Prince Littler CBE

Prince Frank Richeux was born in Ramsgate, Kent on the 25th of July 1901. He was the eldest son of Jules Richeux, a cigar importer and his wife Agnes. Mr Richeux became a theatrical proprietor when he leased the Victoria Pavilion Theatre in Ramsgate in 1906. In 1909 Agnes Richeux was granted by the government the first licence to stage professional productions at the Royal Artillery Theatre in Woolwich London. The theatre had been built to entertain the troops at the barracks there and had already featured many talented soldiers performing in regimental shows. Mr Richeux died in 1911 and in 1914 his widow Agnes married the theatre’s manager Frank Rolison Littler. Mr Littler then adopted the five Richeux children and they all took his surname. During the First World War the munitions factories at Woolwich docks were constantly under attack from German air raids. In 1918, Agnes and her husband Frank were both injured in the foyer of the Artillery Theatre when a German bomb exploded in the street outside.

Prince with his brother Emil and sister Blanche, followed their father and stepfather into theatre management and became managers at the Royal Artillery Theatre. In 1927 Blanche and Prince set up the two touring theatre companies Blanche Littler Productions and Prince Littler Theatres and Tours Ltd. Prince Littler joined the board of the New Theatre, Cambridge, as its managing director in 1931. He then became a theatre proprietor himself when he purchased the Opera House in Leicester. The Littlers revolutionised the traditional pantomime by, for the first time, casting established film, radio and musical comedy stars in their shows. In 1935, Prince and Blanche worked together on shows that ran simultaneously in London’s West End theatres. ‘Cinderella’ was staged at the Coliseum and ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ at the Drury Lane Theatre.

By the late 1930s, Prince Littler managed the business side of the companies he owned, while Emile and Blanche concentrated on the production of the shows. The Littlers had by then established control of fifty percent of the West End’s theatres and also owned regional theatres and invested in touring companies. In 1942, during the Second World War, Prince was appointed chairman and managing director of Stoll Theatres Corporation Ltd and Associated Theatre Properties (London) Ltd. In 1947 he became chairman of Moss Empires Ltd and director of Howard and Wyndham Ltd. He also became a majority shareholder in Associated Television at the beginning of the TV age. His West End shows were Glamorous Night, which opened in 1936, Brigadoon performed in 1950, Carousel in 1951, Guys and Dolls in 1953 and the CanCan in 1954.

Prince Littler was awarded the Commander of the British Empire in 1957 for his charity work. He was vice president of the Variety Artists’ Benevolent fund and president of the Denville Home For Aged Actors and Actresses. He was a member of the council of the Theatrical Managers’ Association and