Frederick Ashton retirement in 1963, in the company known successively as the Vic-Wells Ballet, the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Royal Ballet. He succeeded de Valois as director of the company, serving until his own retirement in 1970. Ashton is widely credited with the creation of a specifically English genre of ballet. Among his best-known works are "Façade" (1931), "Symphonic Variations" (1946), "Cinderella" (1948), "La fille mal gardée" (1960), "Monotones" I and II (1965), "Enigma Variations" (1968) and the feature film ballet "The Tales of Beatrix Potter" (1970). Ashton was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the fourth of the five children of George
Ellis Ashton Ellis Ashton Ellis Ashton (born 1 December 1919 - 31 October 1985), MBE, was an English comedian and theatre historian. Ellis Ashton was born on 1 December 1919 in Liverpool, northwest England. His parents were Joseph and Beatrice Ashton. He was educated at Holy Trinity of Liverpool and at the Army Formation College. Ashton married Margaret Mitchell. He died in London on 31 October 1985, aged 65. (Obituary in The Times, 8 November 1985). Ellis Ashton served as the Chairman of the British Music Hall Society. Ashton was a founding member of the Theatres Trust and the British Theatre Institute.