Dates

• Existence: c1910 - 1999

Biography

Larry Turnbull was born into a family of variety performers in c1910. His father was a theatre violinist, believed to have been working at one of the theatres in Newcastle-on-Tyne at the time Larry was born and his mother was part of the Five Gardeners musical act with her sisters.

Larry was mainly brought up by his mother at their home near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, possibly because of the itinerant nature of his father's job. When he was old enough, Larry joined the Five Gardeners as their drummer, but as it was an all-female act he had to dress as a girl.

The Five Gardeners worked extensively in Europe, travelling long distances by train during the 1920s. Larry's job on Monday mornings at each new theatre was to lay out their music in position for the musical director and the orchestra, so he had to be a good musician himself to know the parts and have them ready for rehearsal.

Later, possibly because the Five Gardeners act ended because his grandmother died, Larry took a job as a tour manager for one of the great illusionists of the time, Dante, who performed in the 1930s. The insight into the secrets of stage 'magic' he gained at this time meant that, in later life, he was consulted for his specialist knowledge by magician and TV producer John Fisher, and also by Paul Daniels.

After World War Two, Larry went to work for Bertram Mills' Circus, swiftly becoming foreman electrician. His fellow workers didn't know his life-long and family background in 'the business', but Cyril Mills did, and he would at times consult Larry on his opinion on artistes he was thinking of booking. Larry thought very highly of Cyril Mills, and kept in touch with him untill Cyril's death.

During his time with the Mills circus, Larry collected their posters and programmes, and so by the time the circus closed in 1968, he had an enormous collection. Part of the collection was given to John Fisher, former head of light entertainment at Thames Television and a keen magician and part of the collection was donated to the V&A Museum.

At a late stage in his working life with Bertram Mills' Circus, Larry fell from a ladder while working at the circus Winter Quarters in Ascot. He seriously damaged his spine in the fall, and suffered from the injury for the rest of his life. Typically, Larry was intensely loyal to Mills', and was full of praise for the two Mills brothers in their subsequent behaviour to him.

When Bertram Mills' Circus closed, Cyril Mills ensured that his loyal staff obtained jobs with other companies in the sector. Larry Turnbull became electrician at the Sophia Gardens Pavilion in Cardiff. He took lodgings with a Mr and Mrs Toozer in the Cathays district of the city, and stayed on after the husband's death, becoming companion to the warm-hearted and motherly Margaret who provided a caring home for him.

Larry never married or had children.