Interview with Anthony Slide on his new book on Bobbie Kimber
Who Is Bobbie Kimber?
I suspect that is a question that most Americans will be asking. And I am not going to suggest that he is actually known in the U.S. — although he certainly should be. Bobbie Kimber was a British ventriloquist, who began his professional career in the summer of 1938. He worked in female attire in large part because there weren’t any female ventriloquists and he was rather a novelty. His name, of course, is asexual, and so audiences did not necessarily know he was a man in a woman’s dress. He didn’t hide the fact but neither did he actively admit to it.
Was he successful?
Very much so, working with two earlier dummies and then with his best known “partner,” Augustus Peabody or “Gussie”. He was never the “star” turn on the British Music Hall stage but always a featured player. In November 1947, he appeared at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, supporting Laurel and Hardy. He also worked with Danny Kaye, Chico Marx and Frank Sinatra. He began a successful TV career in 1952, hosting a variety show on the BBC. Again, he was always in female attire and never revealed to the audience that he was a man.
What went wrong?
Well, he was “exposed,” for want of a better word by the tabloid newspaper, THE DAILY MIRROR with the headline, “She Is a Man”. Not that he had ever denied his sex. Anyway, Bobbie had gradually assumed the identity of a woman, dressing in female attire on stage and off, growing his hair long, wearing make-up and high heels.
What is his relevance today?
He represents the strangest example of gender variance. He even claimed to have had a sex change operation, which is a complete lie. He was married and had a daughter, but in later years, he never left his house except dressed as a woman.
Why did you write the book?
I had long been fascinated by Bobbie Kimber, particularly after seeing her appear in April 1969 at a tribute to female impersonation. She had been retired for some time, but appeared on stage in an evening gown and with her dummy, Augustus Peabody.
I had come to the event with an elderly British actor friend, John Stuart, and after the show we were sitting in a pub next to the theatre when Bobbie came in and joined us. I was so young and so embarrassed to be sitting with a man dressed as a woman, with a cigarette dangling from her mouth and drinking a pint of beer. It was a mind-boggling experience.
Later, I tracked down his daughter, Christine, and she sold me her father’s papers, including a vast number of photographs, many of which appear in the book. There’s no film record of Bobbie Kimber’s act, but these photographs show just how real a woman he could be.
It’s a fascinating story and a fascinating book, which should appeal to anyone interested in female impersonation, ventriloquism or gender variance.