, in
The New Aladdin, 1906 Payne was born in
Hackney, London. His father was Edmund Payne, a chair manufacturer, his mother was Eliza Payne née Ince, and he had a brother, Fred, who also became an actor. Payne made his professional stage debut as Friday in an adaptation of
Robinson Crusoe at
Market Harborough, in 1880. He performed in stock, toured, and joined the Milton–Rays company. Payne first appeared in London at the
Gaiety Theatre as Mephistopheles in a revival of
Faust up to date. Most of Payne's subsequent career was spent at the Gaiety. He enjoyed much success for his comic turn as Shrimp, the Call Boy, in
In Town (1892). He followed this with a role in
Don Juan (1893) and gave a popular performance as Mr. Miggles in
The Shop Girl (1894) that widened his reputation. He first shared the stage with
George Grossmith, Jr. in
The Shop Girl, and the two would be paired in many further productions. He created more comic roles in
The Circus Girl (1896) and
A Runaway Girl (1898). Payne always rehearsed in a pair of velvet shoes and rode to and from the Gaiety on a tricycle. He was popular among colleagues as well as the public. '' Payne created roles in a string of
musical comedy hits in the early years of the new century, including Tommy Bang in
The Messenger Boy (1900), Sammy Gigg in
The Toreador (1902), Meakin in
The Orchid (1903), Mr. Girdle in
The Spring Chicken (1905), Tippin in
The New Aladdin (1906), Max Moddelkopf in
The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), Timothy Gibbs in
Our Miss Gibbs (1909), Albert Umbles in
Peggy (1911), and Floot in his last show at the Gaiety,
The Sunshine Girl (1912), in which he appeared until 1913. He was to have had a role in
The Girl From Utah, but he fell ill and died before the show premiered. Payne wrote to the editor of
Strand Magazine on 30 May 1904, "Dear Sir / My height is five feet three & a half inches in my half hose". His diminutive stature and his elastic facial expressions, including his "pop" eyes, gained him wide fame. He was an accomplished comic singer and dancer, and a diligent actor. He also used a lisp to good effect: "It gave a perfect character to the lovable little men he always impersonated". Payne was married twice, firstly to Emily Saxon (1864–1899) whom he met in the theatre and married in 1888. They had four children, Emily, Alice, Edmund and Harry. After Saxon died in 1899, Payne married Alice Mary Wyatt in 1901. They had three children, Mary, Leslie and Nora. Payne was the great-great-grandfather of choirmaster and television presenter
Gareth Malone. Payne died in London at the age of 50 and is buried at
Abney Park Cemetery. In his will he left £21,657 to his widow, Alice. A commemorative
blue plaque was erected to Payne in 2017 at his last home in Hampstead by
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America. ==References==