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Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Lindsay Kemble Lindsay Kemble i(7343095 works by) (a.k.a. Victor Kemble; Lindsay David Kemble ; Ray Kemble)
Born: Established: 1895 Burra, Burra - Eudunda area, Mid North South Australia, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: 1976
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Female impersonator, dancer, singer.

Lindsay Kemble achieved nationwide fame after he was arrested in Adelaide in January 1915 dressed as a woman. His celebrity status led to the making of a short comedy film based on his escapades during the two months he posed as a young French woman and turned him into an overnight headline vaudeville act. After enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces (A.I.F.) in 1916 he served briefly with the 3rd Battalion before joining the 1st Divisional Concert Party (aka Sentimental Blokes). Kemble toured Australia and New Zealand as a female impersonator for much of the 1920s with troupes such as the All Diggers Co, Con Moreni’s Ideals and the Smart Set Diggers, and was a Sydney-based actor in the 1930s.

Kemble is recorded as having lived in Nambour, Queensland in 1939, and reportedly worked as a barman in Mackay, Queensland, after World War II. In 1950 he was employed as a steward at the Atherton Returned Services Club (RSL), Queensland.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Kemble was born in the village of Kooringa, South Australia. By the time of his Adelaide escapades Kooringa had been absorbed into the town of Burra (as South Burra).

  • Kemble enlisted in the A.I.F. in September 1916 under the name Victor Kemble. He gave his occupation as vaudeville artist.

  • With Con Moroni's Ideals he was known as Ray Kemble.

Last amended 12 Apr 2018 07:58:48
See Also
All Diggers Company
Smart Set Diggers
The Sentimental Blokes
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