A brief remembrance of musical hall performer Harry Fragson (Léon Philippe Pot, 1869-1913). Fragson's a slippery character -- both French and English, and yet not to be confused with Frakson, who was Spanish. "Fragson" is not actually a name. Born and raised in England to a pair of French hoteliers, he was initially nicknamed "Frog's son", before he teased that epithet into an invented professional surname. His father would ultimately be revenged upon him.
Like many a child of immigrants, Fragson spoke his parents' language nearly as well as his own. Having sung socially as a teenager, he went over to Paris when he turned 21. There, he began performing an act in cabarets, in which he would offer imitations of the stars of Montmartre. This led to his performing his own act, with his own material, singing original songs, accompanying himself on a baby grand piano. By the early years of the 20th century Fragson was a star of the Folies Bergere. Fame there led to him getting bookings back in the U.K., and thus he became a star of both countries, performing in both languages, a fairly unusual, but not unheard of, advantage. He had numerous popular songs in English music hall, the most successful of which was "Hello, Hello, Who's Your Lady Friend?". Yet he also appeared in the French film L'entente cordiale (1912) with Max Linder, and was married for a time to Parisian star Alice Delysia.
Fragson's success was to prove short lived. At the age of 44 he entered his Paris apartments to discover his deranged father with a pistol at his temple. A conversation ensued; the father suspected that Fragson had stolen the affections of his mistress. (Now THAT is a French conflict). It escalated to a scuffle. In the end, Fragson was fatally wounded. It was New Year's Eve, December 31, 1913. What a crazy time to die! Eight months later both of his countries would be at war with Germany and her allies, and the entire world order would be flipped upside down. Millions would die. Fragson would miss all of it.
His father was committed to an asylum, where he died himself six weeks later.
Learn more about vaudeville and music hall in No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and for more on the silent film era, please read Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube,
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