Rene Strange

Rene Strange
Rene Strange and a marionette.
Other namesRenee Strange
Occupation(s)Entertainer, puppeteer
FatherLeslie Strange

Rene Strange, also known as Renee Strange (fl. 1940s–50s), was a comic entertainer known as the "singing cartoonist" and for her risqué show using marionettes, which she performed wearing black stockings. She appeared as part of variety performances, on ice, and in pantomime.

Early life

Rene Strange was the daughter of Leslie Strange, originally known as Wilfred St Clair, who performed comic Dickensian pieces[1] and impersonated famous figures of his time such as Adolf Hitler and Stan Laurel.[2]

Career

Strange's act included drawing caricatures while singing, for which she became known as "the singing cartoonist," and the use of marionettes to perform comic routines to which she added a risqué element by wearing black stockings that showed off her legs.[1]

In 1940, Strange was filmed by British Pathé drawing a caricature of Winston Churchill and singing a patriotic song.[3] She appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in 1946.[4][5] In 1951, she was filmed by British Pathé performing with puppets Annie Pride of the Rockies; Mr Bertram, an inspector of forms who inspects Rene's legs; and Samoa the Hula Hula Girl.[6]

In 1952, she appeared with Norman Wisdom in a Val Parnell and Bernard Delfont production Paris to Piccadilly, described as a new Folies Bergère revue, at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.[7] The same year, she also appeared in Pulling Strings with Ann Hogarth, operator of Muffin the Mule, in a film for New Realm Pictures produced by Harold Bairn.[8]

Strange's marionettes employed adult themes and in 1953 she commissioned Bob Pelham of Pelham Puppets to make the Opera Singer with a heaving bosom, the Drunken Singer with wobbly legs, the Choirboy who had a halo but also a catapult, the Can-Can Dancer, and a Strip-tease Artist.[1]

In 1955, she performed with her marionettes at Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden, as part of a variety performance headlined by the trampoline act Paulette and Renee that also featured plate-spinners and shadowgraphs.[9] In 1958, she starred with Benny Hill, Jack Beckitt, and Peter Vernon in a production at the Floral Theatre, Scarborough.[10]

She was principal boy in pantomime,[6] and appeared in ice shows and "ice pantomimes".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Leech, David. (2008) Pelham Puppets. Ramsbury: Crowood Press. p. 34. ISBN 9781847970558.
  2. ^ Leslie Strange – How Time Flies... British Pathé, 24 October 1940. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Rene Strange 1940". British Pathé. 26 December 1940. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  4. ^ Rene Strange adjusting her stockings before the curtain rises for the dress rehearsal of the Royal Command Variety Performance. November 04, 1946. Getty Images. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Performances: 1946, London Palladium". Royal Variety Charity. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  6. ^ a b Puppet Girl. British Pathé, 19 November 1951. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  7. ^ A Programme for the 1950s "Paris to Piccadilly" at the Prince of Wales Theatre. arthurlloyd.co.uk Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  8. ^ Gifford, Denis (Ed.). The British Film Catalogue Volume 1: Fiction Film, 1895–1994. 3rd edition. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740629.
  9. ^ "Review Digest", Wolfram, Billboard, 16 July 1955, p. 11.
  10. ^ Ross, Robert (2014). Benny Hill – Merry Master of Mirth: The Complete Companion. London: Batsford. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-84994-258-4.
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