Bela Lugosi Bela Lugosi

"On Your Way, Riley!" (Play based on the life of Lucan and McShane)

British Music Hall Performers

British Films of the 30's, 40's & 50's

The Astounding B Monster

It's Behind You (Pantomime Site)

To say that the private life of Lucan & McShane was turbulent is an understatement. Yet it wasn't always like that. Where do you begin? At the beginning.

Love At First Sight

Arthur Lucan was twenty-five years old when he first met, and fell madly in love with, Kathleen "Kitty" McShane, in Dublin in 1910. The feeling was mutual. Kitty was a mature looking thirteen year old, and Arthur was obliviously unaware of her age.

Kitty, who had a fine singing voice, was cast in the lead role of the pantomime, Lttle Red Riding Hood, which Arthur had written and starred as the dame. The couple continued to meet in secret, as her father disapproved of the romance, due to the age difference.

Upon finding out her age, Arthur vowed to stand by Kitty and marry her once she was of age.

Marriage

Arthur and Kitty married in Dublin on 25th November 1913. Kitty, then aged sixteen, married without parental consent. She lied about her age - claiming to be nineteen - in order to circumvent the law which required parental permission for anybody marrying under the age of eighteen. Arthur had to embrase Catholicism for the marriage to take place.

A New Arrival

The couple continue to work together in Ireland, and Kitty fell pregnant in 1915. She was not best pleased as she felt that the pregancy would put a halt to their burgeoning careers. Their only child, Donald Daniel Towle, is born on 2nd October 1915.

As Arthur's and Kitty's popularity and touring commitments increased, the young Donald was looked after by Kitty's parents in Dublin.

Continued

A photo of Lucan and McShane from later in their careers