top article, written by Fiona Fraser and Bill Brewer.
Husband-and-wife team Fiona Fraser and Bill Brewer visit the Booths of Parktown North.
Theatre Couples at Home – 8
“We met Princess Alexandra and she signed the photograph for us.”
On a rural corner in Parktown North, there is a discreetly wood-fenced corner, over the top of which can just be glimpsed the roof of a charming home. By the wicker gate on an upturned stone is written the address, in which paint, probably by Leslie – otherwise known all over the world, as Webster Booth. We will call him Leslie so there is no confusion!
Leslie Webster Booth. Lyric tenor, Star of musicals, light opera, variety. In great demand for oratorio. Actor, well-known radio personality, film actor, writer, teacher of singing, film star of “The Laughing Lady”. “Waltz Time”, “The Robber Symphony”. Royal Command performer. Dog lover.Anne Ziegler, lyric soprano, Principal Boy, actress, recording and TV star with her partner-husband. Operettas, musicals, producer. Keen gardener, teacher of singing, Royal Command performer.
“You’d never guess that one of the best-known singing acts in the world lived here,” said Fiona to her daughter, Tandi, as Bill heaved the tape recorder from the back seat.
The Brewer trio walked through the wooden gate into a sunken garden, silky with tenderly-tended lawn and disciplined flower beds. A long, lean Leslie left manuscript, records and stop watch on the patio lounge, and came to greet them.
The slim and elegant Anne put down her seething hosepipe reluctantly, signalled the assistant gardener to turn the water off, stripped off her gardening gloves, and joined her guests.
“Coffee or tea?” she asked with Lancashire forthrightness.
Leslie led the way into the sweet coolness of their home. Tandi and her parents were fascinated by the warm sheen of the old and beautiful wood of various pieces of furniture, especially the bric-a-brac cabinet with the tiny treasures fro all over the world on its shelves.
Leslie moved a rocking-chair gently, disclosing a shaggy small dog. “I think you’ll find a plug for the recorder behind the black cat,” he said.
The Brewers regarded the large, somnolent cat with caution. They’d visited quite a few establishments during these interviews.
The coffee and milk were poured out of a lovely pair of silver antique jugs. The Brewer eyes shone enviously. Anne explained, “A present from Marion Rawicz of Rawicz and Landauer.”
The Brewer eyebrows made into interrogation marks. Anne explained, “During the war, they were aliens, and afterwards, Marion wanted to build a house in Hampstead -”
Bill was enchanted. “We used to have a cottage there,” he butted in. “Holly Hill – last cottage on the right-hand side. The only one with a garage. Did you know it?”
“No,” said Anne evenly. “And Marion couldn’t get permission. You had to have a permit for these things. So I went and was rather charming to the Hampstead Town Clerk – “
“We gave a concert for him,” Leslie entered into the conversation. Anne seemed rather relieved. “So we did!” she said. “So we had him with his back to the wall after the concert, and we exerted all our charms – “
“Did you?” breathed Bill.
“She did!” agreed the amiable Leslie.
Anne carried on. “anyhow, through all this, I got a permit for Marion to build his home, which he’s still living in.
“One day, he called on us with a rather curious parcel under his arm. (She now used such a good mittel-European accent, that the Brewers wondered why she didn’t do more radio plays.) “Undt’ee open it, undt say, ‘Anne, is only a leetle zing to say sank you for all vot you ‘aver done.’
“So, enjoy your coffee, because it comes from a happy memory.”
Eton Collar and All
Fiona started. “Let’s have some background stuff, please, Leslie. You started in opera, I believe?”
Leslie shook his head. “I started as a choirboy,” he said. “I was a choirboy at Lincoln Cathedral when I was seven.”
“Thorough little stinker he was, too!” said Anne.
“Yes, I was a shocking little horror in Eton collar and all that stuff! My voice broke when I was thirteen and I went to a commercial school to be trained as an accountant. I didn’t like that much, so I joined D’Oyly Carte – the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company – in the chorus. I was twenty-one when I joined the company, and after being promoted to various parts, I was with them on their first Canadian tour.
“When I returned, I realized there wasn’t much chance of getting anywhere with the D’Oyly-Cartes, so I left and started on concerts. I met Sargent – “
“Sir Malcolm?” breathed Fiona, impressed, looking at a signed photograph of that carnationed beau of conductors.
Leslie carried on with the background. “Yes. He put me into oratorio, and from that I went into grand opera.”
Bill leaped in. “What lead roles did you sing?”
“I didn’t,” Leslie said, rather obscurely. “I was one of the priests in The Magic Flute in the 1938 season with Richard Tauber. The conductor was Beecham. Then I did the tenor part in Rosenkavelier at Covent Garden and Sadlers Wells. Of course, by then, I was recording – “
“And you’d met me, of course,” Anne said, quite gently.
Leslie’s short period of accountancy must have made its impact, because he remembered. “Nineteen-thirty-four was when I met Anne,” he said with certain satisfaction
“Thirty years this month, I’ve put up with this monster,” Anne stated, without rancour.
Fiona looked at the glamorous Anne, and said, “Of course, you were very, very young at the time, weren’t you?”
Anne wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed. “Not all that young,” she said quite happily.
Opening night of Sextet, 1957.
Leslie decided to confess all. “Well, she was younger than me anyway,” he said. “Now let me see – I was playing Faust in the first colour film of that opera, and who was Marguerite but little Annie Ziegler! So that’s how we met. And then we started singing together – “
“And we got married,” Anne said. Then added, rather inconsequently, “Did you know Leslie was married three times?”
Leslie seemed unimpressed. “So what?” he asked.
Bill asked, “Any family?”
Leslie answered. “Yes, I’ve got one son, who’s a farmer in England.”
Anne added, “And a granddaughter, whom we haven’t seen yet, alas.”
Fiona brought them back to their careers. “When did you start singing together?”
Anne answered, “We were married in 1938, Bonfire night – November the Fifth!”
“Fireworks when you married?” murmured Bill.
“And ever since!” came, involuntarily, from Leslie.
Anne agreed sunnily. “Yes! And we started to get well-known when Julius Darewski put us on the map in variety in 1940. We opened at the Hippodrome, Manchester, and we concentrated on working together, and we did, in things like The Vagabond King.”
Fiona became excited. “I saw you in that, and fell in love with Leslie on the spot,” she said with fervour.
Leslie accepted her homage gracefully. “We did recordings, musicals, films together.”
The factual Fiona, of course, wanted to know, “How many records have you made?”
Leslie considered. “I suppose about a hundred and fifty duets, and two or three hundred solos.”
Fiona continued, “A lot of your records were very big sellers individually, weren’t they?”
Leslie’s accountancy course appeared to have failed him. “Yes. We’ll Gather Lilacs – I don’t know how many that sold, but it’s still selling. And Macushla and English Rose – they sold thousands, but I don’t know how many. Anyway, we still get money trickling in from all over the world.
“It’s not like it was, of course, because they’re not making 78s any more, but they’ve put out some re-issues on 45s, and they’re selling very well.” He considered the financial trickle, and said in heartfelt tones, “Thank heaven!”
‘Pretty Little Voice’
Bill considered it was time to learn something about Anne. He said, “Tell us about yourself before you met Leslie.”
Anne did so. “Actually, I wanted to be a pianist. I was a monster at school, and my parents were told that it wasn’t worthwhile my carrying on because I wasn’t interested in anything except music. Oh, I wasn’t expelled or anything, but I was taken away, and I continued with languages and piano.
“Then the organist at our church discovered that I had a ‘pretty little voice’, so I dropped the piano, because I realized that I’d only be adequate as a piano-player.
“I started training as a singer. I sang in a choir, then I sang in the chorus of operas, and my music teacher took me around for odd concerts, as a sort of star pupil.
“Eventually I had to find something to do, because my father lost all his money in the cotton market, and I wanted to support myself.
“So I went to London, and auditioned for the chorus of a musical with Maggie Teyte. That was a complete flop – lasted three weeks and folded up. I had two alternatives – get work in London, or go home.
“A friend introduced me to the woman who used to book the singers for the Lyons Corner House, the Regent Palace and the Strand Palace (where Leslie worked many years before), and that kept me going for three months.”
Fiona had a thought. “Have you always been Anne Ziegler?” she asked.
“No. My name was Irené Eastwood.” She slipped into an authentic North Country accent. “Reet good Lancashire name, Eastwood! Irené, in Greek, means ‘Peace’.”
Leslie said, “That’ll be the day!”
Anne took that in her stride. “I had to change my name when I went into the chorus, because my name had to go into the programme. I’ve always loved the name ‘Anne’, and I thought, ‘Now what do I do about my surname?’
“So I went through the Liverpool directory, and the last name in the book belonged to my father’s cousin who had emigrated from Germany about fiver hundred years earlier, and had drifted from farming in Scotland to farming in Cheshire. So there it was, A to Z – Anne Ziegler!
“And I was lucky, because during the 1930s, Continental singers with foreign names were very popular, and people thought I was Continental! I didn’t trade on it, but it did help!”
Bill commented, “Once Ziegler and Booth got together they travelled the world?”
Leslie said, “Well the only trip we haven’t made is from New Zealand to Vancouver!”
‘Best Country of All!’
Fiona was impressed, naturally. “Having toured the world, what made you decide to settle in South Africa?” she asked.
There was an astonished pause, as the Booths gazed at the Brewers. Then there was a machine-gun barrage of answers.
“It’s the best country of all.”
“Definitely.”
“The sun…”
“The way of living…”
“The spaciousness…”
Bill was intrigued. “Tell us more.”
Leslie did so. “I certainly will! We came out here on a world tour in 1948, on our way to Australia and New Zealand. Someone told us to contact Gladys Dixon at the SABC. So we cabled from the ship to say we were arriving in Cape Town, and had three weeks before we left Durban.
“She cabled back that she had arranged for us to do two broadcasts from Durban, two from Cape Town and two from Johannesburg. Then we rejoined the ship and did our tour.
“Well, when we got home, we talked things over. We didn’t like America or Australia much. We did like New Zealand, but it’s too remote, and the only decent place was South Africa, which we adored.
“Anyway, we didn’t do anything about it, until 1955, when we had a cable from Cape Town Municipality, asking us to do a tour with the Cape Town Orchestra. So we came out, did the tour, and then Percy Tucker of Show Service, asked us to come out again the following January in ’56 and do another tour. We came out and stayed until May.
“Then, when we went home, we found that the public taste for music had radically changed. So we said, ‘What’s there for us – here?’”
Anne said, “We could see the warning light. We could sense the change in entertainment form that was to come.”
Leslie nodded. “Yes. Rock ‘n Roll and all that twangy stuff was on its way. So I said, ‘To blazes with this! I’m too old to start learning to play a guitar. Let’s go back to South Africa!’ We came back in July ’56, and we haven’t been back to England since.”
I was sorry to hear of the sudden death of Ena Lambrechts yesterday. She studied with Anne and Webster when they lived in Knysna in the Western Cape, and took part in a number of the performances they put on there with the Knysna and District Choral Society, ranging from excerpts from “Elijah” to pantomimes where she was “second” principal boy in “Cinderella” in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Ena and Anne in “Cinderella” (late sixties/early seventies)Ena’s message to me in Afrikaans.
This account of Ena’s work with the Booths appeared in my book,
ENA Lambrechts (formerly van der Vyver, Geldenhuys) OF STRAND, WESTERN CAPE, WRITES:
At the age of fifteen, I sang in the Knysna Eisteddfod. Without any previous singing training, I won the open section against trained singers like Maria Stander (whom Anne and Webster also knew) and received a gold medal. I also won the gold medal in my age group (15-18 year olds). This was without any training. (So naive!)
My family gave me no further encouragement. I actually didn’t realise I had something that could be developed, probably because I never was one to let such things go to my head (and even today, I’m still like that).
Anne and Webster in their garden in Knysna. Photo: Dudley Holmes.
When Anne and Webster came to Knysna our paths crossed. That was fantastic! At the choral society, I got to know them both as true friends who took an interest in me and my voice. I made use of this opportunity, and so had the chance to achieve something after all. During my time with them, I became, like Dudley Holmes, a child in their home. I will always remember Anne’s laugh. And I will never forget the late Sunday afternoons. “Dad” would pour the whisky, and I would sit on the carpet with Squillie and Lemon.
Squillie (Silva) and Spinach. Lemon died in 1972.
When I was in London, Anne and Webster also gave me the opportunity to visit the BBC, where I met the affable Eric Robinson.
Back in Knysna, Anne and Webster took me into their capable hands and gave me a thorough training. From them I learned to develop full self-confidence in everything I did. My stage performances and rapport with audiences improved.
It was a great honour for me to share the stage with Anne and Webster, as a soloist as well as a duettist with each of them. Words can’t describe how honoured I was to achieve that in my life. At the same time, I was very disappointed that I went through their hands so late in my life. Because, in addition to my voice training, another world opened up to me.
Ena sang solos from Messiah, Creation, Elijah and various other oratorios with the Knysna and District Choral society in 1970. This is part 2 of a full programme in Anne’s writing.
I played important roles in their pantomimes, such as second principal boy in Cinderella, in Trial by Jury, as a soloist in choral performances and other productions, too numerous to mention.
1968. Merrie England.
But in all the beautiful and happy days on the stage with Anne and Webster, there was spitefulness too. It was something I found very difficult to accept, but Dad coped with it in a completely different way from Anne and always prepared me for such things. I will always remain grateful to them for that. We, all three of us, simply came out stronger on the other side. I could see them, as professionals, rising above people who would never reach that level.
After my retirement, I was in a position to join a big choir, The Tygerberg City Choir in Belville, under the direction of a most competent choir leader and coach, Edward Atkinson.
The auditions had been going on for a week when the day of my audition arrived. The atmosphere was very tense. My time came nearer, but I walked in very calmly, and Edward was very friendly. He could see I was calm and full of self-confidence. I could answer all his questions clearly: Yes, especially my training and background with Anne and Webster. I could see that Edward was very satisfied.
Before I left, he told me that I had been accepted and that he would use me. I was, of course, told not to say anything, because the results would only be made known the following week. Believe me, to keep this from all the others who were still waiting to go through it all was difficult. I found the choral singing with big orchestras fantastic.
As far as the learning was concerned, to my surprise I surpassed myself. After two years, I had to resign from the choir because of the circumstances here in the Cape. It had become very dangerous to drive to the rehearsals alone at night. Car hijackings, abductions, etc. were rife, and I had to make a choice. My husband, Pieter, was also struck down with cancer, and I had to make a decision. I am glad that I was able to be part of such a large and wonderful choir under the direction of such a gifted coach. Both Edward and my husband have since died.
Nowadays I sing in the Cantando Choir here in the Strand. It’s not a big choir, but the spirit between us is very good, and there are some lovely voices. (At the end of March 2007, I was appointed as the choir soloist!)
I always try to keep up Anne and Webster’s good name with my performances, as a good advertisement for their part in my life and in my singing – and a positive outlook on life and in everything I tackle. Today I can look the world proudly in the eye, because of the part they played in my life!
After so many years, I still shed a solitary tear when I think back on them with respect.
Thank you for this opportunity to honour them. They transformed my simple life into a fantastic experience.
May Ena rest in peace and may her friends and family be comforted at this sad time.
I discovered several of these cuttings in the Port Elizabeth Herald when I was returning to South Africa onboard the SA Oranje.
I have digitised Duet, the autobiography of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, published by Stanley Paul in 1951. I am grateful to John Marwood who proofread my digitisation of the book meticulously.
I have digitised Duet, the autobiography of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, published by Stanley Paul in 1951. I am grateful to John Marwood who proofread my digitisation of the book meticulously.
The introduction to the book reads as follows:
England’s most popular duettists, who have sung in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and America, and are loved by millions of radio fans, have written their love-story together.
The provincial choirboy and the little Liverpool pianist have come a long way. Webster Booth ran away from an accountant’s stool to tour England at £4 a week and sing on the piers. Anne Ziegler’s father was ruined on the cotton market, so she sang in restaurant cabaret. They met playing the lovers in “Faust” – and fell in love. But he was married already.
Concert-party struggles, pantomime rivalries, fun and peril in early films, adventures at Savoy Hill and parts in stage “flops” were followed by great successes. She was hailed as “Radio’s Nightingale”, and as a leading lady in New York and London, a film star and BBC favourite. He sang at the Albert Hall and Covent Garden, starred in the West End and on films and radio. They went half round the world together, singing.
There are two-fisted criticisms and fascinating glimpses behind the scenes in film-land, stage-land and the mad and magic world of music. The authors laugh at themselves, each other and the world as they take you with them – this boy and girl who made good in one of real life’s most moving romances.
I’ve just read Duet, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth’s autobiography, published by Stanley Paul & Co. in 1951. My plan was to read it over several days, but once I’d started, I could not put it down.
In the opening chapter Webster says that ‘Someone must begin even a duet. The die is cast and I am the victim – though, no doubt, the ladies will have the last word!’ The first chapter and all subsequent odd numbers are simply headed ’Webster’; and all the even ones are headed ‘Anne’. The last chapter of the 25 is headed ‘Webster and Anne’; and so the autobiography ends neatly with a joint effort – a duet.
The remark by Webster about ladies sets the tone. It is light, witty and amusing. There is no chapter without entertaining anecdotes.
Apparently the book was ghost-written by the late Frank S. Stuart [Frank Stanley Stuart]. Frank was adept at presenting amusing tales that were based on factual events. Mention is made of precise events in diaries, so I imagine both characters lent their diaries to the writer and spent many hours relating tales, adventures and anecdotes about the past. The two personae sound entirely plausible.
I was surprised by the strong anti-war remarks in the book; and it seems the ghost-writer was a pacifist. Apparently Webster and Anne were not happy with these remarks, and it seems surprising that the publisher allowed them to remain. Only 6 years after the end of the terrible world conflagration many readers must have felt uncomfortable about some of these remarks.
The book was published 5 years before the couple left for South Africa. It is pity we never get to hear them speaking about their years there, but perhaps 1951 was when they were at the peak of their fame. We read of the couple’s delight to be told that Queen Mary had herself picked out their act as a favourite one which she wished to hear at a Gala Variety to mark her eightieth birthday. We read of other encounters with the royal family.
It is a tale of fun and glamour, tails and crinolines, a most entertaining story – a must-read for everyone who remembers the couple, or for anyone who has just discovered them recently.
Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler were my singing teachers in Johannesburg. While I was studying with them I acted as Webster’s studio accompanist when Anne (who usually played the piano for students) had other engagements. We became good friends, a friendship which lasted until they died – Webster in 1984, and Anne in 2003.
I first read Duet when Webster brought it into the studio and gave it to me to read. I was fascinated by the lively story of their rise to fame, their romance which was fraught with difficulties because Webster was already married to Paddy Prior, and their great popularity as duettists during the forties and early fifties.
This book was written when they were at the height of their fame, some years before they had income tax difficulties and eventually moved to South Africa in 1956. Perhaps it was as well that the book ended before they experienced any hardship.
I have always tried to keep Anne and Webster’s singing and illustrious careers before the public although not many people seem to be particularly interested in them now. Despite the general lack of interest, I am sure that anyone who reads their autobiography will get a good idea of their charming personalities from reading this fascinating book. Several people who have read it recently, have described it as “unputdownable”. I hope whoever reads this review and is tempted to read the book will share that opinion of it!
Footnote: John mentions the ghost writer, Frank Stanley Stuart and his anti-war comments in the book. Anne and Webster did not like these ideas to permeate their story as Stuart’s views were far removed from their own, so had him removed from the task. Webster told me that they finished the book themselves, writing alternate chapters when they returned home in the evening after their singing engagements.
I decided to make some of my own podcasts after I was a guest on Clare Marshall’s programme, Morning Star, on Radio Today.
Clare Marshall.
I really enjoyed talking to Clare Marshall about The Golden Age of Webster Booth-Anne Ziegler and Friends as the group was called in 2013. The programme was heard at 8.30am on Sunday morning, 28 April 2013, on her beautiful programme “Morning Star”.
Clare Marshall with guest Jean Campbell Collen on Anne Ziegler-Webster Booth, British duettists.
At the time I made this broadcast Radio Today was situated in the beautiful grounds of a plant nursery. At that time the station catered for older listeners but since then the it has changed in character, is no longer situated here and Clare Marshall no longer presents her lovely Morning Star programme.
Radio Today, situated in a beautiful plant nursery in Jan Smuts Avenue in 2013.
After I made this initial broadcast with Clare Marshall I decided to make some podcasts of my own. I did this for several years and these are still available on Podomatic and on the Internet Archive.
There are a number of my podcasts on Podomatic from the days when I had no trouble uploading them there. All these podcasts contain recordings by Webster and Anne and related artists. If anyone is interested in hearing them, the link is:
Long before Anne and Webster began performing in prestigious variety shows in Blackpool in the early 1940s, Webster had to fulfill a contract in Blackpool for Muriel George and Ernest Butcher’s summer show at the Central Pier.
Webster had made his West End debut at Drury Lane as the Duke of Buckingham in Rudolf Friml’s The Three Musketeers earlier in 1930 and was making a success in the role, but could only remain there for three months because he had signed a contract to appear in a summer show for Muriel George and Ernest Butcher at the Central Pier, Blackpool from June to September 1930. Even the great Sir Alfred Butt could not obtain his release from this contract. His part was taken over by Yorkshire tenor, Robert Naylor.
Webster was very disappointed but had no choice but to move from Drury Lane to Blackpool. He continued singing Queen of My Heart, with which he had scored such a great success in The Three Musketeers, in the Blackpool summer show.
A Blackpool newspaper report reads as follows: 12 June 1930 to September 1930 – Muriel George and Ernest Butcher returned to the Central Pier, Blackpool, last Thursday with a new company with the exception of their faithful and talented accompanist, Ethel Brigstock… Webster Booth delights with his fine rendering of A Wand’ring Minstrel and Queen of My Heart.
MARRIAGE AND DUET PARTNERSHIP
When Anne and Webster were free to marry on 5 November 1938 they hoped to work together as often as possible. They still had a number of solo engagements to undertake and Webster continued with his more serious work in oratorio as long as their duet partnership continued. When they were asked to appear on the Halls as a variety act in 1940 they were not too sure whether this transition would work as they had very light voices and feared that two shows a night for six days a week would be hard on their voices but the money offered was very tempting so they decided to go ahead with it.
They made their variety debut in Manchester in March of 1940 and were an instant success. Only a few months later they appeared in a Gala Variety Performance at the London Palladium which replaced the usual Royal Command performance during war time.
Their first appearance in Blackpool was in Lawrence Wright’s On with the Show from June to October of 1940. They rented a big Georgian house at Singleton, seven miles from Blackpool which had 27 acres of ground!
On with the Show 1940
I was lucky enough to receive the following charming article from Peggy Cruden in 2010, telling of the time she worked as a housekeeper for Anne and Webster when they were in this show. She was 93 when she wrote the article.
I REMEMBER ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH by Peggy Cruden (nee Wakefield) (2010)
Peggy as a young woman.
I first met Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth in June 1940. I had of course heard of them before because they were so well known. I was 22 years old at the time and lived in Blackpool with my mother, Elizabeth Wakefield. We had come to live in Blackpool following evacuation from Birmingham during the Great War because of the fear of bombing by German Zeppelins.
My mother had known Webster’s parents in Birmingham. Quite by chance one day, my mother was talking to the local butcher, Charlie Farrar who told her that Anne and Webster were living in North Park Drive, Blackpool whilst performing in On with the Show at the North Pier Theatre. He knew this because he delivered orders to them. My mother arranged, through Mr Farrar, to meet up again with Webster to renew old acquaintances and we went to visit them at the house. I was struck by what a glamorous couple they were yet at the same time very homely and friendly.
During the visit Anne and Webster mentioned that their housekeeper, whom I understand usually travelled with them, was unable to work for them for the foreseeable future because her father had been taken ill. My mother offered to help with the housekeeping chores and Anne and Webster happily agreed. However, my mother, who was in her sixties by this time found that the housekeeping was a little too much for her. I was not working at the time as I was waiting to be called up for war service so I offered to help out instead. Anne and Webster were perfectly happy with this arrangement so I became their housekeeper for the rest of the season until it ended in October 1940.
I had a wonderful time working for them. They were always so kind and friendly towards me and were such good company. I went to the house six days each week during the morning and did general dusting and cleaning. I recall that I never had to make the bed for them as they seemed to do that for themselves. I made a rice pudding for them on one occasion. Webster said it was the best he had ever tasted although, being such a gentleman, I expect he was just being polite!
An embarrassing thing happened one day whilst I was working upstairs in the house. I heard the bathroom door open and when I turned around there stood Webster wearing, it seemed, nothing but a shirt! I turned away but Webster didn’t appear to be concerned at all.
Anne was very generous to me. She gave me a wonderful black dress with thin silk pleats which she no longer needed and a beautiful peach coloured nightdress. I had to shorten the black dress as Anne was a little taller than I was. I also used to admire her range of make up and other cosmetics such as Elizabeth Arden cream and she would let me have some of her make up if she no longer needed it. Anne would ask for my suggestions as to where to buy good quality clothes in Blackpool and also for my recommendations for a good hairdresser. I suggested my own hairdresser who began visiting Anne at the house on a regular basis.
I recall that Anne was a very delicate lady who was anxious to maintain her strength and energy for her performances. The butcher used to deliver marrow bones and I recall that Anne would regularly eat the marrow from the bone. She would also have regular visits from the doctor, a very handsome man as I recall. One rather bizarre recollection I have is that during one of his visits, the doctor sat me down on the bed and syringed my ears for me. I cannot remember why but I suppose I must have asked for it to be done!
I do remember Anne telling me one day that her agent had asked her if she would like to perform a show with Richard Tauber. I was most impressed because of Richard Tauber’s reputation but for some reason Anne was less than thrilled at the prospect and as far as I know turned down the invitation.
During the summer Webster’s son, Keith, visited the house for a few days. One day the air raid siren sounded and although Blackpool was never really a target for German bombers, Keith and I took refuge in the coal house until the all clear was sounded. Another memory of Keith was that, according to Anne and Webster, he told them that he had been walking behind me in the street one day and had ommented that I had a very trim figure! They were probably just teasing me but it was very flattering anyway!
Anne and Webster invited mother and me to their show at the North Pier Theatre. Mother was worried because she didn’t have a decent hat to wear so she rushed out to buy a new one. On the night, Anne commented upon how much she liked my mother’s hat which pleased my mother.
They called for us in their car, Webster driving, and parked in Queen Street, about 100 yards from North Pier. We all walked across the short stretch of Promenade and along the pier to the Theatre. Everyone who passed by recognised who they were. It made mother and me feel very important! When we reached the Theatre, Anne went backstage to the dressing room while Webster showed mother and me to our seats. During a wonderful performance, Anne and Webster even acknowledged us from the stage with a friendly nod! After the performance, we were driven home again by Anne and Webster.
As the end of the season approached, Anne and Webster asked me if I would go back to London and continue working for them. This was such a tempting offer which in other circumstances I would have happily accepted. However, I had by this time received notice that I was to work in munitions, making parts for Wellington Bombers at the Vickers aircraft factory in Blackpool.
One of the photos Peggy chose and which Anne and Webster autographed for her.
As they were leaving, Anne showed me a case which she kept under the bed. The case was full of photographs of the couple and Anne invited me to take whichever photographs I wanted. I chose two and Anne and Webster autographed them for me. I still have the photographs to this day!
Peggy’s autographed photo.
I still live in Blackpool not far from North Pier and although I celebrated my 90th birthday in 2007, my time with Anne and Webster still evokes fond memories. I was so fortunate that, during the dark early days of World War Two, my life was brightened by two such shining stars.
Peggy at the time she wrote the article.
The following year they appeared at the New Opera House for George Black in Hullabaloo. George Black liked their act so much that he invited them to appear in Gangway at the London Palladium early in 1942.
They appeared before the finalé in Songs from the Shows accompanied by Charles Forwood, who would remain their regular accompanist until the 1950s.
On 5 October 1941 they were back at the Opera House for a fund-raising concert for the RAF Benevolent Fund along with other illustrious performers including Vivien Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, Anna Neagle, Frances Day, Flanagan and Allen, Frank Randle, Nervo and Knox and Teddy Brown.
5 October 1941 from the programme.
Appearing in Gangway at the London Palladium in January, 1942. Harry Parr Davies wrote some of the music for the show.
In May 1942 they appeared at the New Opera House, Blackpool for another George Black show called Black Vanities. Unfortunately Anne was taken ill during the run of the show and Webster appeared on his own in it for a while.
Black Vanities (1942)
When the Roll of Honour for the New Opera House was erected in 1989, Anne and Webster’s names were given for 1942. Anne was able to attend this event in 1989.
THE MESSIAH
Webster had continued singing in oratorios and at serious concerts while he was singing in Variety with Anne. Anne had always longed to do more serious singing and was thrilled when Webster managed to obtain a date for her to sing the soprano solos in Messiah on 2 January 1944 with distinguished soloists and the Huddersfield Choral Society, conducted by the (then) Dr Malcolm Sargent.
OTHER BLACKPOOL CONCERTS
There were no further summer season appearances in Blackpool but Anne and Webster sang in a number of concerts there over the years, either for Harold Fielding or in Variety, usually at the New Opera House. The one below was a Harold Fielding concert in 1946.
Launch of the Afrikaans LP recording.
ROYAL GALA PERFORMANCE – 1981
Several years after Anne and Webster returned to the UK from South Africa they sang at a Royal Gala Performance in Blackpool. Prince Charles attended the performance and when they were presented to him after the show he asked whether they were married as he obviously had no idea who they were!
Prince Charles is chatting with some of the artistes. Webster can be seen in the background directly behind the Prince. He died three years later.
A HUNDRED NOT OUT: CENTENARY OF THE BLACKPOOL OPERA HOUSE
22 September 1989 – BBC2. 7.30-8.00 pm, A Hundred Not Out: Centenary of the Blackpool Opera House. Programme Number RNWF933Y, Recorded on 26 July 1989. John Mundy narrates a programme about the Blackpool Opera House, celebrating its 100 year anniversary. Lord Delfont unveils roll of honour to commemorate the centenary. Among others, Anne Ziegler recalls the glamour of the shows. Featuring Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Mike Craig, Ken Dodd, Cilla Black, Frank Carson, Mike Yarwood, Marti Webb, Charlie Chester, Formby, Tommy, Bobby Ball, Stanley Holloway, Jimmy Jewell, Bernard Delfont, Bill Waddington, Brian Crompton, Anne Ziegler, Betty Driver, Harold Fielding, Ben Warris, Josef Locke, Ken Robinson, (theatre-goer), Alfred Black, (theatre producer), Lisa Waddington, George Black (theatre producer), Dickie Hurran, Elizabeth Buzzard, Jack Taylor (theatre producer), Peter Rigby Camera), Bernie Lowe (Camera), Mel Cross (Camera), John Mundy (Narrator), Terry Wheeler (Producer)
WEBSTER BOOTH-ANNE ZIEGLER 