1917: the Penders came to Bristol, and Grant tried to join them in Norwich. [1]

The Pender Troupe performed at the Empire Theatre in Bristol in July  on their Getting Ready for Pantomime tour. Grant might have first encountered the troupe during this time. A 1917 newspaper cutting confirms that on 14 July 1917 they were at the Empire in Bristol. A short while after, Grant left his home and caught a train in the middle of the night to Norwich to join them, having forged a letter from his father. He was taken on, but had to go back to school about two weeks later when his father found him.

May 1918: joined the Penders

As soon as he became 14 and was legally allowed to leave school,  Grant (re)joined the Pender Troupe under a proper contract, agreed with his father and Bob Pender.

Pender Troupe appearing in the Harlequinade at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the first decade of the 20th century. Will Compo ( Power) is the sergeant, the nurse is Maggie Lomas. Bob Pender is the clown. Photo courtesy of Rosie Jones and the Manders & Mitchinson Collection Pender Troupe; Simpson and Simpson website.

 

“I had just turned fourteen, the legal age at which a boy could work in the world, and I was the boy who was eager to work in it. Three days later, I was back with the Pender troupe; and within three months, we were playing that very same Empire Theatre in my hometown by which time I was actually appearing in the act.”​ (Grant and Hyams, 1963).

July 1918: performed with the Penders in Empire Theatre, Bristol

His father attended the performance:

“Father enjoyed a glad reunion and a drink as well with Bob Pender, and after the evening’s last performance, we walked home together in the quiet summer darkness of the Bristol streets. We hardly spoke, but I felt so proud of his pleasure and so much pleasure in his pride.”​ (Grant and Hyams, 1963).

1919–1920 pantomime season.

The troupe split into two groups. Grant wasn’t in “The Giants” which came to Bristol, but the other group which toured the lesser theatres with “After The Show”.

Grant described himself as “walking the next-to-highest stilts in a graduated line of other stilt walkers, with my head inside a huge papier mâché mask on which sat a large, white, limp lady’s bonnet with a frill around it, and my elongated body and long legs encased in a great calico dress that had frilled collar and cuffs to match the hat”, which suggests he is the second from the left in the photo on the right.

The whole troupe on stage, probably in Liverpool. Olive Hart (nee Watts) presenting, John Henry Hart on tallest stilts. Photo courtesy of Victor Watts; Simpson and Simpson website.

 

 

July 1920: went with the Pender troupe to tour the US

They performed at the Hippodrome in New York; this included the musical Good Times, in which Grant was a stiltwalker.   

 

1921-2: toured with the Penders alongside the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey

This included performances in Boston, Syracuse, Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, and Detroit. On his 18th birthday (18 January)  Cary Grant was bedridden with rheumatic fever in Rochester, New York; the Penders had to move on to the next city without him.

 

1922-24: continued to tour with the Penders

This included another musical at the New York Hippodrome,  Better Times.

 

1924+ moved away from acrobatic work

The Pender troupe returned to the UK.  Grant stayed in New York and did a series of jobs including stilt-walking on Coney Island. He then moved into mainly vaudeville and comic acting, based at the New York Vaudeville Arts Club.

 

Pender Troupe with Archie Leach in the centre, with the bow tie.

References

Glancy, M. 2020. Cary Grant, the Making of a Hollywood Legend. New York, 2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Oct. 2020. Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190053130.001.0001

Grant, C. and Hyams, J. 1963. Cary Grant, by Archie Leach. Ladies’ Home Journal.  https://www.keikari.com/english/cary-grants-autobiography-archie-leach/

Palmer, E. 2023.  Southend’s Bob Pender launched Cary Grant’s career. Basildon, Canvey and Southend Echo. https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/23250360.southends-bob-pender-launched-cary-grants-career/

Simpson, D. and Simpson, R. (n.d.) The Penders. https://quarlton.co.uk/the-penders-2/

Simpson, D. and Simpson, R. (n.d.) Doris Pender’s autograph book. https://quarlton.co.uk/doris-penders-autograph-book-2/

Gifford, D. (2000). The Travelling Stiltwalkers. British Film Catalogue , vol. 1. Fitzroy Dearborn, London.

 

Videos

The 1922 film “Peeps at the Panto: Jack and the Beanstalk” features the Pender Troupe at the 1:12 mark. This silent film, shot at London’s Hippodrome, showcases the troupe’s unique stilt-walking performance within the context of a pantomime production. The film also features other notable performers like Clarice Mayne, George Robey, and Madge Saunders. All costumes designed by Dolly Tree. Produced by Julian Wylie. Courtesy of Pathe.

These films are British, so the Pender troupe perhaps sent only one of its two groups to the US, while the other stayed to tour the UK.

Two Lost Films Featuring the Pender Troupe

Two early films featuring the Pender Troupe, unfortunately, remain lost (Gifford, 2000):

  • Hands Up! or, Captured by Highwaymen (1904): A comedic film depicting highwaymen on hobby horses attacking a stagecoach.
  • The Travelling Stiltwalkers (1910): A dramatic film showcasing the troupe’s stilt-walking skills as they rescue a child from a burning building.

Both films were directed by Alf Collins and produced by the Gaumont Company. These lost films offer tantalizing glimpses into the early career of the Pender Troupe, including a young Cary Grant, and their unique brand of physical comedy.

[1] Unless otherwise referenced, this information is based on Glancy (2020).

 

Jo Weeks

November 2024