Skip to main content

Posts

Who played at the Kilburn State?

Although a complete account of all the musicians who played here is not possible, I have complied the most comprehensive list yet to be published. Chronologically, it moves from big bands, jazz, rock, British blues, and Pop, as the popular styles change. Kilburn State (Dick Weindling, July 2015) Because of the large seating capacity of 4,004, the Gaumont State in Kilburn High Road was used as a venue for many shows by touring American and British musicians.  The Gaumont State Cinema was opened on 20 Dec 1937 with a sell-out show, which was also broadcast on the BBC radio. 1937, Dec 20 opening of Gaumont State Cinema Singer Gracie Fields, Larry Adler harmonica, Henry Hall and his Orchestra, Alfred van Dam and his State Orchestra, and others Here is a Gaumont Newsreel tour of the building and people arriving at the opening night, with a typical jokey 1937 voiceover 1938, July 23 The Hyams brothers (Phil, Syd and Mick), who ran the State, organised a midnight performance to raise money fo
Recent posts

The Setty Case

This is a famous, and in many ways unique, case from 1949.  The Background Stanley Setty was born as Salman Seti or Salik in Baghdad in 1903. The family moved to Manchester in 1908 where his father was a cloth merchant. Stanley worked in the business until 1920 when his father abandoned his wife and children and went to live in Italy. To earn a living, Stanley set up a shipping business with his brother David and when that failed, worked on his own account as a cloth dealer. Unfortunately, he lost a great deal of money gambling and was declared bankrupt in 1927. To avoid his creditors, Stanley left the country in December 1927 to stay with his father in Milan. He returned in April 1928 and at his bankruptcy hearing it was said Stanley bought cloth on credit, selling it cut price on the same day, and not paying the suppliers. That August he pleaded guilty to multiple offences under the Bankruptcy and Debtors Acts. When the judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison, Setty’s mother had t

Arthur Prince the World Famous Ventriloquist

Arthur Prince, with his dummy Sailor Jim, was the most famous ventriloquist of his era. Arthur was married three times, all to actresses and singers who had been partners in his stage act. When he died in 1948, he was buried locally in the Hampstead Cemetery in Fortune Green Road. This is the most detailed account of his life. Most sources say Arthur Prince was born in 1881, but he gives his date of birth as 17 November 1880 in the 1939 Government Register used to record everyone in England and Wales when registration cards were issued just before the War.  In interviews he said he was born in Marylebone, and started by performing conjuring tricks in public at the age of 13. A few years later he began his professional career with another comedian as the Elrabi Brothers, an act with humorous songs, card tricks and magical illusions. Arthur took up ventriloquism after seeing the well-known Fred Russell’s act with his dummy Coster Joe. Fred gave 17-year-old Arthur advice, and introduced h

Nicholas Winton – One Life

‘One Life’ is a new film directed by James Hawes, starring Antony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn. The title comes from a line in the Talmud, translated as; ‘Save one life – save the world’. It tells the amazing story of Sir Nicholas Winton who rescued 669 children from the Nazis. Antony Hopkins in One Life Nicholas Winton was born as Nicholas George Wertheim. The Wertheim family originally came from Prussia, (part of the German empire). Grandfather Nicolas was working as a clerk and living in Manchester in 1871. By 1895 he had moved to ‘Stonecroft’ No.5 Cleve Road in West Hampstead, where the family remained until 1933. His son Rudolf, a bank manager, took over the house in the early 1900s and Nicholas George was born here on 19 May 1909. Because of growing anti-German feeling, the family changed their name to Winton in October 1938. Nicholas lived briefly at 5 Belgrave Road Marylebone, and he was at 20 Willow Road in Hampstead by 1938.  In December 1938, twenty nine ye