Description: Elsie Carlisle, "The Idol of the Radio," was a British dance band singer of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s known for her plaintive charm and risqué levity. Her dulcet delivery of popular song continues to attract new listeners.
I have been postponing writing about Elsie Carlisle’s 1923-1924 stay in America for eight and a half years now, nearly the entire time that I have been running this website. Originally, I hesitated to comment simply because I was not sure the trip had happened. Later, it became clear that she had spent a few months in the United States, but I could not confidently name a single thing that she did here. There were rumors that she had made the journey to conceal her having a third child.
I am now prepared to clear the matter up a little.
Carlisle’s personal life was admittedly marked by subterfuge. She spent nearly half a century married to Wilfred Malpas , and yet she liked to pose as a single woman, passing off her two sons as her brothers. It is perhaps natural that people researching her life and her family expect to find more examples of secrecy and potential scandal.
Maurice Elwin - "The Monarch of the Microphone." British dance band singer of the 1920s and 1930s.
Anne Lenner - British dance band singer of the 1930s and 1940s known for the charming elegance of her inimitable style.
Alexandros Kozák