Born 27th September 1907 in Wolverhampton, William (Billy) Chappell was a British dancer, ballet designer and director.
Chappell studied at the Chelsea School of Art, where aged fourteen, he met fellow students Edward Burra (English painter and printmaker) and Barbara Ker-Seymer (British photographer and society figure) with whom he became life-long friends. Edward Burra, although not openly gay during his lifetime, allegedly had an affair with Chappell, although this rumour has not been substantiated.
William Chappell did not begin dancing professionally until he was seventeen, when he studied under renowned dancer, Marie Rambert, and it was through her that he met another close friend in the dancing world Frederick Ashton; British ballet dancer and choreographer.
Another of Chappell’s lifelong friends was the British dramatist, Terence Rattigan, and an archive of letters from him to Chappell during the 1970s remains. In one such letter, Rattigan writes: “New York is gayer than it was last year and Mrs Rat [a nickname for Rattigan] was the toast of the town, the prettiest young ladies nightly sipping champagne (domestic) from her galoshes....”
During his dancing career, Chappell (alongside Ashton) toured Europe for two years with Ida Rubenstein's company. In 1929, Chappell returned to London to dance with Rambert's Ballet Club (later Ballet Rambert), the Camargo Society and Ninette de Valois's Vic-Wells Ballet, becoming one of the founding dancers of British ballet. Throughout the 1930s he created more than forty roles for Rambert and Vic-Wells including: The Rake's friend in de Valois's The Rake's Progress, The popular song in Ashton's Façade, The title role in Ashton's The Lord of Burleigh, and the recreation of two Nijinsky roles, Le Spectre de la rose and the faun in L'Apres-midi d'un faune.
It is by his design work, however, that William Chappell is best remembered. He designed more than 40 ballets or revues, including many of the early works of Ashton and de Valois. In 2007, his work became part of an exhibition of Broadway’s gay and lesbian designers on display at the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation Gallery. ‘StageStruck: The Magic of Theatre Design’ aimed to highlight the achievements of LGBTQ+ designers who worked in conjunction with fellow gay and lesbian playwrights, directors, choreographers and composers. Sketches, props, set pieces and models from more than 60 designers (some from private collections), including work by William Chappell were represented.
Chappell also took part in a series of eight lectures on 'The Ballet in Britain' at Oxford University, and authored several books including ‘Edward Burra: A painter remembered by his friend’ (1982), Well Dearie!: The Letters of Edward Burra (1985), Fonteyn: Impressions of a ballerina (1951), and Studies in Ballet (1948). The latter of these titles featured stories from his military service, serving as Second Lieutenant and entertaining the troops.
He finally retired to his home in Rye, East Sussex and died there in January 1994, aged 86, after a long illness.
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