Douglas Byng in drag during a pantomime. Photograph, 1952.

Douglas Byng in high glamour drag in the early fifties: he wears a white fur stole, has styled blonde hair and wears a long white dress, standing in front of an embossed leather screen. The English actor and cabaret performer Douglas Byng (1893-1987) was one of the great stars of the English variety stage. He appears here in 'Glamour Dame' drag, a genre which he was instrumental in developing in the 1920s. Before that, pantomime dames were grotesque parodies making no attempt at 'female impersonation'

Part of James Gardiner Collection: photograph album labelled ‘Drag’.

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Item Information:

Identifier: j67313988
Collection: James Gardiner 20th Century Drag Postcards
Institution: Wellcome Library
Date Issued: Jan. 1, 1952
Genre: Photographs
Prints
Topic(s): Female impersonators
Resource Type: Still Image
Analog Format: 1 photograph : photoprint ;
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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