Florence Desmond

Florence Desmond, born Florence Dawson in London on 31 May 1905, was an English actress, comedian, and impersonator whose stage career spanned several decades in both Britain and North America. She was educated at Dame Alice Owen's School in Islington. Her brother, Fred Desmond, performed as a comedy acrobat in the double act known as Desmond and Marks. Desmond began performing at the age of ten, and upon leaving school in 1920 she entered professional theatre, making her first public appearance in comedy work in the style of Nellie Wallace.

In 1925, impresario C. B. Cochran engaged Desmond, and she appeared in several revues, including Still Dancing. Three years later, she toured the United States and Canada alongside Noël Coward and Beatrice Lillie in the revue This Year of Grace, which marked her Broadway debut in 1928. She would continue to perform on Broadway through 1946, with credits that also include If the Shoe Fits.

Returning to London after the American tour, Desmond developed a stage act combining songs with impersonations of well-known celebrities. In 1933, she appeared on BBC radio performing impressions of figures including Janet Gaynor, Greta Garbo, Jimmy Durante, Gracie Fields, and Marlene Dietrich. She recorded the performance for His Master's Voice under the title A Hollywood Party, releasing it as a 78 rpm record that became a bestseller. Following a subsequent tour of the United States, she returned to headline in London, adding an impersonation of Mae West to her act, and appeared in the 1937 Royal Variety Performance. Throughout the 1930s she also appeared in numerous British films.

In 1941, Desmond starred alongside Max Miller and Vera Lynn in Apple Sauce, a revue that ran for more than 400 performances at the London Palladium. She continued to perform regularly at the Palladium after the Second World War, and in 1951 made her second and final appearance in a Royal Variety Performance. Her wartime recording of the song The Deepest Shelter in Town has been included in multiple World War II music compilations. After retiring in 1954, she returned to the stage in 1958 to appear with Beatrice Lillie in Auntie Mame in London. The following year she was the subject of This Is Your Life, when host Eamonn Andrews surprised her at London's Adelphi Theatre.

In her personal life, Desmond was married twice. Her first marriage, to aviator Tom Campbell Black, lasted from 1935 until his death in 1936. In 1937 she married aviator and insurance broker Charles Hughesdon, and the couple lived at Dunsborough Park in Ripley, Surrey. Desmond died in Guildford, Surrey, on 16 January 1993 at the age of 87. A ward at St. Luke's Hospital and a day unit at the Royal Surrey County Hospital were named in her honor.