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Harry Relph (21 July 1867 – 10 February 1928), known on the stage as "Little Tich", was an English music hall comedian. He was noted for the characters of The Spanish Señora, The Gendarme and The Tax Collector, but his most popular routine was his Big Boot dance, which involved a pair of 28-inch boots, commonly called "slapshoes" in the days of vaudeville. He was also popular as a pantomime dame; in one season he appeared with Marie Lloyd and Dan Leno also in the cast.
Biography
The surviving film of the Big Boot dance, made by Clément-Maurice for the Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre in 1900, was described by Jacques Tati as "a foundation for everything that has been realised in comedy on the screen".
Relph was born at Cudham, now in the London Borough of Bromley, one of 15 children to the landlord of the Blacksmith's Arms. He made his first stage appearance at the age of twelve at Rosherville Gardens, Gravesend. Relph, only four feet six inches (1.37 m) in height but also very stout as a child (though he later slimmed down), took his stage name "Little Tich" from the Tichborne claimant, the corpulent Arthur Orton. Relph had been teased from his Cudham days with the nickname 'Little Tichborne', which was later abbreviated, and a new term for diminutive entered the English language.
He performed internationally, and at the age of 42 was made an officer of the Legion d'|Honneur], for his performances at the Folies Bergère. His final performance was at the London Alhambra Theatre in 1927, with Jack Hylton's Band, and he died at Hendon after a long illness in 1928.
He was a polydactyl, having five fingers and a thumb on each hand, and six toes on both feet. Mementoes of his life are still preserved at the public house in which he was born.
The second of Igor Stravinsky's "Three Pieces for String Quartet" (1914) was inspired by one of Little Tich's performances.
In the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch in Monty Python's Flying Circus a parody of old 20th-century silent film is shown. In this film Michael Palin is dressed like Little Tich in his "Big Boots" sketch, complete with high hat and large shoes.
A Little Tich figure also appears on an archival DVD in the second episode of Christopher Guest's TV series Family Tree, where the main character discovers his great-grandfather worked in pantomime and vaudeville.
A blue plaque commemorates Relph at 93 Shirehall Park, in Hendon.
References
- Influence on comedy
- Ernest Henry, Short (1970). Ring Up the Curtain: Being a Pageant of English Entertainment covering Half a Century. Ayer Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 0-8369-5299-5.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Major, John (2012). My Old Man. Harper Press. pp 143-144. ISBN 978-0-00-745013-8
- Anthony, Barry. "Little Tich (Harry Ralph)". Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- Stephens, Kevin. "Stravinsky's Chamber Works". Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- "RELPH, HARRY (1867-1928)". English Heritage. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- Tich, Mary and Richard Findlater (1979). Little Tich; Giant of the Music Hall. London: Elm Tree Books. ISBN 0-241-10174-3.
External links
- Anthony, Barry. Little Tich (Harry Relph)
- Little Tich at IMDb
- Irving, Gordon. Little Tich
- Knapp, Lawrence. (2000) Sax Rohmer and Little Tich
- Blue plaque by the London Borough of Bromley
- Little Tich on YouTube
- Little Tich at Find a Grave
- A collection of Harry Relph (Little Tich) volumes is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre and Performance Department.