Florence Desmond
Desmond inThree Came Home (1950)
Born	Florence Dawson (1905-05-31)31 May 1905 London, England
Died	16 January 1993(1993-01-16) (aged 87) Guildford, England
Occupations	Actress comedian impersonator
Years active	1930–1969
Spouses	Tom Campbell Black ​ ​ (m. 1935; died 1936)​ Charles Hughesdon ​ ​ (m. 1937)​

Florence Dawson (31 May 1905 – 16 January 1993), better known by herstage nameFlorence Desmond, was an English actress,comedian andimpersonator.

Born inLondon in 1905, Desmond was educated at theDame Alice Owen's School inIslington. Her brother, Fred Desmond, was a comedy acrobat from the "Desmond and Marks" double act.^{[citation needed]}

She began her stage career at the age of ten. Upon leaving school in 1920, she embarked on a long and successful career in thetheatre, making her first public appearance performing comedy in the style ofNellie Wallace. She was employed in 1925 by the impresarioC. B. Cochran, and appeared in several revues. In 1928, she toured the U.S. and Canada withNoël Coward andBeatrice Lillie, inThis Year of Grace.^[1]

After returning to London, she developed an act which included both songs and impersonations of famous stars, and became popular for her theatre and cabaret appearances. She also began appearing in many popularBritish films of the 1930s. In 1933, she appeared onBBC radio in a broadcast in which she impersonated, among others,Janet Gaynor,Greta Garbo,Jimmy Durante,Gracie Fields, andMarlene Dietrich. She repeated the performance for release as a78 rpm record for theHis Master's Voice, "A Hollywood Party", which became a best-seller. After another tour of the U.S., she returned to top the bill in London, adding an impersonation ofMae West to her repertoire, and featured in the 1937Royal Variety Performance.^[1]

She continued to tour in revues, and in 1941 starred withMax Miller andVera Lynn inApple Sauce, a revue which ran for over 400 performances at theLondon Palladium. She continued to perform regularly at the Palladium after the end of the Second World War, and in 1951 made her second and final appearance in a Royal Variety Performance. After retiring in 1954, she made a comeback in 1958 to appear withBeatrice Lillie in the playAuntie Mame in London.^[1] She was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 1959 when she was surprised byEamonn Andrews at London's Adelphi Theatre.

Her recording of the risqué song "The Deepest Shelter in Town" has been featured in multiple World War II music compilations.

She was married twice, first to the aviatorTom Campbell Black from 1935–1936 and, after Black's death, to aviator and insurance brokerCharles Hughesdon from 1937 with whom she lived atDunsborough Park inRipley, Surrey.^[2][3]

She died inGuildford,Surrey, in 1993, aged 87. A ward was named after her at St. Luke's Hospital, as well as a day unit at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.^{[citation needed]}

• Still Dancing, 1925–1926
• This Year of Grace, 1928
• Why Not To-night?, 1933–1934
• Streamline, 1934
• Funny Side Up, 1939–1940
• Apple Sauce, 1940–1941
• If the Shoe Fits, 1946
• Under the Counter, 1947

• "Florence Desmond", by Florence Desmond, London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd, 1953.https://books.google.com/books?id=QJgrMQAACAAJ&q=%22Florence+Desmond+By+Herself%22+Harrap

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFlorence Desmond.

• Florence Desmond atIMDb
• Photographs and literature

• 1905 births
• 1993 deaths
• Actresses from London
• Actresses from Guildford
• English women comedians
• English film actresses
• English radio actresses
• English stage actresses
• Actors educated at Dame Alice Owen's School
• 20th-century English actresses
• 20th-century English comedians
• Comedians from London
• Comedians from Surrey

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata