Viva Brighton Issue #84 February 2020

BITS AND BUSES
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ON THE BUSES #58: JANET BROWN ROUTE 1
Janet Brown was one of Brighton’s most famous impersonators. Born in
Rutherglen, near Glasgow in 1923, Janet performed in variety shows for
World War Two soldiers, including future stars Tony Hancock and Frankie
Howerd. She then went on to work for BBC Radio Scotland and married
Peter Butterworth, who would later star in Carry On films.
Although she started impersonating celebrities such as Jessie Matthews in
the 50s, her most famous character, Margaret Thatcher, first appeared on
ITV’s The Eamonn Andrews Show, soon after Thatcher became leader of the
Conservative Party in 1975. Janet’s Thatcher proved popular, appearing on BBC’s Mike Yarwood Show, a
comedy album titled Iron Lady: The Coming of the Leader, and the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.
An obituary in The Scotsman describes her performances as ‘cool and incisive… combining a fine vocal
delivery with a detailed study of the Thatcher mannerisms’. The impersonation was mostly affectionate
however; Janet was a Conservative and portrayed Thatcher as ‘an individual character with an independent
mind’. Thatcher once asked Janet to tea at Downing Street in fact, and to stay the weekend at Chequers.
Janet died in a nursing home in Hove in May 2011, aged 87, and was buried alongside her husband Peter
Butterworth, in Danehill Cemetery. Joe Fuller
Illustration by Joda (@joda_art)
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