Berry

Sir John Hare actor-manager to Willy Clarkson theatrical wigmaker and homosexual blackmailer. Autograph Letter Signed 'John Hare' giving instructions on a wig 'of great importance' required for an American tour.

ref. 22014 — On letterhead of 'Mr. John Hare's Autumn Provincial Tour 1900' Birmingham Liverpool Manchester. 15 September 1900. 2pp 12mo. In good condition lightly aged. The letter casts an interesting sidelight on the practicalities of the late-Victorian theatre. He begins by explaining that he is sending back a wig he made for him which was 'an admirable one in every way' and asking that he make him 'one like it for America & to bestow your best skill on it as it is of great importance to me'. He instructs him to 'make the wig a shade darker something of the color it is dyed behind & put a little natural white hair on the temples each side'. He urges him to be 'very careful that the waive is a natural one & not overdone it looks bad from the front see Mr in Julius Caesar'. He ends with the assumption that Clarkson will 'do your best for me'. James Morton in his 'Gangland Soho' 2012 alleges that Clarkson who has a blue plaque to his name at 41-43 Wardour Street was not only a repeated insurance fraudster but a notorious homosexual blackmailer after whom the public lavatory in Dansey Place was named 'Clarkson's Cottage'. On letterhead of 'Mr. John Hare's Autumn Provincial Tour, 1900' (Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester). 15 September 1900. unknown