George Formby

George Formby ( OBE , Wigan , 26 May 1904 - Preston , 6 March 1961 ) was an English comedian who, through his films and music also gained international fame in the thirties and forties of the twentieth century.

Contents

 * 1 Youth
 * 2 Music-hall
 * 3 New Media
 * 4 WWII
 * 5 Death
 * 6 Movies
 * 7 best known songs
 * 8 Trivia
 * 9 External links

Youth
Formby was born in Wigan , Lancashire as George Hoy Booth. His father, James Booth, acted as a comedian in music halls under the stage name George Formby. He would have been a member of his party, a certain Charlie Chaplin, gave the advice to try his luck in America. His eldest son took the stage name from his father after his death in 1921 when he stepped into the artiestenvak. George had previously worked as a professional jockey but this was as a 17-year-old too old already. If George Formby Junior he had in 1915 already had a small role in the silent film "By the Shortest or Heads" - he played in there ... a jockey.

Music hall [ edit ]
The material Formby initially brought to the stage was the old material from his father, but he was soon to gain a name as a comic singer who accompanied himself on the banjolele . The banjolele had initially not been more than a hobby but because of a bet he also play the instrument on stage and it became his trademark.

George Formby was in keeping with the tradition of music hall with its popular repertoire of naughty songs full of ambiguities. He played (also later in his films) always typetje the benevolent simple soul full of naive optimism himself and his surroundings into trouble. With its syncopated and infectious game on the banjolele, his songs that mostly came from the pen of Noel Gay and his inimitable mimicry he was in the thirties and forties to darling of the British public

New media [ edit ]
Already in the twenties were his songs on the record put. His first commercially successful plate recording - with the Jack Hylton Band - dates from 1932 . In total Formby would throughout his career writing more than 230 records to his name. His first sound film two years later canned and was an instant success. A contract for another 11 films with Associated Talking Pictures (forerunner of the Ealing Studios) gave him that time unprecedented income of £ 100 000, - per year. A subsequent contract - with Columbia Pictures - accounted for a further £ 500,000, -. In his films George Formby typetje put it down to the good-humored and musical schmuck who, in order not to make it too difficult to the public, usually goes by the name ... George.

World War II [ edit ]
Its popularity peaked when he in 1937 was allowed to perform in the Royal Variety Show. During World War II he performed for the British troops in North Africa and Western Europe and also back home got a morale boost by George as he cheerfully in his films the Nazis put fool. In 1946 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Two years earlier he had the Stalin Price and already in 1943 the Order of Lenin received - an extraordinary honor for a non-Russian, which he owed ​​to the immense popularity of his films in the Soviet Union . In Dutch-speaking Formby did in the forties again to create a following with his films that obviously had not been seen in theaters during the occupation.

Death [ edit ]
George Formby was in 1951 his first heart attack. His second, ten years later, proved fatal. His interment at Warrington Cemetery was attended by an estimated 100,000 interested people.

Movies [ edit ]

 * "By the Shortest or Heads" (1915)
 * "Boots! Boots!" (1934)
 * "Off the Dole" (1935)
 * " No Limit (1935) "
 * "Keep Your Seats, Please" (1936) - Dutch title: "with the Goat"
 * "Keep Fit" (1937)
 * "Feather Your Nest" (1937) - released by Ealing Studios Aug 2014 (it was unreleased)
 * "It's In The Air" (1938) -. released in the United States as "George Takes The Air", Dutch title: "It's in the Air"
 * "I See Ice" (1938) - Dutch title: 'slippery slope'
 * "Trouble Brewing" (1939) - Dutch title: "Life in the brewery"
 * "Come On George!" (1939)
 * "Let George Do It" (1940)
 * "Spare A Copper" (1941)
 * "Turned Out Nice Again" (1941)
 * "South American George" (1941)
 * "Much Too Shy" (1942)
 * "Get Cracking" (1943)
 * "He Snoops To Conquer" (1944)
 * "Bell-Bottom George" (1944)
 * "I Did not Do It" (1945)
 * "George in Civvy Street" (1946)

Famous songs [ edit ]

 * "Auntie Maggie's Remedy"
 * "Chinese Laundry Blues"
 * "Happy Go Lucky Me"
 * "The Isle of Man"
 * "The Window Cleaner" (also: "When I'm Cleaning Windows")
 * "Leanin 'on a Lamppost"
 * "With my Little Ukulele In My Hand"
 * "Mother What'll I do now"
 * "Mr. Woo's now a Window Cleaner"
 * "Our Sergeant Major"
 * "In My Little Snapshot Album"
 * "Why do not Women like me"
 * "You can not keep a Growing Lad down"
 * "Swimmin 'with the Wimmin"
 * "The Old Kitchen Kettle"
 * "Sitting on the ice in the Ice Rink"
 * "Running round the Fountains"
 * "Fanlight fanny"
 * "It's no Use Looking at Me"
 * "Bless' Em All" in 1941 (1947 in Dutch interpreted as "Cheerio" by Willy Vervoort )

[Trivia edit ]
The popularity of his films made ​​for some lasting catchphrases in the English language, such as Gangway! ("On the side") and Turned out nice again, hasnt it? ("Yet again ended well, no?" or " Nice weather, huh? ").Every Briton recognizes these expressions even as the legacy of George Formby.

External links [ edit ]

 * (S) George Formby Society
 * (S) Links to sites about George Formby