PERFORMERS at the iconic Windmill Theatre in London leave nothing to the imagination in this set of saucy snaps up for auction this week.
Despite the 1950’s reputation as fairly uptight and prudish, there were some risque performers out there if you knew where to look.
The Windmill Theatre opened in London’s notorious Soho in June 1931 as a small play-house. It’s first production bombed so owner Laura Henderson decided to use the theatre as a variety house with non-stop performances and nude ladies.
The 2005 film Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins is based on the fascinating story.
The theatre’s licence only allowed full nudity if the performers remained completely still, the motto was ‘if it moves, it’s rude’.
The nude living statues would appear on stage alongside more traditional performers like acrobats and dancers.
Along with the erotic performances, the stage also hosted comedians like Peter Sellers, Bruce Forsyth and Tony Hancock but it probably wasn’t them which caused the fights over the front row seats!
Men from across the world would travel to the central London theatre for the shows which made the theatre a success.
After Mrs Henderson’s death in 1944, the Windmill continued its performances under the direction of manager Vivian Van Damm and his daughter Sheila Van Damm until 1964.
As attitudes changes more hardcore strip clubs began appearing, the static-delights of the Windmill Theatre fell out of favour and it closed in 1964.
The building was used as a cinema for 30 years but returned to being a gentleman’s club in 1994, 30 years after it had closed it’s doors, and still operates as one today.
Cheers to the pioneering Mrs Henderson[/caption]
This fascinating set of photos belonged to a member of staff at the Windmill and then passed into the hands of a private collector.The are about to come up for auction at Duke’s auctioneers in Dorchester where they are expected to fetch £120.
Most Read in Living
Phil Traves, from the auction house, said: “The fantastic archive of photos from the Windmill Theatre provides a peek into a wilder side of the 1950’s than we are used to seeing.
“It is a world of glamour, youth and beauty, not words we normally associate with 1950’s Britain.
“It was post-war, the country was looking for distractions and these extravagant performances must have certainly provided some with those.”
The Windmill Theatre famously kept it’s doors open throughout the second world war with performers sometimes having to sleep in the building during the worst of the bombing raids.
