Walter James MacQueen-Pope (11 April 1888 – 27 June 1960), known familiarly as Popie, was an English theatre historian and publicist. From a theatrical family which could be traced back to contemporaries of Shakespeare,[1] he was in management for the first part of his career, but switched to publicity, in which field he became well-known. He was a prolific writer of books about the theatre, and in particular its more glamorous aspects.[2] He also described himself as an "authority on pantomime".[3]
Beginning in 1955, MacQueen-Pope gave a series of fifteen-minute talks about the theatre on BBC television, in a show called "Popie".[4]
- ^ The Guardian Obituary notice, 28 June 1960, p. 7: "An ancestor ran the bear garden in Bankside in 1585, while another, Thomas Pope, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was leading comedian in Burbage's company."
- ^ The Times Obituary notice, 28 June 1960, p. 15
- ^ "Macqueen-Pope, Walter James" Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 12 June 2009.
- ^ Radio Times, Volume 130 (G. Newnes, 1956), pp. 18, 21