Biography
Nelson Waite Keys came into the world on 7 April 1886 in London, England, and left it there on 26 April 1939. Early notice arrived with his work in The Arcadians (1909), a production that completed 809 performances and included Phyllis Dare, Florence Smithson and Harry Welchman; Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot supplied the score while Arthur Wimperis wrote the lyrics. Keys next joined Smithson, Cicely Courtneidge and Welchman for The Mousmé (1911). The following year the same trio of performers appeared together again in Princess Caprice. He took part in The Passing Show (1914), a Wimperis revue with music and lyrics by Herman Finck, and then in the 1916 revue Vanity Fair, whose book was by Wimperis and whose music came from Finck, Max Darewski, Shelton Brooks and Jerome Kern, with lyrics credited to Wimperis, Percy Greenbank and additional writers. In 1922 Keys performed in The Curate’s Egg at the Ambassadors Theatre. Four years later, in 1934, he joined C.B. Cochrane’s revue Streamline, which also featured Florence Desmond, Esmond Knight and Naunton Wayne; one section presented Perseverance, Vivian Ellis and A.P. Herbert’s Gilbert and Sullivan parody billed under the pseudonyms Turbot And Vulligan. Keys returned to the stage in the 1936 revue Spread It Abroad at the Saville Theatre, where Dorothy Dickson, Ivy St. Helier and Walter Crisham headed the cast and a minor part marked the first London appearance of Hermione Gingold. Among the sketches he performed were ‘Charge Of The Late Brigade’ and ‘News Reel’, the latter scripted by John Paddy Carstairs (b. 1910, d. 1970), one of Keys’ sons. Across the Atlantic he made several stage appearances, most prominently at the Times Square Theatre in Andre Charlot’s Revue Of 1924, sharing the bill with Beatrice Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence, Herbert Mundin, Jack Buchanan and Jessie Matthews, who made her Broadway debut in the production.
Keys entered silent films as early as 1916; one of his later roles came in Madame Pompadour (1927), directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish. During the mid-1920s Keys and Wilcox established the British and Dominion Film Corporation. His sound-era credits included Wake Up Famous and Knights For A Day, both released in 1937. Another son, Anthony Nelson Keys (b. 1913, d. 1985), followed a parallel path to success in the British film industry. Of more specialised interest, Keys supplied the narration for ‘The Stage’, the seventh entry in a set of twenty-five paper records issued by the Record Cigarette Company under the title The ‘Talkie’ Cigarette Card. In 2006 an uncirculated copy of that seventh record was listed online at $150.00.
Keys entered silent films as early as 1916; one of his later roles came in Madame Pompadour (1927), directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish. During the mid-1920s Keys and Wilcox established the British and Dominion Film Corporation. His sound-era credits included Wake Up Famous and Knights For A Day, both released in 1937. Another son, Anthony Nelson Keys (b. 1913, d. 1985), followed a parallel path to success in the British film industry. Of more specialised interest, Keys supplied the narration for ‘The Stage’, the seventh entry in a set of twenty-five paper records issued by the Record Cigarette Company under the title The ‘Talkie’ Cigarette Card. In 2006 an uncirculated copy of that seventh record was listed online at $150.00.