Maureen Potter

Irish actress and comedienne. She was born in Fairview, on the north side of Dublin, the daughter of a commercial traveller, and educated at St. Mary's School. At the age of 7 she became All Ireland Junior Dancing Champion. Two years later she was spotted by the Dublin comedian Jimmy O'Dea at an amateur concert party; she began appearing in pantomime with him at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. In 1937 she joined the English comic Jack Hylton's troupe, despite being officially too young to work, and toured England and Europe with them, billed as The Pocket Mimic (a highlight of the show was her Shirley Temple impression). In Germany in 1938 they performed before an audience including Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership. The outbreak of World War Two forced her to return to neutral Ireland where she resumed her partnership with Jimmy O'Dea at the Gaiety, O'Dea invariably playing the Dame ("Mrs Mulligan") at the theatre's Christmas pantomime and Potter his daughter. Initially his 'feed