Elizabeth Maud Edwards (1906-1991), known throughout her career as Maudie Edwards, was born in Neath, Wales . A popular principal boy in pantomime, she was a versatile comedy performer with a career spanning theatre, radio, television and film. She first performed at the age of 4 with her father and older sister, May, in a show entitled ' Ned Edwards and His Two Little Queenies ' at Vints Palace Theatre, Neath . She later established her own repertory company, the Maudie Edwards Players, based at the Palace Theatre, Swansea .
Known as 'the voice of Wales', she became a popular radio personality on programmes including " Welsh Rarebit ", " Variety Bandbox " and " Worker's Playtime ". Her performances were often in the music hall style, making use of her talent for regional dialects and her singing voice. As well as performing material written and adapted for her by writers such as Lew Jacobson, she also wrote some of her own material, most notably the words and music for the song " Barmitzwah Boy ". Her skill for entertaining was made use of during the Second World War, when she was employed by the Entertainments National Service Association ( E.N.S.A. ) to entertain the troops.
She made her film debut in " Flying Doctors " in 1936, and appeared in several films after this such as " The Shipbuilders " (1943) and " Girdle of Gold " (1952). In the 1940s she also provided a singing voice for film stars such as Margaret Lockwood in " I'll Be Your Sweetheart " (1945) and Diana Dors in " Diamond City " (1949). Her popularity was demonstrated by her appearance with Frank Sinatra at the London Palladium in 1950.
In 1960 she appeared as the character Elsie Lappin in the first two episodes of long-running television soap opera," Coronation Street ", speaking the first words in the show's history. It was after the release of the films " Under Milk Wood " and " Burke & Hare " in 1972 that she retired to Putney, London, where she lived until her death in 1991.
From the guide to the Maudie Edwards Archive, 1906-1991, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)
