Showbiz has been part of Mary Naylor Kodell’s life since 1929. That year, at the ripe old age of 3, she sang outside her parents’ fruit stand in Nottingham, encouraging passersby to buy her mother’s oranges. By the time she was 12, she was performing in theaters across London and was a major celebrity, singing several times for King George VI and the Queen Mother, who called her a “typical English rose.” She was also a regular on radio and even had a regular television spot on the BBC.
On that show, she met Jack Kodell, a stage magician who was a pioneer in bird magic. They married in 1953 and Mary became part of the magic community. The two continued performing their respective acts until the early 1960s, when they moved to the U.S. and shifted their careers to developing entertainment shows for incentive travel—experiences businesses use as perks for clients and employees—particularly on cruise ships.
Jack and Mary moved to Orlando for their retirement, where they became fixtures in the magic community. Mary effectively became the den mother for at least two generations of magicians coming up in Florida. If you had an act and Mary saw it, she had ideas on how to make it better, and she’d have no problem telling you her thoughts.
Jack passed away in 2012, and Mary continues to live in Florida and have notes for magicians. She turns 100 years old this month. For Genii, she talked with Lance Burton about her life, career, and her advice for up-and-coming performers.
Lance Burton Mary, how old were you when you started in show business, started singing?
Mary Naylor Kodell I didn’t start as a singer, believe it or not, I started as a piano player, a piano player with an accordion. My uncle was a stage doorman of the Empire Theatre in Nottingham and [theatrical impresario] Jack Hylton came around [in March 1939] and he said to my uncle, “Do you know any kids that have any talent?” Well, he shouldn’t have said that to my uncle, because for the next three days, he was telling him how wonderful I was. He said, “Well, she plays the piano and her fingers are like little worms, they go so fast.”
So Jack Hylton saw me do the audition, and later he said to me, “Mary, dear, can you sing?” And I was afraid he’d send me home if I said no, so I said, “Oh yes, I can do anything.” And so within that very visit, the piano went, the accordion went, and I stood and sang and never looked back.
Courtesy of Mary Naylor Kodell
Then [July 1939], I was at the London Palladium [a prestigious West End theater]. I did three solid years at the Palladium, it was all on during the War, and I was supposedly the youngest leading lady at the Palladium.
Lance So your second gig was at the London Palladium?