Ross Hamilton, entertainer (1889 - 1965)

Source

Ross Hamilton

The Dumbells' female impersonator, Ross Hamilton, was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. He enlisted as a private with the Canadian Army during the First World War. He served as an ambulance driver, with the rank of private, in France, before being selected by Captain Mert Plunkett to join the Dumbells concert party as a soldier-entertainer.

Hamilton performed a highly believable female impersonation act at the first show in Guoy Servins, France, in the summer of 1917, creating the character "Marjorie", which became an audience favourite and which he continued to perform with the Dumbells' Canadian and American tours until 1932. Hamilton rejoined the Army Medical Corps in the Second World War and later continued as a professional entertainer, eventually retiring to Nova Scotia, where he died in September 1965.		Source
		Ross Hamilton as "Marjorie"

References

Braithwaite, Max. -- "The rise and fall of the Dumbells". -- Maclean's. -- (January 1, 1952). -- P. 20-21. -- AMICUS No. 88134

"The Dumbells". -- Encyclopedia of music in Canada. -- Edited by Helmut Kallmann et al. -- 2nd ed. -- Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c1992. -- xxxii, 1524 p. -- AMICUS No. 12048560

Dumbells

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