Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Variety actor who began as a child in melodrama and worked in music halls, circus, and stock dramas.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
The luxury
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:21And it was taken for granted that you were going into the theatre.
Not at all. Uh we happen to be at Gloucester. And uh They wanted a child in a melodrama that was being played at the Theatre Royal. My father was scenic artist resident at Gloucester. and I, precocious little brat that I was at the time, I was taken along and shoved in this thing, and that was how it started. This was in nineteen hundred. I was born in eighteen ninety three.
Presenter asks
1:58What happened next [after your early career]?
Well, the war broke out. And uh I went in the South Staffordshire regiment as an infantryman. I wanted to be a general, but they were full up.
Presenter asks
3:26What killed the music hall?
Well, I think it was culpable homicide, to tell you the truth. I don't know who to blame for it. I think a lot of people uh people who didn't belong coming in. They killed it, people with little talent, get rich quick, whether it would last or no, they didn't care. They came in And they slept on strip shows. It ceased to become a family entertainment. The jokes. Nothing funny ever happened outside the bedroom or outside the toilet.
Presenter asks
4:32You have done some very good work in the theatre since your music hall days, haven't you?
Well, I must pay tribute to the Royal Court Theatre for that. and having a a very good agent who prevailed upon me to come back, and to take a part in uh A couple of John Osborne plays at the Royal Court. Mhm. And from then it's gone on. I've done quite a few good plays.
“I was born in show business. Really, I've had no choice. It's been my life.”
“I wanted to be a general, but they were full up.”
“I think it was culpable homicide, to tell you the truth.”
“Nothing funny ever happened outside the bedroom or outside the toilet.”