Sir George Robey
The Prime Minister of Mirth
'I was sent to
Cambridge till some of my father's speculations went wrong, and I had to
face the facts of life and carve out a career for myself.'
These were George Robey's own words in his biography 'Looking Back on
Life'.
George
Robey was born George Edward Wade on 20 September 1869. Unlike many of
his contemporaries on the boards Robey's upbringing was solidly
middle-class. His father, also George was a civil engineer whose
profession involved much overseas travel, and as a result he first
studied at the University of Leipzig where he learned to speak excellent
German and get involved in a duel which fortunately did not prove fatal.
On their return to England it was his fathers intention to send him to
Cambridge but this was not to be and George found a clerical post with
the constructors of the Birmingham tramway. In order to appease his
family he took his stage name from a firm of Birmingham builders - at
first Roby. He later formally adopted the name Robey by deed poll.
He already had many interests in the Arts, in music and song but once on
stage discovered his natural talent for comedy. He was soon earning
small fees but his big break came as an assistant to 'Professor'
Kennedy, a stage hypnotist.
The 'Professor' was a popular act at the Royal Aquarium which by then
had discarded its association with fish. Robey pretended to be
hypnotised and sang as one 'under the influence'. He began to attracted
attention in his own right and was booked to play the Oxford music hall
in June 1891, still only 21
He was soon promoted from 'an extra' to star billing and adopted his own
stage persona. In common with his contemporaries the red-nose was de
riguer; but Robey added strongly blackened eyebrows and black frock coat
and top hat, later discarded for a squashed bowler. Although he could
have been mistaken for a funeral director Robey dispensed not grief but
laughter
'Kindly temper your hilarity with a modicum of reserve', he begged his
audiences; and as the laughter continued urged them to 'Desist !!'
From the moment he appeared on stage he had the audience in his grip,
demanding that they stop laughing in a manner still echoed in such
comedians as Frankie Howerd and Tony Hancock. Not for nothing was he
later billed as the 'Prime Minister of Mirth'.
He had many stage costumes to counter the grimness of the funeral
parlour; his pantomime dame was a particular favourite - 'bonnetted and
bridling, at once grotesque and genial, creating out of a termagants
tantrums a fountain of geniality'.
Like so many others Robey must have seen the threat to his craft with
the coming of the cinema but his career branched out into other
disciplines and the song with which he will always be associated was
never sung on the music hall stage.
During the First World War he entered revue to entertain the troops just
returned from the front. The most popular show was 'The Bing Boys Are
Here' which he produced with Alfred Lester and the hit of the show was -
'If you were the only girl in the world' - which he sang as a duet with
Violet Loraine.
During
this time he organised many other entertainments for the war charities
and raised over £500,000. At the end of the war he was offered a
knighthood for these services but he declined it as being too much for a
comedian; and accepted the lesser honour of a C.B.E..
As is so often the case, the superb timing of the stage comedian was
also suited to classic straight acting. He appeared in light operetta
during the early 1930's, having by then forsaken revue
He moved into Shakespeare playing Falstaff in a revival of Henry 1V Part
1 at His Majestys Theatre. He had not quite mastered the lines but he
completely won over both audiences and critics with his portrayal of one
of the bard's greatest comic inventions.
So much so, that he later appeared, again as Falstaff in Olivier's film
of Henry V . Although only described in passing by Shakespeare,
Falstaff's deathbed scene was specially written for him. His classic
parts continued with Menelaus in Offenbach's Helen, as Sancho Panza
(twice - once in a silent version) and in Chu Chin Chow.
Robey's contribution to charity continued unabated, appearing in troops
entertainments and concerts, helping to raise over £2m towards War
Savings. Almost at the end of his life in 1954 he finally accepted a
knighthood and died later that year on 29 November in Saltdean Sussex.
The following letter was recently discovered in a programme/script of Robinson Crusoe written by James Hewson. He was asking Robey if he would be interested in playing Will Atkins in the intended 1916 production. Robey obviously never returned this script as requested, and the letter remained tucked inside.
Pathe News 'A Peep at the Pantomime' Jack and the Beanstalk - 1921 London Hippodrome Rare footage of George Robey making a rare appearance in a London Pantomime. Also features Clarice Mayne. Link will open in Windows Media Player - alternatively you can download it for free or purchase one with a higher definition from www.britishpathe.com |
RELATED MEDIA George Robey CLIP - Archibald - Certainly Not! (1920) |
This page was last updated 7th May 2007