Lili Farling was born in London in 1860 and became a child prodigy on the Music Hall circuit, going on to work in Vaudeville in the early 1900s. Having played a number of supporting roles in silent movies, she returned to Europe, where Lili gained some small notoriety as the opening act on the bill at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées at the time of Josephine Baker's debut. She was forced to leave the line up soon after, when her leopard escaped during rehearsals and terrorised the technical crew for several hours.
She went on to successfully tour the cabaret clubs of Weimar Berlin (later befriending and inspiring writer Christopher Isherwood), returning to the USA for the duration of the war, at which time she developed a very close relationship with Howard Hughes.
After the end of the second World War Lili moved to London where she is to be found on the South Bank with her upright piano, dazzling the local populace with her extensive repertoire. She is still known to show a well turned ankle at various exclusive venues in the capital and has created a selection of installation performances widely considered to be unrivalled in both ingenuity and grace.
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