Vesta Tilley

Tilley specialized in male impersonation, performing comic male characters — including soldiers, dandies, clergymen, and office workers — in meticulously tailored men's clothing. Her act parodied contemporary masculine stereotypes with affection and wit, making her one of the most popular and highest-paid performers of late Victorian and Edwardian music hall.

She was born Matilda Alice Powles and first appeared on stage as a child under the name "The Great Little Tilley." She reportedly adopted the name "Vesta" in her early teens after a brand of matches, and the name became inseparable from her celebrated male-impersonation persona.

During World War I, Tilley performed extensively for wounded soldiers in military hospitals and at charity concerts, often in her patriotic character Tommy in the Trenches. She also participated in recruitment drives, and her performances reportedly encouraged young men to enlist, earning her the popular nickname "Britain's Best Recruiting Sergeant."

Tilley gave her farewell performance at the Coliseum Theatre in London in 1920, retiring at the height of her popularity. Her husband, Walter de Frece, had been knighted for his own services to entertainment and was pursuing a career as a Member of Parliament, and continued stage performance by his wife would have been considered socially inappropriate in those circles.