Dancer

Lydia Thompson

British burlesque performer

Born 1838 · LondonDied 1908United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Lydia Thompson
Image: Gurney & Sons · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Lydia Thompson was a dancer, born in 1838 in London, who died in 1908.

Biography

Lydia Thompson (born Eliza Hodges Thompson; 19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer.

From 1852, as a teenager, she danced and performed in pantomimes, in the UK and then in Europe and soon became a leading dancer and actress in burlesques on the London stage. In 1868, she introduced Victorian burlesque to America with her troupe, the "British Blondes", to great acclaim and notoriety. Her career began to decline in the 1890s, but she continued to perform into the early years of the 20th century.

From the Wikipedia article “Lydia Thompson”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Contemporaries

Facts from Wikidata (Q274725), CC0.