Lydia the Tattooed Lady Stock Exchange by commandeering a microphone and singing the song before telling jokes for 15 minutes, during which time traders suspended their work to watch him perform. Lydia the Tattooed Lady "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus" (1939) and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes. The complex lyrics by Harburg – with clever rhymes such as "Lydia/encyclopedia" and "Amazon/pajamas on" – were inspired by W. S. Gilbert. Harburg made many contemporary references to topical personalities such as Grover Whalen,
Lydia Simmonds Lydia "a cantankerous, rich old bag of a grannie", but added that she was "a lady bountiful, selfless philanthropist and all-round good egg." The writer went on to say that the bond between Janine and Lydia turned into "one of the most touching and entertaining in Soapland." The "Metro's" Rachel Tarley deemed Lydia "brilliantly funny." Lydia Simmonds Lydia Simmonds is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", initially played by Margaret Tyzack and then by Heather Chasen. She is the maternal grandmother of Ricky (Sid Owen) and Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). She made her first appearance on 5