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Avril Angers 1918 - 2005
Her father was the comedian Harry Angers and her mother
was Lillian Errol, a member of the original Fol-de-Rols concert party.
Her career started in Variety with her first appearance at the Palace Theatre, Brighton
in a concert party. Later she followed her mother to become a Fol-de-Rol
During the Second World War she was in ENSA, touring parts of West Africa. She was
awarded the Africa Star for her work.
By 1944 she was broadcasting for the BBC radio service in Variety Bandbox followed by
the Carroll Levis radio show as the scatterbrained
secretary.
For many years she was a cartoon character in Radio Fun, in the comic strip
"The Adventures of Avril Angers".
In 1949 Avril was the leading Lady in the revue "The Gaities" in the Winter Garden Theatre.
One of the first stand-up comediennes she regularly appeared in cabaret.
1949 also saw her as one of the cast of the first ever British television comedy series,
"How Do You View?", often playing the character of the canteen server Rosie Lee -
'the girl with the tea'. Also starred Terry-Thomas.
In 1954, she was the first comedienne to be given her own show, "Dear Dotty",
in which she was a minor employee on a magazine, who endeavors to become a journalist only to end in a
series of comic misadventures.
Later, in 1959 she had a musical slot called "Look Back with Angers" on the radio show
Roundabout.
She worked with many top comedians including, Frankie Howerd, Max Wall, Arthur Askey, Benny Hill,
Les Dawson, Terry-Thomas, Victoria Wood, Peter Sellers, Dick Emery and Bob Monkhouse .
Her last West End appearance was in another Broadway musical, Crazy for You (1996),as Mother.
In 2000 she was on parade with many of the old soldiers whom she once entertained, marching
down Whitehall. The Royal British Legion decided to include civilian organisations that had
contributed to the war effort, including Ensa.
Her last public appearance was in October 2005 when she was a guest of honour at the Max
Wall Society in London.