Fawdon Vokes (1844 â€" 1904) was a British music hall, pantomime and
burlesque actor and dancer who performed as a member of the Vokes
Family of entertainers popular in the 1870s in Great Britain and the
USA. For more than ten years they were the central attraction at the
annual pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from 1868 to 1879
when their popularity began to wane.He was born as Walter Fawdon in
Soho in London and on joining the Vokes Family troupe changed his name
to Walter Vokes, being billed as the "foster brother" of Fred, Jessie,
Rosina and Victoria Vokes. In the 1871 Census he was living with the
Vokes' above the family business at 19 Henrietta Street in Covent
Garden in London on which he was listed as "no relation".With the
Vokes Family he performed at music halls and at pantomimes both for
British and American theatre-goers. They made their début on
Christmas night in 1861 at Howard's Operetta House in Edinburgh and
made their London début at the Alhambra Theatre in 1862 when they
were billed as 'The Five Little Vokes'. They appeared at the Lyceum
Theatre in London on 26 December 26 1868 in Edward Litt Laman
Blanchard's pantomime Humpty Dumpty. Early in their career, at the
Lyceum Theatre in London, they danced in W. S. Gilbert's pantomime
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren.With the Vokes Family he first
appeared as Wiggins in the popular The Belles of the Kitchen on 27
February 1869 at the Standard Theatre in London. Their success was
pronounced and continuous. They made their Paris debut in August 1870
at the Théâtre du Châtelet where they were an immediate success,
but with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War it became unsafe to
remain and they left the city with just a few hours notice. Back in
London he appeared with the rest of the Vokes Family in Tom Thumb the
Great; or, Harlequin King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in
their début performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in Christmas
1871.
burlesque actor and dancer who performed as a member of the Vokes
Family of entertainers popular in the 1870s in Great Britain and the
USA. For more than ten years they were the central attraction at the
annual pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from 1868 to 1879
when their popularity began to wane.He was born as Walter Fawdon in
Soho in London and on joining the Vokes Family troupe changed his name
to Walter Vokes, being billed as the "foster brother" of Fred, Jessie,
Rosina and Victoria Vokes. In the 1871 Census he was living with the
Vokes' above the family business at 19 Henrietta Street in Covent
Garden in London on which he was listed as "no relation".With the
Vokes Family he performed at music halls and at pantomimes both for
British and American theatre-goers. They made their début on
Christmas night in 1861 at Howard's Operetta House in Edinburgh and
made their London début at the Alhambra Theatre in 1862 when they
were billed as 'The Five Little Vokes'. They appeared at the Lyceum
Theatre in London on 26 December 26 1868 in Edward Litt Laman
Blanchard's pantomime Humpty Dumpty. Early in their career, at the
Lyceum Theatre in London, they danced in W. S. Gilbert's pantomime
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren.With the Vokes Family he first
appeared as Wiggins in the popular The Belles of the Kitchen on 27
February 1869 at the Standard Theatre in London. Their success was
pronounced and continuous. They made their Paris debut in August 1870
at the Théâtre du Châtelet where they were an immediate success,
but with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War it became unsafe to
remain and they left the city with just a few hours notice. Back in
London he appeared with the rest of the Vokes Family in Tom Thumb the
Great; or, Harlequin King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in
their début performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in Christmas
1871.
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