With the death of her father-in-law and the succession to the baronetcy of her husband in 1925, Bea became Lady Peel, (a title she was never to use in show business) much to the delight of her mother, who had commanded Bea to "be a lady" from childhood.

"Lillie and Lawrence, Lawrence and Lillie. If you don't see them, you're perfectly silly."

Bea made her American debut in "Charlot's Revue of 1924." In the era of spectacular Broadway stage shows the simple little British revuew was an instant sensation, as were Bea and costars Gertrude Lawrence and Jack Buchanan. All three became international stars. Originally booked for six weeks, the run lasted fifteen months. Before it was over, Hollywood, still in the pre-talkie era, beckoned.

"I played an understudy who was such a lowly member of a theatrical troupe that she had to play the role of ‘Nothing’ in ‘Much Ado About Nothing.'"

Lillie's one starring silent vehicle was the screwball romantic backstage comedy "Exit Smiling" (1926). Though she didn't capture the attention of the American moviegoing public, her stage career flourished. The years 1926 through 1939 found her sailing back and forth across the Atlantic, appearing in nearly every performing medium of the day: theatre, radio, cabaret, even vaudeville. Often performing two shows a day, Bea worked her way out of the debts incurred by her gambler husband while her adored son Bobbie was raised in England by Bea’s mother, Lucie.

"Two doozen dammel dizzeck danner nipkins."

In the 1930's Lillie rose to the height of her theatrical fame. In the 1935 Broadway review "At Home Abroad" she played Mrs. Blogden Blagg who tries to order "two dozen double damask dinner napkins" with tongue-twistingly hilarious results. In 1936 she starred in the long-running "The Show is On" with Bert Lahr and Reginald Gardner. She appeared on the radio in 1935 as “Auntie Bea” and in the 1938 film "Dr. Rhythm" with Bing Crosby.

"A lady in her own wrong"

Bea's marriage to a British Lord had fallen short of the stuff of fairy-tales. She and her husband chose to live apart. In 1934 Sir Robert died of peritonitis in the arms of his mistress and Bea's son Bobbie, then thirteen, succeeded his father as sixth baronet. Among the men in Bea's life in the 1930’s were playwright Charles McArthur (who later married Bea's friend actress Helen Hayes), theatrical manager Eddie Duryea Dowling, and comedy writer Robert "Doc" McGonigle, who would leave the theatrical world to become a trappist monk. Bea continued to perform; her stage career keeping finances out of the red. Fortunately she had plenty to do, caught in a merry tug of war between the New York and London stages.

Mad about the boy...

Lillie's professional association with Noel Coward was a lengthy and glorious one, though beginning under a slight cloud when Bea landed her young friend Coward an audition for producer Andre Charlot, and Charlot, under most circumstances a shrewd judge of talent, told Bea that Coward sang badly and played worse. In years to come Bea was to introduce some of Coward's most famous songs including "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," "Mad About the Boy" and "I’ve Been to a Marvellous Party." She performed his music and material in "Charlot’s London Revue of 1924," "Charlot's Revue of 1926," "The Third Little Show" (1931), in Coward's shows "This Year of Grace" (1928) and “Set to Music" (1939), and in his musical spoof "After Dinner Music" performed by Bea on vaudeville's Orpheum Circuit.

C’est Lady Peel qui parle

Possibly the most-told Lady Peel anecdote is this one: While Lillie was starring in the Chicago production of "Set to Music" she visited Elizabeth Arden’s salon, finding the girls of the show’s chorus already there being coifed. The wealthy Mrs. Armour of the meat-packing company of the same name, flustered at waiting behind Lillie and the others, boomed "If I’d known there would be chorus girls here today, I would never have come!" Bea, on her way out, quipped to the salon manager, "You may tell the butcher's wife that Lady Peel has finished."