Biography: Harry (Henry) Lowe (1923-1972)

Harry Lowe was born Henry Lowe on March 10, 1923 in Halifax, England. Harry's parents, Jim and Isabel (nee Pickles) Lowe, made the decision to emigrate to Canada and applied to be settlers. They arrived with their four children, Eileen, James Edward, Vincent and Henry, in 1928, and were sent to work on a farm in Alberta. A year later, they were granted a plot of land near Dawson Creek, British Columbia. (For more information about Harry's parents and siblings, please read other posts under Lowe Biographies and Lowe Military.)

Eileen, James Edward, Vincent and Harry in the 1920s before they left England for Canada.

Over the next few years, the family built a cabin and worked the land. A family story tells that there was little to do on the farm during the harsh winters, but that the children acquired a guitar. They taught themselves to play it and learned to sing. Music kept them and their parents entertained on long winter nights.

The Lowe children in Dawson Creek in the late 1920s.

At the end of the mandatory five years required for settlers, the homestead belonged to the family outright, and Jim and Belle sold up and moved to Vancouver.

In Vancouver, Jim Sr. and all three of his sons joined the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifle brigade. Between the wars, the regiment acted as both reserves and cadets. Jim had served in the army during WWI and his father and grandfather had both been military men. He obviously wanted to pass this tradition on to his sons.

James Alfred (Jim Sr.), Henry (Harry), Vincent and James Edward (Jim Jr.) in the mid-1930s.

Isabel continued to encourage her children’s musical interests in Vancouver, and the boys joined the regimental band. She couldn’t afford to purchase instruments for the boys all at once, so she paid for them in instalments.

Vincent, Jim Jr. and Harry in the mid-1930s

Jim Sr., had a small tailoring shop at the start of the war but closed it to join the army. However, he was let go a few months later as unfit due to being gassed in World War I. When Jim Jr. finished school, he enlisted in the navy and was sent to Victoria. Then in July 1940, Vincent too signed up to for war service, choosing to continue in the Duke of Connaughts’ British Columbia regiment.

Harry, who was 17, tried to follow his dad and brothers to fight in the war but was too young to be accepted. He then ran away from home and travelled to the USA, although no one is exactly sure why. He took jobs along the way and told a story about working as a pest exterminator, miserably digging out termite infestations in the California heat.

We don’t know exactly when, but at some point during the 1940s, Harry landed in show business. At that time, restaurants offered performances by bands, singers and other acts to entertain diners. The story is that Harry found a job as a busboy or dishwasher and became fascinated by the entertainers. He would go to work early to watch rehearsals and eventually convinced someone to let him perform. He could already play guitar and wind instruments, but he also learned to tap dance. Since little is known about this time of his life, we can only guess when this all happened. And it's not known even known where it happened, but he returned to Canada in 1944.

A border crossing record shows Harry returning north into Canada on September 7, 1944. Harry’s year of birth was shown as 1920, three years earlier than his actual birth year. Harry would have been 21 then, so he was not too young to travel alone. However, he may have been worried that someone might determine he’d gone to the USA when he was under 21 and this could have caused problems. He also showed that he had only been in the USA for one month. It is believed that he had gone in 1940.

Following is a photograph of Harry (at the very back right) with a group of family members & friends at the Palomar Supper Club in Vancouver (circa 1946).

The first appearance found of Harry in the entertainment section of a newspaper was in Victoria’s Times-Colonist in April 1947. The notice describes a vaudeville performance featuring “Harry Lowe, Canada’s Foremost Tap Dancer,” at the York Theatre in Victoria.

By 1948, Harry had teamed up with another tap dancer named Roly Hall, shown with Harry in the photo below. Their act was called “Lowe & Hall, Tempos in Taps,” and they were often referred to as precision tap dancers.

Through 1948 and 1949, Lowe & Hall performed in night clubs throughout the Vancouver area including The Cave, Mandarin Gardens, Narrows, State and Palomar, as well as the Sirocco in Victoria. They also did shows for veterans and patients in hospitals.

     

   .   

         

 .    

Lowe & Hall went on the road in 1950. Notices appeared in the Billings Montana Gazette showing the duo performing in a three-act show.

In 1951, Lowe & Hall were back in Vancouver, but Harry also began to be billed on his own, without his dancing partner Roly Hall. As far as anyone knows, there was no falling out or ‘break up’ of the partnership. It’s possible that Roly simply needed a rest from performing. The first notice found of Harry alone was from July 1951 at the Mandarin Gardens and his act was called “Tops in Taps.” 

  .           

This is also the time when a young Vancouver singer named Mimi Hines began to appear in the same shows as Harry. She and Harry started dating and became an ‘item’ in Vancouver’s showbiz world. In 1952, Mimi met comedian and musician Phil Ford, and the two married in 1954. Mimi went on to star in Broadway plays and toured the world for a year in the title role of Hello, Dolly! She appeared on Ed Sullivan, the Tonight Show and many other TV programmes. Mimi was 86 at the time of writing this and her last public performances were in the play Nunsense (2002) and The Follies (2007).

Harry continued performing on his own and with Roly Hall in 1952. When Harry was performing on his own, he sang, danced and told jokes — often acting as the master of ceremonies (MC) for whatever show he was in. The MC was the ‘face' of the club and was usually the only performer who had direct interaction with the audience. Harry apparently excelled in this role.

During that period, a column called “After Dark” written by Jack Wasserman was appearing in the Vancouver Sun, and Harry was mentioned several times. Wasserman wrote a review of the Palomar show starring Liberty Helinihi that included a comment about Lowe & Hall, "Precision tappers Harry Lowe & Roly Hall are back again, although Hall appears in sports clothes because someone stole his tuxedo." Wasserman also wrote about a show featuring Carmen Miranda, who was a huge star at the time. Lowe & Hall opened for her at Palomar.

       

That same year, Harry met a girl named Jean McDonald. Jean had grown up on a farm in Surrey but had moved to Vancouver and was working at Macmillan Bloedel. One of Jean’s friends was seeing a man who was a friend of Harry’s. The two girls accompanied the friend to the Mandarin Gardens where Harry was dancing. Jean and Harry were introduced and began seeing each other.

A group photo taken at the Mandarin Gardens club in 1951 during the time Harry was performing there. Harry is on the far right with a drink in his hand.

Harry and Jean eloped to Alberta in 1952. They lived in both Calgary and Banff where Harry worked as a waiter and as an MC in nightclubs. Jean gave birth to the couple’s first child in Calgary in 1953, and they returned to Vancouver later that year. Harry worked as both waiter and MC. In 1954, he and Jean had their second child.

Jean and Harry in Banff in 1953.

In December of 1954 Harry performed in a benefit concert, but no other notices were found for Harry that year or in 1955.

Harry reunited with his former dance partner Roly Hall for a series of shows at the Mandarin Gardens in September 1956. Harry may have been working as the manager of the Mandarin Gardens at the time and asked Roly to come back for a short engagement.

Harry retired from show business after that except for performing in the occasional charity event and at private functions. He worked in restaurants, nightclubs and Canadian Legions as a bartender and manager over the next few years. Some of his employers were the Waldorf, Villa, New Fountain, Drake and St Regis hotels.

Throughout his career, Harry had performed in the same shows as many important entertainers of the day including Cab Calloway, Carmen Miranda, and the Will Mastin Trio starring Sammy Davis Jr. 

Tragically, Harry died after a car accident in 1972. He was only 49 years old.

Jean and Harry circa 1970.

Click on an image to view a larger version.

If you are a family member and would like more information, please use the contact form as I have much more than what appears here. And if you have photographs, anecdotes or memorabilia that could contribute to this story, I would love to see them.