In an obit for the late John Inman, Wendy Richard called him a "brilliant pantomime dame." Is this a Marcel Marceau in drag or something else?

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it.

Yes the dame is part of the traditional British Pantomime show.
I don't know if they have such shows in the US.

I remember going to lots of them as a child in the UK. They are usually shown there around Christmas.
They are really cheesy stage shows, with lots of interaction from the audience.
There's always a dame, and the leading man is a woman.
There's usually a pantomime horse, and of course a villain who is always creeping up behind the hero, and then the kids in the audience have to shout to the hero, "He's behind you!"
Danny La Rue would be another actor that played pantomime dames.
Here's another link
Wow, just reading that link, and it says that Sir Ian McKellen played Widow Twankey in Aladdin in a recent production..makes sense I guess.

No wonder Karrow always speaks of the clever and inventive British wit.

Thanks a lot to you both.

quote:

Originally posted by DorianGreyed:
No wonder Karrow always speaks of the clever and inventive British wit.

And of course she would be right DG.