About the title image:

Great Windmill Street, home of the Windmill, took its name from a windmill that stood there from the reign of King Charles II until the late 18th century. In 1909 a cinema, the Palais de Luxe, opened on the site.

In 1930 Laura Henderson bought the Palais de Luxe building and remodelled the interior to a small 320-seat theatre. It was then renamed the Windmill. It opened on 22 June 1931, as a playhouse with a new play by Michael Barringer called Inquest. Its existence as a theatre was short and unprofitable, and it soon returned to screening films, such as The Blue Angel starring Marlene Dietrich.

Vivian Van Damm was hired as a Theatre Manager and a breakthrough came when Van Damm began to incorporate glamorous nude females on stage, inspired by the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge in Paris.

The theatre’s famous motto “We Never Closed” (often humorously modified to “We Never Clothed”) was a reference to the fact that the theatre remained open, apart from the compulsory closure that affected all theatres for 12 days (4–16 September) in 1939. Performances continued throughout the Second World War even at the height of the Blitz.

After the war numerous famous comedians and actors had their first real success there, including Jimmy Edwards, Tony Hancock, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, George Martin, Bruce Forsyth, Tommy Cooper and Barry Cryer.

It is a less prestigious venue now!