 Gracie Fields.
One of the most popular comediennes, the inimitable Gracie was famously a Lancashire Lass.
She began her career by winning a singing competition at a local cinema when she was thirteen years old, and
afterwards worked in a factory until she obtained a part in a touring revue with Archie Pitt. She and Archie
soon left this, and their own show "Mr. Tower of London" ran for seven years and played for more than 4000
performances without a break. During this run she married Archie Pitt. She first broadcast in 1927.
Hear Gracie with the Troops in France:
Wish Me Luck as you Wave Me Goodbye
Gracie Fields Links:
BritishPictures.com
BritMovie.co.uk
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 Flotsam and Jetsam.
Mr. Jetsam (Malcolm McEachern), the basso profundo, was Australian, born at Albury, New
South Wales. He was a singer all his life, starting as a choir boy, and then starred with Melba on her Australian
tour. He and Mr. Flotsam started out in partnership in 1926. Mr. Flotsam (B.C. Hilliam) was born in Canada. After
the first world war he turned his serious attention to the writing of lyrics and music. One of his comedies,
Buddies, ran for two years in New York. |
George Formby Senior.
This is the George Formby you probably didn't know about. James Booth was born in 1875 in
Ashton-Under-Lyne. He was abused and neglected during his childhood, and ran away as soon as he could. At 13 years
of age he began his career in the rough pubs around Wigan. While sitting on a railway station, he saw a goods wagon with
"Return to Formby" painted on it. This set him thinking, and from then on, he was George Formby. His act featured clown-like
costumes and simple little songs. He married Eliza Hoy in 1899. Soon afterwards, George Robey saw Formby working in Manchester,
and recommended him to the manager of the London Pavilion. George then became a star. He always had a cough, a result of
his childhood, and on 8th February 1921, he died of a chest complaint. When he died, the man who had set out with nothing
left £21,000, and a bookings diary booked solidly for the next five years.
Hear George Formby Senior:
Commercial Traveller
George Formby Senior Links:
The George Formby Society
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George Formby.
George Formby, leaning on a lamp post, the son of George Formby Senoir. Born George Hoy Booth on 26th
May 1904 in Wigan, George was the eldest of seven. His father did not want any of his children to go into show business, so
George became an apprentice jockey at the age of 7. When his father died, he was too heavy to continue to be a jockey, so he
set to work in show business. All was not well at the start, but when he bought his first banjo ukulele for fifty shillings,
and played it on stage for a bet, he never looked back. After a career lasting exactly forty years, he died on 6th March
1961.
Hear George Formby:
Leaning on a Lamp Post
George Formby Links:
The George Formby Society
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 Roy Fox.
Roy Fox was born in California, and at one time worked with Fox Films in Hollywood. Sharing
the same name as the boss without sharing his salary was not what Roy wanted, however, and moved on to become
successful in America, known as the "Whispering Cornetist". At this point he decided to come to England, and
brought six musicians with him to start his British career at the Cafe de Paris. Later on he formed an all-British
band at the Monseigneur. He broadcast regularly from the Cafe de Paris and the Kit Kat Club. |
 Ronald Frankau.
Ronald Frankau was a very successful comedian, making many records and radio appearances,
both on his own and, of course, with Tommy Handley as one half of Murgatroyd and Winterbottom. Some of his records
were a little too near-the-knuckle for 1930s radio broadcasting, and several were banned by the BBC.
It is very hard
to find any concrete information about Ronald Frankau, because he seems never to have given away very much of a
personal nature, preferring to be funny. The best anyone seems to have been able to get out of him was that he
came from a literary family, and organised his first professional concert while away fighting the first world war.
More usually his contributions to serious attempts at a biography would run along the lines of:
"Extraordinary! Wonderful!
Fascinating! Queer!
Marvellous! Incredible!
Oh, dear, dear!"
An excerpt from his book for children.
Hear one of Ronald Frankau's banned records:
I'd Like To Have a Honeymoon with Her
Ronald Frankau Links:
Answers.com
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