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  Royal
Variety Performances |
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The Royal Variety Performances were annually televised charity
events which had their fair share of chart talent on view.
The first RVP (then known as the Royal Command Performance)
took place on 1st July 1912 at the Palace Theatre in London’s
West End. King George V and Queen Mary attended. It
was stopped during the First World War but became an annual
event in 1921. The Royal Variety Performance provides most
of the funding for Brinsworth
House, a home for retired members of the entertainment
profession and their dependants.
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It has only been cancelled four times - for Royal mourning in 1936,
the Second World War, the 1956 Suez crisis and in 1959 when the Queen
was pregnant with Prince Andrew. When George VI was too ill to attend
the show in 1951, it was relayed to his sickbed in Buckingham Palace.
Although the Royal
Variety Performance had already been an annual event for 40 years,
it wasn't until 1960 that it was allowed to be televised. Theatre
owners were always worried that over-exposure would prevent people
from going to see variety live. Soon to become the main television
event to be associated with Bernard Delfont, the first televised 'Royal
Variety Show' was held on May 16th 1960 and transmitted on Sunday
22nd May across the entire ITV network. It was held in the presence
of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The
Duke Of Edinburgh,
topping the television ratings with over 8 million viewers.
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The May 16th 1960 show was held at The Victoria Palace, London,
and produced for ATV television by Bill
Ward.
tx May 22nd 1960
The full performance cast of the first televised show was:
The
John Barry Seven, Al Burnett, Sheila Buxton, Max Bygraves,
Pearl Carr, Ronnie Carroll, Alma Cogan, Nat 'King' Cole, Russ
Conway, The Crazy Gang, Billy Cotton and his Band, The Croft
Twins, Sammy Davis Jr., Dickie Dawson, Lonnie Donegan, Diana
Dors, Charlie Drake, Shirley Eaton, Jimmy Edwards, Ivor Emmanuel,
Adam Faith, The Fol De Rols, Bruce Forsyth, Hughie Green,
Benny Hill, Ronnie Hilton, Sheila Holt & Tom Gilles, Robert
Horton, Frankie Howerd, Hattie Jacques, Bryan Johnson, Teddy
Johnson, Kazbec & Lari, The Ken-Tones, Liberace, Dennis
Lotis, Vera Lynn, The Lynton Boys, Alfred Marks, Millicent
Martin, Glen Mason, Gary Miller, Bob Monkhouse, Jackie Rae,
Joan Regan, Sonia Rees, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Marion
Ryan, Janette Scott, Anne Shelton, The Silhouettes, The Tiller
Girls, Dickie Valentine, The Vernons Girls, The Welsh Children's
Choir, Norman Wisdom, Harry Worth and Yana
After 1961
television transmission was shared alternately between BBC
and ITV
Pop chart headliners appearing in subsequent years included:
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tx November 12th 1961
Acker
Bilk, Kenny Ball, The Temperance Seven, Shirley Bassey
Nina and Frederik, Frankie Vaughan
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tx November 4th 1962
Frank
Ifield, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Andy Stewart
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tx November 10th 1963
The Beatles, Susan Maughan,
Los Paraguayos, Tommy Steele, Pinky and Perky, Harry Secombe
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tx November 8th 1964
The
Bachelors, Cilla Black, Kathy Kirby, Brenda Lee, Millicent
Martin
Cliff Richard and The Shadows
David
Jacobs introduced the four top female stars of the time: Cilla,
Millicent, Brenda and Kathy
each making their entrance in a top of the range sports car
via the Palladium's revolving stage.
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tx November 14th 1965
Shirley
Bassey, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore, The Dave Clark Five
Tony Bennett, Johnny Halliday, The Kaye Sisters, Peter Paul
and Mary
Frank Ifield, Dusty Springfield
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1966
The
Bachelors, Matt Monro, Gene Pitney, Tommy Steele
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tx November 19th 1967
Vikki
Carr, Val Doonican, Rolf Harris, Tom Jones, Lulu, The Rockin'
Berries, Sandie Shaw
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1968
Petula
Clark, Sacha Distel, Val Doonican, Engelbert Humperdinck,
Diana Ross and The Supremes
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1969
Herb
Alpert, Moira Anderson, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Mireille Matthieu
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SixtiesCity 2008