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316:, as Horace Wiggs, where his leading lady was his future wife, Winnie Melville. They married in 1923. She later joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a principal soprano. Oldham wrote, "The sheltered, almost student life of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company gave place to the hard glitter and luxury of the West End theatre – a world of restaurants, supper parties, and all the trappings that went with London theatrical life between the two wars". Other musicals in which Oldham starred included
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429:, Act II. This was a significant date for any G&S tenor. In New York, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society journal, "The Palace Peeper", marked the event by publishing an original ode to Frederic, in which Oldham was honoured as the archetype of the romantic Frederic. A member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in London from 1924, Oldham was elected vice-president of the society in 1947.
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Oldham continued singing, recording and acting through the 1940s, also appearing in several films. He concentrated on legitimate theatre in the 1950s, acting until the age of 70. He maintained a lifelong interest in
Gilbert and Sullivan, serving as an officer of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. He
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Oldham returned several times to D'Oyly Carte, appearing in the 1929–30 season and on tour in his old roles of Ralph, Frederic, Tolloller, Hilarion, Nanki-Poo, Fairfax, and Marco. In the 1934–35 season, he played these roles on the company's first major
American tour in the 20th century. In 1936,
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said that he "has an exceptionally charming tenor voice, uses it with fine art, and acts with engaging simplicity and sincerity." Later that year, at the
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were excused by the company for one night to sing a program of classical and popular favorites, including "Prithee, pretty maiden" from
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and working as a bank clerk, Oldham began a professional performing career in 1914. With the outbreak of World War I, he joined the
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singer and lecture-recitalist and later as a character actor in non-musical plays. His last role in London was Dr. Stoner in the
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for gallantry in
Macedonia in 1918. During the war, he formed a concert group to entertain his fellow servicemen, also producing
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340:, he as François Villon, and she as Katherine de Vaucelles. They separated in 1933 and later divorced, and she died in 1937.
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the following month, when the company opened its first London season in over a decade. He immediately assumed the leading
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Oldham left the D'Oyly Carte company in 1922 to star in a great number of musicals and operettas during the 1920s at the
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558:(1927 and 1931). He also made numerous recordings of songs, musicals and operettas.
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Theatre pictorial collection; lists several of Oldham's operetta and musicals roles
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Stephens. He had an elder brother, George, and a sister. As a child, Oldham was a
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In 1940, on 29 February, the character
Frederic came of age, as described in
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operas for three years. He then starred in musicals and operettas in the
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at Drury Lane, as
Captain Anthony Darrell (1931). He appeared at the
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He also appeared in several films between 1934 and 1957, including
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422:(1958). Between 1934 and 1957, he also appeared in several films.
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He debuted on the professional adult stage in 1914, as Julien in
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in demand for over five years in oratorios (including
Sullivan's
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Oldham played leading tenor roles in nineteen full and abridged
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Derek Oldham as
Frederic in the 1920 HMV acoustic recording of
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The D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas
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D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company, 1875–1982: An Unofficial History
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Oldham later played in many musicals and plays, including
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During his last decade, Oldham lived in retirement in
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514:Savoy opera recordings, as follows: Defendant in
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528:(1920, 1929 and 1931), the Duke of Dunstable in
791:Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
222:Winnie Melville, later Oldham's wife, in 1920
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793:, 27 August 2001, accessed 21 December 2009
912:. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd.
802:The White House programme, 19 January 1937
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550:(1924 and 1931), Colonel Fairfax in
16:English singer and actor (1887–1968)
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554:(1920, 1928 and 1931) and Marco in
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898:. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd.
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573:(1935), as Jimmy O'Connell;
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921:. London: Bunthorne Books.
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300:Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
910:Who's Who in the Theatre
624:"Derek Oldham Remembers"
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328:(1923, as Camille), and
200:East Lancashire Regiment
72:in the 1920s, including
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725:The Manchester Guardian
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427:The Pirates of Penzance
282:The Pirates of Penzance
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812:List of roles 1930–39
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388:Later years
382:White House
249:, Cyril in
139:boy soprano
54:boy soprano
982:Categories
888:References
544:The Mikado
499:media help
444:Portsmouth
331:Rose-Marie
302:and other
258:The Mikado
161:pantomimes
131:Accrington
87:Rose-Marie
28:Rose-Marie
824:The Times
740:The Times
657:The Times
626:, at the
548:Ruddigore
378:Roosevelt
288:Ruddigore
102:Hampshire
45:with the
536:Iolanthe
531:Patience
402:Hiawatha
374:Patience
304:West End
246:Iolanthe
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