Joe Elvin (born Joseph Peter Keegan; 29 November 1862 – 3 March 1935) was an English comedian and music hall entertainer and a Founder of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a show business charity. With other leading performers he took part in the Music Hall War of 1907, which supported less well paid music hall artistes in their strike for better pay and conditions.
Biography
Elvin was the son of Joseph Peter Keegan (1840 – 1901), an actor and music-hall artiste, and his wife, Annie Delaney. He was educated at a Catholic school in Tottenham Court Road while at the same time receiving tuition in dancing and other performance skills. He made his début in
pantomime at
Brighton Theatre Royal in 1871 and began his music-hall career the following year as a juvenile comic and clog dancer at Crowder's in
Greenwich. He appeared with his father as 'Joe Keegan and Little Elvin', their first real success being
Poor Jo which was based on
Charles Dickens Bleak House. During a season for the
vaudeville entrepreneur Tony Pastor in New York City in 1882 they turned to more comic material.
[
Dave Russell, 'Elvin, Joe (1862–1935)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004]
Comedy career
Impresario
Fred Karno described Elvin as one of a handful of physical comedians who "made significant changes in music-hall fare."
[Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Volume 1 by Frank Cullen with Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly. Published by Routledge (2006)] Elvin developed the character of the loud, lovable, and irreverent
cockney working man having a good time. With
Marie Dainton,
Marie Lloyd and
Little Tich, Elvin was a leading force behind the 'Music Hall War' of 1907 when they persuaded other less well paid music hall artistes to strike for better pay and conditions and to picket the theatres that broke the strike. This action led to the formation of the 'Variety Artists Federation' (VAF),
[ It's Behind You! - The Music Hall Pantomimes at www.its-behind-you.com] which decades later was absorbed into Equity.
In December 1907 he helped found and became the first president of the Variety Artistes Benevolent Fund, which was set up by performers to replace a previous society (founded by Elvin's father) which had been controlled largely by agents and managers. In 1909 Elvin was the prime mover in a scheme that eventually caused Brinsworth House to be built for retired music-hall performers.
Elvin was the brother of variety artiste Frank Keegan, who died in 1951.[ Sing Us One of the Old Songs by Michael Kilgarriff at freespace.virgin.net] The two frequently appeared together as 'Keegan and Elvin', including at the 1887 variety performance benefit for Charles Ash at the Royal Victoria Hall in Lambeth.[ Results at www.bl.uk] His wife, Charlotte Keegan, was also a variety artist, performing as Mrs Joe Elvin. She died on September 8, 1916.
Grand Order of Water Rats
In 1889 Elvin was a founder with
Jack Lotto of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a show business charity which began life when a betting syndicate that had grown up around a trotting pony owned by Elvin agreed to donate any winnings to charity, gaining its name when someone referred to the pony during a rainy trip to the
Epsom Derby as looking more like a water rat. Elvin served as 'King Rat' in 1894.
[ ]
His interests included his extensive charitable and benevolent work and a lifelong interest in horse-racing, as owner, spectator, and keen gambler. He retired in the early 1920s and a benefit concert was held for him at the London Palladium in March 1923.[
]
He appeared in the 1900 silent film The Rats.
Elvin is buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery in Wallington in Surrey beside his friends and fellow music hall artistes Eugene Stratton and Jack Lotto.[ Music Hall and Variety Artistes Burial Places at www.arthurlloyd.co.uk]
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