{{Short description|British entertainer and actor}} {{about||the American Methodist missionary|George Carleton Lacy}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person |name = George Lacy |honorific_suffix = |image = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|1|27|df=y}} |birth_place = Newington, London, England |death_date = {{death date and age|1989|1|11|1904|1|27|df=y}} |death_place = Wrexham, Wales |occupation = Actor, entertainer, pantomime dame |partner = |resting_place = |years_active = 1918–1984 |website = }} '''George Lacy''' (27 January 1904 – 11 January 1989) was a British entertainer and actor, best known for his groundbreaking performances as a pantomime dame, particularly "Mother Goose".
==Biography== Born in Newington, London, he made his first stage appearance as a comedian aged 14, and soon started appearing in pantomimes. He first appeared as a pantomime dame aged 19, and featured as Mother Goose in a show in Leeds in 1929.<ref name=behind/> He made the role his own, and introduced the tradition of the Dame changing her costume throughout the show, each change becoming increasingly flamboyant.<ref>[https://limelightscripts.co.uk/history-of-pantomime/ "The 'Dame'", ''The History of Pantomime'', ''Limelight Scripts'']. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref> He designed and made his costumes himself – for one show performing in a costume designed as a billiard table, complete with balls and cues<ref name=bbc/> – and wrote many of his scripts and songs.<ref name=hudd>Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, {{ISBN|1-86105-206-5}}, p.100</ref>
As well as performing in pantomimes for over 60 years, Lacy also starred in other travelling musical theatre shows around the country, and in variety programmes in which he would sometimes interpose his increasingly well-known Dame persona.<ref name=hudd/><ref name=vanda>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1389415/mother-goose-royal-court-theatre-poster-henry-matthews-and/ "Mother Goose, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool", ''V & A Museums'']. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref> Part of his success was due to his ability to deliver "working class gags with a posh accent".<ref name=bbc>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/hW5C5rr4dHRbTDx0lJ9582/twankey-my-dear-i-dont-give-a-dame-the-panto-queens-who-ruled-the-stage "George Lacy (1904 - 1989)", ''BBC'']. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref> He took the lead role in the 1934 Lupino Lane comedy film ''My Old Duchess'' (also known as ''Oh! What a Duchess''),<ref>[https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150032602 "My Old Duchess", Collections Search, BFI]. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref> in which he "was able to remain convincingly feminine with just the right degree of eccentricity to be funny, but not grotesque."<ref>[https://thelostlaugh.com/2015/12/ Review of ''Oh! What a Duchess'', ''TheLostLaugh.com'']. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref>
Widely regarded as "the finest Dame of his generation",<ref name=behind>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/damesarticle.html "Bring on those Wonderful Dames!: George Lacy", ''It's Behind You!'']. Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref> he continued to perform each year in pantomimes until his final shows, aged 80, at Southsea in 1984. He died in Wrexham, north Wales, in 1989, aged 84.<ref name=hudd/><ref name=vanda/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0480373}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyPEynmgcRo ''The Art Of The Pantomime Dame: George Lacy''], 1982 short film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, George}} Category:1904 births Category:1989 deaths Category:English male comedians Category:20th-century English male actors Category:Pantomime dames Category:People from Newington, London Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Southwark Category:Actors from the London Borough of Southwark