| Ida Barr | |
| Birth Name: | Maud Barlow |
| Birth Date: | 17 January 1882 |
| Birth Place: | Regent's Park Barracks, London, England |
| Death Place: | London |
| Occupation: | Music hall singer |
| Known For: | "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (1910) "Everybody's Doing It" (1911) |
| Spouse: |
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Ida Barr (born Maud Barlow, 17 January 1882 – 17 December 1967) was an English music hall singer.
Barr was born at Regent's Park Barracks, London on 17 January 1882. Her father, William Barlow, is believed to have been a soldier, although Maud described him as a retired civil servant on her marriage certificate.[1] [2]
She made her stage debut in 1898 as a chorus girl at the Theatre Royal, Belfast.[3] Initially calling herself Maud Laverne, she first used the stage-name Ida Barr in 1908 at London's Bedford Theatre.[4]
Barr married comedian Samuel 'Gus' Harris[5] (billed as "the only Yiddisher Scotsman in the Irish Fusiliers"[6]), but the marriage failed within a few years,[7] with Maud soon sailing to New York.[8] Achieving some success in America, Barr returned to England a premier singer of ragtime songs, popularising in Britain the songs "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (Ayer & Brown; 1910) and "Everybody's Doing It" (Berlin; 1911).
She toured worldwide, earning good money, but was over-generous and failed to save. She became in her old age reliant on welfare benefits, living in a small flat off the Charing Cross Road in London. Writer and broadcaster Daniel Farson, a music hall enthusiast, took it upon himself to extend a helping hand, bringing Barr to a new (or nostalgic) audience on record and television. It was through Farson, too, that variety entertainer Danny La Rue arranged a benefit concert for Barr.[1]
Ida Barr died on 17 December 1967 in London.[1]
Barr's screen credits span the years 1936 to 1966.[9]