Basil Hallam

Basil Hallam Biography

Basil Hallam (3 April 1889 - 20 August 1916), born Basil Hallam Radford, was an English actor and singer best known for the character of Gilbert the Filbert in The Passing Show.

Hallam was born in London and educated at Charterhouse School and Oxford. He began his career in Shakespearean parts with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company in 1908. He had an early success as Archie Graham in Cosmo Hamilton's The Blindness of Virtue. He appeared in New York City with Billie Burke in Mrs. Dot.

He created the character of a privileged young "knut", Gilbert the Filbert, for The Passing Show (1914), the original revue of that title by Herman Finck, which opened at the Palace Theatre, London, on 20 April 1914. He also recorded the song of the same name for the HMV label on 4 June 1914. The song can be heard on a 2012 release by the Diversions record label, The Finck Album, sung by Mart Sander.

Before entering service for World War I with the Royal Flying Corps, he fell in love with Elsie Janis, with whom he had starred in The Passing Show of 1915. They set up home in Liverpool. His death in action near Calais, France, two years later is described by Rudyard Kipling in The Irish Guards in the Great War, Vol. 2, 1916 - Salient and the Somme:

Hallam died during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 aged 28. He is buried in the Couin British Cemetery.

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Basil_Hallam" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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