Wilson, Keppel and Betty
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Wilson, Keppel and Betty were a popular British music hall act who capitalised on the trend for Egyptian imagery following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Their stage act, called the "sanddance". was a ludicrous parody of "egyptian" postures, combined with references to Arabic costume. The lithe Wilson and Kepple would demonstrate their impressive suppleness in adopting wild angular gestures, while Betty watched their antics.
The people of South Shields are popularly referred to as "Sand-dancers" with reference to this act.
According to "Kindly Leave the Stage - a history of Variety, 1919 - 1960", by Roger Wilmut (ISBN 0-413-48960-4), Jack Wilson (born in Liverpool) and Joe Keppel (born in Ireland) met in the USA, where they started the trio act with Betty Knox in 1910. They came to Britain for a few weeks in 1932 and stayed permanently. There were several Bettys: Betty Knox's daughter (also called Betty) took over from her mother in 1932; and her daughter (called Patsy) took over in 1941. They finally retired in 1963: fifty three years after forming the act!
Their "Cleopatra's Nightmare" routine was performed in 1936 in Berlin and condemned by Dr Goebbels as indecent. In the UK they were regarded as one of the best "speciality acts" - acts designed to balance and support the star of a variety programme. Typically these acts would last about ten minutes, and be repeated twelve times a week (matinee and evening performance, every day except Sunday) in variety theatres all over the country.
Video of a performance they gave at the Trocadero restaurnant in London in 1933 can be downloaded from here
George Melly, the celebrated jazz vocalist is quoted in his biography as saying "There were several Betty's, they would get rid of one after about 10 years. I knew the last Betty, her son was a brilliant female impersonator...."
