Elsa Lewis
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Elsa Elizabeth Lewis (born c. 1903) was an Australian musician and vaudeville performer.
Elsa Lewis studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under Belgian violinist Gustave Walthers.[1] She performed as a member of the Rhapsodie Quartette, with Dorothy Randle, Tasma Tieman, and Grace Funston.[1] Then during the early 1920s performed at theatres around Australia including the grand opening of the Princess Theatre, Marryatville, South Australia on 24 November 1925, where she was billed as "Miss Elsa Lewis, the Gypsy Whistling Violinist".[1][2][3]
Her performances as a whistling violinist took her to New Zealand. Back in Australia she joined the Fuller and Tivoli circuit and grew her popularity with audiences.[4][5]
During the 1930s she left Australia to perform internationally, including entertaining Allied forces during World War II. She returned to Australia in 1946, after performing in England with Jack Hylton's band, having added singing lovebirds to her act who sat on her arms as she played violin.[6][7]
