Tom Criddle

Published Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 11:00 by Patrick Newley

Actor Tom Criddle rose to fame in the early forties as the boy soprano Master Thomas Criddle after recording ten popular songs for HMV at its Abbey Road Studios.

He was one of the last surviving professional boy sopranos from an era when many boy actors and singers were in full-time theatrical employment from the age of 14. The demise of music hall and variety brought to an end the long and unique tradition of which Criddle played an important part.

Thomas Criddle was born in Edmonton, London on March 9, 1928. He began singing at an early age but came to fame at 14, after winning first prize in a talent competition at the Empire Cinema, Edmonton.

This was to be the beginning of a stage career as a boy soprano appearing in many cine-variety shows, singing between the newsreel and the main feature. He was paid £30 per performance and, after making records for HMV - with his manager and accompanist, Andrew Fenner, came to the attention of British Pathe Newsreel, which filmed one of his performances. He also appeared several times on the BBC’s Children’s Hour.

At the age of 15, after his fee had been raised from five to eight guineas per broadcast, he sang with Albert Sandler and his Orchestra in the radio programme Palm Court Hotel. Several more programme followed during 1945 and he was still singing soprano when he was called up for his National Service. He claimed that his voice had been eventually “finished off” at the age of 22 by a combination of gin and cigarettes.

Criddle returned to the microphone as an actor in 1953, appearing in small television and film roles, and was also a well known member of Donald Wolfit’s touring Shakespeare company.

Many of his recordings were recently featured on the CD album, The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos of the 20th Century.

He died on March 6, 2008, aged 79.