Walter Passmore
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Walter Passmore (May 10, 1867 – August 29, 1946) was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] Early career
Walter Henry Passmore was born in London. He made his first professional stage appearance at the age of fourteen at Sunderland as a page in the pantomime Cinderella. He was soon apprenticed to Cramers, the piano maker, and at the end of the apprenticeship, he returned to the stage, working as a pianist with traveling concert parties and performing in farcical comedies. He made his London debut at the Standard Theatre, Bishopgate, in May 1890, in The Flying Scud and performed in musicals for the next three years.
Passmore joined the the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1893, creating the small part of Greg in the unsuccessful Jane Annie at the Savoy Theatre (libretto by J. M. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle; music by Ernest Ford). He next created the part of Tarara, the public exploder, in Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited (1893–94) and appeared as Bobinet in Mirette (1894). Bobinet was Passmore's first real starring part. In the fall of 1894, Passmore named his new daughter "Mirette", perhaps in acknowledgement of his success in this his breakout role. He also performed in Utopia in the role of King Paramount on tour that year. Passmore next created the role of Peter Adolphus Grigg in Sullivan and Burnand's The Chieftain (1894–1895). He then toured as Bobinet and Grigg.
[edit] Principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte
In 1895 he returned to the Savoy, where he played Ko-Ko in revivals of The Mikado (1895–97) and, in between revivals, created the role of Grand Duke Rudolph in The Grand Duke (1896). In 1897, he created the part of Boodel in His Majesty, then appeared as Jack Point in the first revival of The Yeomen of the Guard (1897), General Boum in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1897–98), and Don Alhambra in revivals of The Gondoliers (1898). In 1898, he was The Devil in the first production of The Beauty Stone.
Passmore subsequently appeared at the Savoy as the Usher in Trial by Jury, John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer (1898), King Ouf I in The Lucky Star (1899), and Sir Joseph in H.M.S. Pinafore (1899). While rehearsing this last role, Passmore suggested to W. S. Gilbert that he might walk around with his nose in the air "as though raising it above an unpleasant smell." Gilbert quipped, "Unpleasant smell? Well, you're the best judge of that, Passmore." (Ayre, p. 260).
Passmore then created the role of Hassan in The Rose of Persia (1899–1900) and played the Sergeant of Police in the second revival of The Pirates of Penzance (1900) and Reginald Bunthorne in the first revival of Patience (1900–01). He created the role of Professor Bunn in The Emerald Isle (1901), was Ping-Pong in The Willow Pattern (1901), and the Lord Chancellor in the first revival of Iolanthe (1901–02). He created the role of Walter Wilkins in Merrie England (1902, and on tour), and played Puck in A Princess of Kensington (1903, and on tour).
[edit] Later years
When the D'Oyly Carte company went on tour in 1903, Passmore remained in London where he began a career in musical comedies, plays, and pantomimes in London and on tour, which lasted almost thirty years. He first transferred to the Adelphi Theatre, where he appeared as Jim Cheese in The Earl and the Girl. He later appeared in West End productions of The Talk of the Town and Madame Pompadour, and he toured in Merrie England again in 1911. His last role before retirement in 1933 was Count Theodore Volney in The Damask Rose.
Passmore's theatrical performances were famous for his visual humour. George Baker remembered his Sergeant of Police as being "obstreperously funny."
Passmore was married to fellow D'Oyly Carte artist Agnes Fraser in 1900. She frequently appeared with him on stage. He died at Golders Green, London.
[edit] Recordings
Passmore recorded over a dozen of individual songs from the Gilbert & Sullivan operas between 1900 and 1913 for Odeon. Many of these have been re-issued by Pearl on LP and CD ("The Art of the Savoyard," Pearl GEMM CD 9991). He also sang the part of Ko-Ko in an historic 1908 recording of The Mikado for Odeon that was reissued by Pearl on LP (GEMM 198).
[edit] References
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Walters, Michael. "Walter Passmore". The Gaiety (Winter 2005). (pp. 22-44)
[edit] External links
- Walter Passmore at "Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
