My Life in Showbiz

Molesey based Jan Hunt has been entertaining for 60 years, from starring in panto and TVs Crackerjack to reviving her love of old-time music hall.

From the moment she stepped on stage at the age of twelve Jan was hooked. It was her first professional performance with the Graham and Nelson Juveniles. “We did everything from singing and dancing to acrobatics.” she says.

Since then, Jan has appeared in numerous West End and TV shows, cabaret, and over 40 pantomimes. “I often worked alongside Eric Sykes in pantos and learned so much from him.” she says “His comic timing was perfect.”

Jan’s relationship with comedy has been reflected in much of her career. In the mid-sixties she became part of the very glamorous comedy vocal duo Jan and Kelly before hitting the West End stage in the farce Come Spy With Me, taking over from Barbara Windsor, with whom she was often compared. This was followed by a long run in Show Boat alongside Dame Cleo Lane.

“I had such a fabulous time then’ Jan says ‘I even bought a snazzy white Ford Capri”.

Around this time she auditioned for TVs Crackerjack. “Because I was an all-rounder in comedy, song and dance I was offered the job on the spot” Jan says. And for the next nine years she was the Crackerjack girl, co-presenting the show with Don MacLean, Peter Glaze and Ed ’Stewpot’ Stewart. ‘Such a fabulous time’ she says.

It was in the early seventies that Jan first saw The Good Old Days Victorian music hall show on TV which prompted her to join the Players Theatre, the synonymous home of music hall, whose performers were regularly cast in the TV show.

Jan appeared many times on this show portraying Marie Lloyd, the Victorian singing star named affectionately as ‘The queen of the ‘alls. and often playing ‘the spoons’, a ‘musical talent’ Jan learned from her Auntie Tots when she was just a toddler – ‘It’s still my music hall speciality today’ she says.

Jan’s love of Victorian Music Hall was shared with her actor/director friend Dudley Stephens who, back in 1989, formed her very successful Paper Moon Theatre Company. They staged her Magnificent Music Hall show around, Europe, Canada the USA and also here at home including at The City of Varieties, Leeds (the spiritual home of Music Hall) where Jan continues to present her shows. And for one night only you can see her show at the River House Barn Theatre on 11th July at 7.30 pm.

“Playing the spoons is still my music hall speciality today”

At the age of 87 Jan appears in most of her Music Hall productions, often donning her white wig and specs to play her trademark aging bridesmaid, or spoon-playing Salvation Army characters. It was for her dedication to music hall and ‘50 years of spooning’ that she received a Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2023, from the British Music Hall Society. ‘It was a lovely moment’ she recalls almost as thrilling as her recent charity jaunts on top of a plane ‘wing-walking’ and abseiling down the Portsmouth Spinnaker ‘Not bad for an octogenarian’ she says.

Janet Donin