| Biography | Jo, Jac and Joni were a British specialist variety acts. The act, which topped variety bills in Britain throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, originally consisted of three dancers Tommy Scott, Johnny Burslem and Norman Littlehales.
The act members at a Tommy Trinder revue in 1950. All three had white faces and wore bowler hats, black tights and tails plus spats. Under Scotts guidance they concocted a melange of eccentric dancing, music, harmony singing and visual humour. They were discovered in 1952 when they deputised for the multi-trumpet player Vic Hyde at a charity ball in London. So successful were they that they were booked for the Royal Variety Show the following year, when they appeared with Max Bygraves, Anne Shelton and Tommy Cooper.
The act went on to play variety theatres throughout the country, as well as seasons at the Lido in Paris and tours of South America. In 1955 Littlehales left and Burslems wife June took over. They appeared in cabaret in Las Vegas, Reno, and were guests on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York with the Everly Brothers. The original act disbanded in the early 1960s and Scott formed his own theatrical agency in Blackpool. He was instrumental in guiding many variety performers careers and notably brought the international mime comedian George Carl to Britain.
Scott went on to reform Jo, Jac and Joni several times using a combination of variety performers and legitimate actors including Jazz Renee, Anthony Irvine, Liam Galvin and Clive Greenwood. The act again toured internationally and appeared on TV programmes such as International Cabaret on BBC2, with Kenneth Williams, and Entertainment Express on ITV. |