Lydia Thompson

Lydia Thompson (born Eliza Thompson; 19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer. From 1852, as a teenager, she danced and performed in pantomimes, in the UK and then in Europe and soon became a leading dancer and actor in burlesques on the London stage. In 1868, she introduced Victorian burlesque to America with her troupe, the "British Blondes", to great acclaim and notoriety. Her career began to decline in the 1890s, but she continued to perform into the early years of the 20th century. Early years Thompson was born in Brydges Street, Covent Garden, London to Eliza (née Cooper) and Philip Thompson (c. 1801–1842), owner of the Sheridan Knowles, a public house. Thompson was the second of three surviving children, including actress Clara Bracy. Her father died in 1842, and her mother remarried Edward Hodges. By the age of 14, Thompson had left home and joined the stage professionally as a dancer. In 1852, she became a member of the corps de ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre, London. By the following year she was playing a solo role, Little Silverhair, in the pantomime Harlequin and the Three Bears, or, Little Silverhair and the Fairies at the Haymarket Theatre. In 1854 she danced at the old Globe Theatre in Blackfriars Road, in James Planché's extravaganza, Mr Buckstone's Voyage Round the Globe. She gained wider public attention later that year at the St James's Theatre in The Spanish Dancers, a burletta by Thomas Selby, playing the famous dancer Señora Perea Nena. The Times dismissed the piece but praised her performance highly: "It was no burlesque; it was one excellent dancer following in the steps of another, catching the spirit of her model, and rivalling her in the audacity of her execution. The youth and beauty of Miss Thompson gave an additional charm to her Andalusian feats."