Gus Elen

Infobox Person
name = Gus Elen

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image_size = 150px
caption = "The Coster's Mansion", 1899 sheet music
birth_name = Ernest Augustus Elen
birth_date = birth date|1862|7|22|df=y
birth_place = East End of London
death_date = death date and age|1940|2|17|1862|7|22|df=y
death_place = Balham, London
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resting_place = Streatham Park Cemetery
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nationality = British
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known_for = "If it Wasn’t for the Houses in Between"
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occupation = Music hall comic singer
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Gus Elen (birth date|1862|7|22|mf=y – death date and age|1940|2|17|1862|7|22|mf=y [http://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&pg=PA351&lpg=PA351&dq=%22gus+elen%22&source=web&ots=5svEnNz8A-&sig=N1coxv6YYj5jafbpSFvtDhbaFLQ#PPA352,M1 "Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America" pp 351-2, Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald P. McNeilly (Routledge 2006)] ISBN 0415938538 accessed 22 Oct 2007] ) was a British music hall singer. He achieved success from 1891, performing cockney songs and sketches as a 'coster' comedian

Background

Gus Elen began his career busking, and found a position singing in a minstrel troupe. His solo success began with the coster songs, sung in 1891 at the Middlesex Music Hall [http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/music_hall_tour/music_hall_stars/elen.php "Music Hall stars: Gus Elen biography", at Theatre Museum (London)] accessed 22 Oct 2007] , when his comedy partner, a man named Daniels, died in a boating accident. They had performed a 'blackface' comedy act, but solo he performed cockney songs and sketches as a 'coster' comedian, dressed in the clothes of a poor East End costermonger, coming himself from a similar background. In an interview, given after he had become a star, he said,

Musical themes

Many of Elen's songs spoke of the living conditions of ordinary workers. Commenting on the overcrowded poor parts of London, in one of his songs, he takes on the persona of a proud tenant boasting about the dismal place he lives in, and in particular the view from his 'garden' ['Garden' was probably used ironically, as many Londoners of the era would be blessed with a small yard.] :

The appeal to his audience, many of whom would be poor, was both to laugh at the difficulties of working class life, and to celebrate one's capacity for survival. Elen's performance could so easily have been a caricature, but he performed the songs and patter in a realistic manner. One that endeared him to his audiences, nostalgic for a way of life that was disappearing.

There were many other coster performers, but throughout his career, Elen maintained a particularly friendly rivalry with Albert Chevalier.

Long retirement

Elen left the stage in 1914, for a long retirement fishing, although he was occasionally called back for single performances for film; and in 1935 for a "Royal Command Performance". He died death date and age|1940|2|17|1862|7|22|mf=y, in Balham, London. He is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery [ [http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Burials.htm "Music Hall burials" (Arthur Lloyd)] accessed 29 Oct 2007]

References

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*imdb name|id=1155109