ALICE (ALICE LAPIZE) DELYSIA - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: HARRY ROY - HFSID 146783

ALICE DELYSIA & HARRY ROY
The French actress and British dance band leader sign opposite sides of a 5x3¾ album leaf.
Signatures: "Alice Delysia" and on verso "Harry Roy", 5x3¾ album leaf. ALICE DELYSIA was the stage name of French actress and singer Alice Lapize (1889-1979), who appeared in chorus lines from age 14 and found success on English music hall and theater stages. Impresario C. B. Cochran, shown on the letterhead here, promoted her to a starring role in Odds and Ends (1914). (London censors demanded changes in Delysia's "startling disrobing act" in one skit.) Cochran's As You Were, had her appearing as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Elizabeth I and Lucifer (the latter role evoking another intervention by the censors due to her "negligible" dress. Her starring role in Afgar (1919-1921) included a successful US tour. On with the Dance, featured here, established Noel Coward as a major entertainer, with Delysia singing his first hit song, "Poor Little Rich Girl." Delysia earned medals from the British and French governments for her performances for Allied troops during World War II. She married a Free French officer and retired from the stage. British dance band leader HARRY ROY (1900-1971) was born in Stamford Hill, England. As a young clarinet player and saxophonist he formed a band with his brother called, The Darnswells, and spent three years playing at the Café de Paris in London. His 1931 hit "My Girl's Pussy" has been remade and covered numerous times. Roy appeared in two films Everything is Rhythm (1936) and Rhythm Racketeer (1937). He later performed and toured with his own band Harry Roy's Tiger Ragamuffins. Lightly creased. Lightly worn. Ink notes (unknown hand) dating signatures. Otherwise, fine condition.