"Lord Callaghan [British Prime Minister 1976-79] once quoted a pop singer, but it was Marie Lloyd, who died in 1922. In any case, T.S.Eliot wrote an essay on her. This might be thought of as one of the first cases, before the 1960s, of an intellectual creative artist flattering mass taste, were it not for Eliot’s tone ("Among all of that small number of music-hall performers, whose names are familiar to what is called the lower class, Marie Lloyd had far the strongest hold on popular affection"). So Lord Callaghan cannot be accused of brandishing a name known to the youth of his time."

Frank Johnson writing in The Spectator (London) 17th February 2001

 

References

  • T.S. Eliot, "London Letter" in The Dial 73.6 (Dec 1922) 659-62 (Marie Lloyd's death).

"No other comedian succeeded so well in giving expression to the life of the music hall audience, raising it to a kind of art. It was, I think, this capacity for expressing the soul of the people that made Marie Lloyd unique". ( Selected Essays by T. S. Eliot, Faber and Faber, London, 1941)

            http://world.std.com/~raparker/exploring/books/london_letter_1922_12.html

 

  • Midge Gillies, "Marie Lloyd: The One and Only" published by Gollanz in 1999 at £20.
  • Paperback edition of Midge Gillies‘ book published by Orion in 2001 at £8.99
  • Extract from Arnold Bennett’s diary for January 10th 1910 is contained within a Family Photograph on this website. The reference to Marie Lloyd is interesting to historians, particularly unsentimental ones, for its social context. He was incorrect to refer to Marie as a Grandmother. She may have been 40 at the time, but she was never a grandmother. Her childless daughter died in 1967.