George Formby Sr

2021-12-08T15:43:40Z

213.205.194.4: Violent father isn’t in the article. Correcting the quote: the removed words are not in the DNB version. Removing OVERLINKING (which is also an Easter egg)

{{short description|English comedian and singer}}
{{distinguish|text=[[George Formby]], his son, who used the same stage name}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:George Formby Sr, 1919.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|alt=Head and shoulders, black and white picture of Formby looking towards the camera|Formby in 1919]]
'''George Formby''' (born '''James Lawler Booth'''; 4 October 1875 – 8 February 1921) was an English comedian and singer in musical theatre, known as one of the greatest [[music hall]] performers of the early 20th century.<ref name="Dundee C: Obit" /> His comedy played upon [[Lancashire]] stereotypes, and he was popular around Britain. His nickname, "The Wigan Nightingale", was coined because of the way he would use his [[Bronchitis|bronchial]] cough as a comedic device in his act.

Formby was born into poverty in the industrial [[North West England]]; his mother was an alcoholic and part-time prostitute, and during much of his youth he was maltreated. To earn money he would sing for pennies on street corners, before he joined a singing duo in his teens. He began to develop his own act during the 1890s and built up a following in Lancashire. He also developed a series of stage characters, including that of "John Willie", which is described by the cultural historian Jeffrey Richards as "the archetypal gormless Lancashire lad ... hen-pecked, accident-prone, but muddling through."{{sfn|Richards|2004}} Formby also had a successful recording career and made the transition from music hall to [[revue]] in 1916.

His health had always been poor, but a stage accident in 1916 weakened Formby's lungs, and he suffered increasingly for the next few years, reducing his ability to perform. [[Tuberculosis]] and [[Influenza A virus subtype H1N1|influenza]]—the latter contracted in the [[1918 flu pandemic|pandemic of 1918]]—weakened his constitution further, and he died of [[pulmonary tuberculosis]] in 1921 at the age of 45. Formby's act, and one of his costumes and canes, inspired [[Charlie Chaplin]] in the formation of his character [[the Tramp]]. Formby's son also used parts of his father's act when starting his stage career and, once established, also changed his name to [[George Formby]]; Formby Jr went on to become the top British male star in box office takings between 1937 and 1943.

==Biography==

===Early years: 1875–90===
{{Quote box|bgcolor=#E0E6F8|quote="Mine is not an isolated story of the stage. Which of the 'bhoys', I wonder, can say they never knew days of privation and distress? But which of them, I wonder, can tell a more pathetic story than I?"|source=Formby on his childhood<ref name="Red Letter" />|width=250px|salign=right}}
George Formby was born James Lawler Booth in [[Ashton-under-Lyne]], [[Lancashire]], on 4 October 1875. He was the illegitimate and only child of Sarah Jane Booth (c. 1856–1912), a poor, illiterate cotton weaver. His father, Francis Lawler, a coal miner, was not named on the [[birth certificate]]; six months after the birth of their son, the couple married, both aged about 19.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=1}}{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=4}} Sarah worked as a prostitute; she was small, around {{convert|4|ft|m}} tall, and sang in pubs in exchange for alcoholic drinks. She was convicted 140 times for offences that included theft, prostitution, drunkenness and brawling.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=1}} The marriage was turbulent, and Formby was often neglected, mistreated and suffered [[malnutrition|malnourishment]]. Because Sarah was frequently absent from home, and often detained overnight at the local police station, Formby was regularly forced to sleep outside. As a result he developed [[asthma]] and became susceptible to [[bronchitis]].{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=4}}{{sfn|Randall|Seaton|1974|p=21}}{{efn|Formby was not alone in developing a chest complaint: the mortality rate from bronchitis was 20% higher in the north west than the rest of the country.{{sfn|Fisher|1975|pp=10–11}}}} In his later years he recalled that his "childhood was the most miserable as ever fell to the lot of a human creature".{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=4}}

Formby left formal education at the age of eight or nine, and did not learn to read until well into his teenage years.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=4}}{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=3}}{{efn|Details—including dates—for Formby's activities are scant: his biographers, Sue Smart and Richard Bothway Howard, write that "little is known about the period between 1884 and 1892"; many of the stories Formby related later in life are contradicted by extant records. One of Formby's claims was that he ran away from home when he was seven and worked in a steel foundry near [[Wigan]]. Official census records, however, show that in 1891 he was still living with his mother, his father having died the previous year.<ref>[[Office for National Statistics]], "1891 [[Census in the United Kingdom|UK Census]]", RG12; Piece: 3277; Folio 127; p. 13; GSU roll: 6098387.</ref>{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=5–6}}}} To earn money for the household, he sang on street corners for [[Coins of the pound sterling|coppers]]; the family's poverty worsened when, in October 1890, Lawler died from [[pulmonary tuberculosis]] at the age of 33.<ref name="Red Letter" />{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=7}} Formby secured a job at a cotton mill and spent two years as a [[loom]] builder. He supplemented his wages by singing in pubs, alehouses and free-and-easies,{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=2}}<ref name="Variety: Loom" /> the last being places where informal arrangements were made for patrons to provide their own entertainment.{{sfn|Richards|2001|p=324}} Around this time he joined up with another boy to form an act, "the Glenray Brothers" (also "the Glen Ray Brothers"), which was profitable enough to have a manager; the act continued until Formby's [[boy soprano]] voice broke, after which the pair separated.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=2}}{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=4–5}}

===Burgeoning stage career: 1890–1902===
[[File:Eliza Formby, nee Hoy, c. 1921.png|thumb|alt=Head and shoulders image of a woman in her 30s|Formby's second wife Eliza Ann, {{nee}} Hoy (c. 1879–1981), whom he [[bigamous]]ly married{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=65–67}}]]

Formby began to develop his own stage act during the 1890s, and built a large fan base in Lancashire. He devised several characters with their own costumes, and composed a series of comic songs. By 1896 his assignment book records that he was buying and collecting comic songs and securing the singing rights. He was billed as J.H. Booth until 1897, when he changed his stage name to George Formby. Although rumoured to have picked his new surname after seeing it as a destination on a railway carriage, the main sources agree this story is likely to be apocryphal.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=2}}{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=14}}{{efn|Those main sources are the biographies of Formby's son, [[George Formby|George]]: [[David Bret]], who published ''George Formby: A Troubled Genius'' in 1999;<ref name="D Tel: Bret review" /> and Sue Smart and Richard Bothway Howard who, in 2011, wrote ''It's Turned Out Nice Again!''.<ref name="EDP: TONA" />}} The origin of the Formby name is more likely to have been a suggestion from Dennis Clarke, the manager of the [[Argyle Theatre]] in Birkenhead, while George was chosen in honour of the music hall star [[George Robey]].{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=2}} Formby first used his new stage name in Birkenhead in 1897.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=16}}

One of the earliest characters Formby developed was "John Willie". Baz Kershaw, the professor of theatre, described the character as Formby's "onstage alter ego",{{sfn|Kershaw|2007|pp=85–86}} while the cultural historian [[Jeffrey Richards]] describes Willie as "the archetypal gormless Lancashire lad in baggy trousers, tight jacket, and bowler hat, slow-talking, hen-pecked, accident-prone, but muddling through."{{sfn|Richards|2004}} His costume included ill-fitting clothes, large boots worn on the wrong feet, and a variety of hats; he would often carry a cane. In 1908 he lent one of his costumes to a young [[Charlie Chaplin]] when the latter was touring with [[Fred Karno]]'s troupe; Chaplin also incorporated Formby's cane twirl and duck-like walk into his act.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=32}}<ref name="BBC profile" />

[[File:George Formby Snr – costume montage – vertical.jpg|thumb|alt=Six images of Formby in stage costume|Formby in examples of his costumes]]
In 1897 Formby met Martha Maria Salter, a 20-year-old music hall performer, and they married in her home town of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] in August. Little is known about Salter, although the [[United Kingdom Census 1901|1901 census]] shows that she was still living with her parents. The marriage does not appear to have been successful, but according to Formby's biographers, Sue Smart and Richard Bothway Howard, there is no evidence of a divorce between the couple and no information relating to when the couple separated.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=67–68}}

In 1897 or 1898 Formby was signed to appear at the Lyceum Theatre, [[Blackburn]], supporting the magician [[Walford Bodie]]; a 40-week tour followed, with Formby earning 30 [[shilling]]s a week.{{sfn|Randall|Seaton|1974|p=16}} In 1898, while performing at the Wigan Empire as part of the tour, Formby met Eliza Hoy, the daughter of the Empire's cashier.{{efn|Sources disagree on Eliza's age. Bret states she was 21;{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=3}} Smart and Bothway Howard put her at 19.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=16}} The Formby memorial, including her grave, states that she "Died July 1981, Aged 102 Years".{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=244}} }} The couple married in August the following year at Wigan Registry Office, although this marriage was [[bigamous]] because of his union two years previously with Salter.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=4}}{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=65–67}} In the months after their marriage, Eliza persuaded Formby to join the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], which helped her parents overcome their initial distrust of him.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=4}} Formby and Eliza had thirteen children, of whom seven survived: four daughters and three sons.<ref name="Guard: Louv" /> The cultural historian [[David Bret]] states that Formby was "possessed of staggering consumptive virility", as the comedian also had several children with other partners.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=4}} Eliza became an important figure in Formby's professional life, making his costumes and standing in the wings during his performances to help him. Eliza also continued working as a seamstress and would sell chips during lunchtimes to supplement the family's income.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=22 & 30–31}}

===London, and a growing reputation: 1902–16===

In 1902 Formby performed for the first time in London, when he was booked by Ted Granville, the proprietor of the Royal Albert Music Hall in [[Canning Town]], to appear for £3 a week;{{efn|The £3 weekly salary in 1902 is approximately £284 in 2014.<ref name="RPI convert" />}} Granville subsequently became Formby's London agent. Eliza Formby later recounted that Belle Elmore, the wife (and later victim) of the murderer [[Dr Crippen]], saw Formby perform, and was so impressed that she contacted Granville and told him to travel to [[Leeds]] to see the act.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=23–24}} Formby soon transferred to the [[London Pavilion]] music hall, where he was immediately successful, and became "an idol of the town", according to ''[[The Times]]''.<ref name="Times: Obit" /> His popularity increased when [[Marie Lloyd]], the influential music hall singer and actress, said that she would only watch two acts: his and [[Dan Leno]]'s.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=5}} Lloyd recommended Formby to the proprietor of the [[Tivoli Music Hall (London)|Tivoli Music Hall]], who gave the comedian a ten-week run.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=24}} Robey was also impressed, and in 1905 he recommended Formby as the lead in a [[pantomime]] in Newcastle at a salary of £35 a week.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=28}} He was able to command £325 a week by 1920.<ref name="Skinner docu" />{{efn|Formby's weekly salary of £35 in 1906 is approximately £3,000 in 2014; the £325 weekly salary in 1920 is approximately £15,000.<ref name="RPI convert" />}}

[[File:Sheet music for "We All Went Marching In".jpg|thumb|left|alt=Cover of book, showing image of Formby in stage costume, and the words "We All Went Marching In"|Sheet music for "We All Went Marching In", 1913]]
After the Formbys had lost three daughters to early deaths, their first son, [[George Formby|George Hoy Booth]], was born in 1904.{{sfn|Richards|2004}}{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=18 & 24}} Although the boy was born unable to see owing to an obstructive [[caul]], he gained his sight during a violent coughing fit or sneeze when he was a few months old.{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=5}} Over the course of 1904 Formby purchased the singing rights to 57 songs, more than his normal annual number of between 10 and 20; the average cost of his songs was around a [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]].{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=27}}{{efn|A guinea for a song equated to approximately £100 in 2014.<ref name="RPI convert" />}} Two years later he made his first recordings, on [[phonograph cylinder]]s, for the Louis Sterling Cylinder Company, and in 1907 he signed a recording contract with [[Zonophone]]. He was one of the few performers who had no difficulties recording clearly with the primitive equipment, and he performed in a relaxed fashion for an invisible audience. He would sing his song and then talk to the listener using a variant of his normal stage patter.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=31}} Some of those songs, such as "Playing the Game out West" and "Since I Parted my Hair in the Middle" have been identified by Dave Russell, the social historian, as "clever depictions of a provincial innocent let lose {{sic}} in the capital".{{sfn|Russell|1997|p=132}}

For much of January and February 1908 Formby appeared in various London music halls for which he received £20 a week. The following year, and staying in the capital, he played three halls a night in exchange for £45 a week. One such venue was the Tivoli with Lloyd and [[Little Tich]] as the headline acts. When not performing in London, Formby continued to tour the provincial music halls.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=33}} In 1910 he again appeared at the Tivoli, and was reviewed in ''The Times'', in which the reporter opined that Formby "becomes more of an artist the longer he sings".<ref name="Times—Jan 1910" /> Later that year Formby recorded what would become his most famous song, "Standing at the Corner of the Street", which he also co-wrote.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=24 & 37}} By 1913 his record sales were strong enough for him to negotiate a new recording contract worth £300 a year.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=43}}{{efn|£300 is approximately £25,000 in 2014.<ref name="RPI convert" />}}

Formby's career received a further boost in July 1913 when he was one of seven acts to appear before [[George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] in a [[Royal Command Performance]] at [[Knowsley Hall]], near Liverpool. ''The Times'' reported that Formby's "broad humour succeeded with unexpected ease, and their Majesties praised him very highly after the performance."<ref name="Times: Obit" /> Formby was embarrassed by his performance. His usual act partly consisted of a running patter with the orchestra conductor, which he again did on this occasion; behind the conductor sat the royal party, and it looked to some that Formby was speaking disrespectfully to them. The king understood to whom Formby was talking, however, and afterwards presented him with a tiepin.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=45–46}} In October Formby appeared in his second Royal Command Performance of the year, in a charity show organised by the French actress [[Sarah Bernhardt]]. He took part in two acts: a performance of "Ten Little Nigger Boys All in a Row", alongside other music hall entertainers including Robey, [[Mark Sheridan]], [[Cicely Courtneidge]] and [[George Graves (actor)|George Graves]], followed by a short solo piece.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=46–47}}<ref name="Express—Oct 1913" />

[[File:George Formby in 1915.jpg|thumb|left|[[George Formby|Formby Jr]] (right) while employed as a jockey, aged 10, in 1915]]
In March 1914 Formby appeared in ''No Fool Like an Old Fool'', a 20-minute-long silent comedy film, which is thought to be [[Lost film|lost]]; it was his only film appearance, and little is known about the plot or his character.{{sfn|St. Pierre|2009|p=40}}{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=7}}{{efn|Although he was keen to undertake further film work a later project never transpired.<ref name="Times: F Film" />}} When the First World War broke out in August that year, he tried to enlist, but was turned down on medical grounds; instead he, like many music hall stars, was active in the recruiting campaign for the army and spoke at rallies,{{sfn|Quigley|1916|p=100}}{{sfn|Randall|Seaton|1974|pp=28–29}} particularly on behalf of the [[Derby Scheme]].{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=47–48}}

Formby was always worried that his son George would watch him on stage, as he did not wish the boy to become a comic, saying "one fool in the family is enough".<ref name="Guard: Jnr Obit" />{{sfn|Bret|1999|pp=6–7}} Nevertheless, although he had sent George away to train as a jockey, in 1915 he allowed his son to appear on screen, taking the lead part of a stable boy in ''[[By the Shortest of Heads]]'', a thriller directed by [[Bert Haldane]].{{efn|Formby Jr played a stable boy who outwits a gang of villains and wins a £10,000 prize when he comes first in a horse race.{{sfn|Fisher|1975|p=49}} The film is now considered [[lost film|lost]], with the last-known copy having been destroyed in 1940.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=51}}}} After the filming, Formby sent his son to Ireland, to continue his jockey training, and also sent the five horses Formby had purchased that year, which joined others he had previously bought.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=51}}{{sfn|Bret|1999|p=8}}

===Worsening health, and death: 1916–21===
Formby was injured in June 1916 during rehearsals for the [[revue]] ''Razzle-Dazzle'', after a stage collapsed onto him at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]]. He suffered lung damage and was treated for a [[pulmonary haemorrhage]] at [[Guy's Hospital]] before recovering.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=53}} Although he was the lead in the show, the premiere took place without him; it was criticised by reviewers, and ''[[The Observer]]'' thought that "some of it seemed to have strayed in by mistake out of a second-rate provincial pantomime".<ref name="Obs: Razzle 1" /> Formby returned within a week and the reviews were more positive, with ''The Observer'' stating that it was "one of the successes of the season ... ''Razzle-Dazzle'' is now one of the liveliest revues in London, and the most spectacular".<ref name="Obs: Razzle 2" />{{efn|In July Formby also appeared for a week at the [[Victoria Palace Theatre]] during the run of ''Razzle-Dazzle'', after the impresario [[Alfred Butt]] refused to release him from a long-standing booking.<ref name="Variety: July 16" />}} By August the production had transferred to the [[Empire, Leicester Square|Empire Theatre]], Leicester Square.<ref name="Obs: Razzle 3" />

[[File:George Formby snr, 1921.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and white headshot of Formby, looking to the camera|Formby, c. 1921]]
The damage to Formby's lungs from the accident was exacerbated by tuberculosis, and he began to miss an increasing number of his appearances.{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|pp=53–54}} In 1917 the [[Southport]] Palladium took court action against him for failing to fulfil a theatrical engagement as contracted, whereupon his lawyer said that Formby was dying of the lung disease and was working for the short time he had left for the benefit of his large family. Formby lost the case: his plea of ill-health was compromised by his accepting an engagement elsewhere at the same time.<ref name="Guard: Court action" />

Formby's health was further damaged in the [[1918 flu pandemic|influenza pandemic of 1918]], during which he contracted the disease while appearing at the [[Hulme Hippodrome|Manchester Hippodrome]] and was unable to work for a month.<ref name="Guard: Influenza" />{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=58}} He was taken ill during the runs of pantomimes in both 1918 and 1919, was forced to rest for three months in 1919,<ref name="Variety: 1919 break" /> and collapsed on stage during a performance in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in the 1920–21 pantomime season.<ref name="Times: Obit" /> Formby was advised by doctors to emigrate to South Africa for the benefit of his health, but he preferred to stay in Britain, with his wife and children, and continued to work. During his performances his wife would wait in the wings with ice for him to suck to stop [[internal bleeding]],{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=61}} and an [[oxygen tent]] was present in the stage wings ready for emergencies.{{sfn|Fisher|1975|p=11}}

In early 1921 Formby was appearing at the Newcastle Empire in ''Jack and Jill'' when he collapsed after a show. He returned to his home near Warrington, where he died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 8 February, at the age of 45.<ref name="Sunday Post" /> He was buried in a family plot in the Catholic section of [[Warrington|Warrington Cemetery]].<ref name="Warrington Cemetery" /> He left over £25,000 in his will,{{efn|£25,000 is approximately £965,000 in 2014.<ref name="RPI convert" />{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=70}}}} listing Eliza as [[wikt:executrix|executrix]]. As their marriage had been bigamous, he described her as "my reputed wife Eliza Ann Booth, otherwise Eliza Ann Hoy".{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=67}}

The obituarist for ''The Manchester Guardian'' wrote that Formby was one of the "great [[wikt:droll|drolls]]" of the music hall whose humour "always seemed to take its rise in a sympathetic perception of human vanities and weaknesses".<ref name="Guard: Obit" /> ''[[The Dundee Courier]]'' considered him a great comedian, made all the greater by his continuing to perform through his illness,<ref name="Dundee C: Obit" /> while the drama critic [[J. T. Grein]], writing in ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', thought that Formby, "along with [[Harry Lauder|[Harry] Lauder]], Robey and [[Albert Chevalier|[Albert] Chevalier]], formed the leading quartette {{sic}} of the profession".<ref name="ILN obit" />

==Stage persona and technique==
{{Quote box|bgcolor=#E0E6F8|quote=His art seemed absolutely guileless and childish, in the vein of the Hatter's madness, but there was method in it—that wonderful form of humour which the Londoner appreciates, but cannot imitate. It was racial of the Lancastrian soil.|source=[[J. T. Grein]], ''[[The Illustrated London News]]''<ref name="ILN obit" />|width=250px|salign=right}}

Formby was the first comic to use a delayed entrance as a joke to make the audience laugh before he arrived: his orchestra played his entrance music, and then he failed to appear on stage.{{sfn|Fisher|1975|p=14}} His act included songs, described by Smart and Bothway Howard as "characteristically simple, some with tunes derived from Methodist hymns, and with catchy choruses",{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=22}} and he would chat to the orchestra conductor and front rows, punctuating his stage patter—delivered in a deadpan style—with his cough. He used his health—particularly the coughing—as part of his act, and would say that he was "Coughin' well tonight!" He also created the phrase "It's not the cough that carries you off – it's the coffin they carries you off in!"<ref name="BBC profile" />{{sfn|Krishnamurthy|2009|p=240}}{{sfn|Russell|2004|p=158}} One of Formby's nicknames, "The [[Wigan]] Nightingale" was coined because of the way he used his bronchial cough in his act.{{sfn|Macnab|2000|p=94}}

The "John Willie" character, like much of Formby's act, used [[pathos]] as one of the comedic drivers, "but it was not contrived and was never mawkish", according to [[Alan Randall (entertainer)|Alan Randall]] and Ray Seaton, two of Formby Jr's biographers.{{sfn|Randall|Seaton|1974|p=23}} In his examination of British screen stars, Geoffrey Macnab agrees, and identifies that although Formby's jokes were about himself, "there was grit in the routines, a resolute denial of self-pity".{{sfn|Macnab|2000|p=94}} ''The Times'' examined the performer's style of humour, and considered it "often crude, and always simple, but it was always true humour, and, what is more, it was invariably clean."<ref name="Times: Obit" />

Much of Formby's humour was based in his north western roots, particularly Wigan, which he told people was where he was born, rather than Ashton.<ref name="Guard: Obit" /> He would refer to taking his holidays at [[Wigan Pier]], which was a small wooden platform on the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]] for loading coal, rather than a [[Pier#Pleasure pier|pleasure pier]].{{sfn|Gildart|2013|p=255}} ''[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]'' called him "Lancashire's accredited representative on the London variety stage ... clown-satirist of genius".<ref name="Guard: Obit" />

When he performed in London, Formby would change his act, introducing himself as "Good evening, I'm Formby fra' Wigan ... I've not been in England long"; he slightly modified his stage persona, and he played "the naïve boy trying to fit in with the sophisticated south".{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=24}} Smart and Boothroyd consider that "the contrast between his northern accent and metropolitan bravado was humorous, and the more urbane and sophisticated his audience the more George exaggerated his provincial gormlessness".{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=24}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Unveiling memorial to George Formby Snr.png|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=A large white grave is in the centre, surrounded on either side by crowds|The unveiling of Formby's memorial]]
Six weeks after Formby's death, his son George first appeared on stage in a copy of his father's act; he initially appeared under the name George Hoy—using his mother's maiden name—but soon took his father's stage name.<ref name="Skinner docu" />{{sfn|Bret|1999|pp=11 & 14}} Formby Jr later went on to become the top British male star in box office takings between 1937 and 1943, and the highest-paid entertainer in Britain.{{sfn|Richards|2004}}

Chaplin, who derived some of his stage persona from Formby's, sailed in 1908 with Karno's troupe to the United States, where he developed the character of the Tramp, the image of which became universally familiar by 1915.{{sfn|Robinson|1986|p=210}} [[George Orwell]] later used Formby's humorous concept of "Wigan Pier" in the title of his 1937 study of depression and unemployment in the area, ''[[The Road to Wigan Pier]]''.{{sfn|Richards|2010|p=191}}

Formby left over 190 recordings,{{sfn|Smart|Bothway Howard|2011|p=31}} and after his death ''The Times'' commented, "There cannot be many people who have not heard at some time in their lives either the words or the refrain of 'John Willie – Come On', 'One of the Boys', 'I was Standing on the Corner of the Street', or 'Playing the Game in the West{{' "}},<ref name="Times: Obit" /> songs described by Fisher as "afizz with gaiety and champagne".{{sfn|Fisher|1975|p=10}}

In October 1922 a large marble memorial was unveiled at the site of Formby's grave, in the presence of Formby Jr, Eliza and a large crowd.<ref name="Mirror: Memorial" /><ref name="Pathe news" /> The memorial later became the resting place for both the younger Formby and Eliza.<ref name="Skinner docu" /> In June 2012 a [[blue plaque]] was unveiled at Hodgson Street, Ashton, Formby's birthplace.<ref name="MEN: Formby plaque" />

==Notes and references==

===Notes===

{{notes|30em}}

===References===

{{reflist
| colwidth = 25em
| refs =

<ref name="Pathe news">
{{cite AV media |date=23 October 1922|title=Memorial Unveiled Aka Beautiful Memorial 1922|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/memorial-unveiled-aka-beautiful-memorial/query/George+Formby|location=London|publisher=[[Pathé News]]}}</ref>

<ref name="Mirror: Memorial">
{{cite news|title=Comedian's Memorial|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|date=21 October 1922|location=London|page=9}}</ref>

<ref name="MEN: Formby plaque">
{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Jennifer|title=By George! A Plaque to Formby Snr|work=[[Manchester Evening News]]|date=4 June 2012|location=Manchester}}</ref>

<ref name="Times: F Film">
{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1007160/formby_and_ideal_films_1916/|title=Native For American Humour|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|page=21|date=21 September 1916|via = [[Ancestry.com|Newspapers.com]]}}{{Open access}}</ref>

<ref name="Variety: July 16">
{{cite journal|title=Formby Doubling|journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=14 July 1916|volume=43|issue=7|page=4|location=New York, NY}}</ref>

<ref name="Variety: 1919 break">
{{cite journal|title=Formby Back on Stage|journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=11 July 1919|volume=55|issue=7|page=9|location=New York, NY}}</ref>

<ref name="RPI convert">
{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Gregory|author-link1=Gregory Clark (economist)|title=The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)|url=http://measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/|publisher=MeasuringWorth|access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Dundee C: Obit">
{{cite news|title=Famous Comedian Dead|work=[[The Dundee Courier]]|date=9 February 1921|location=Dundee|page=5}}</ref>

<ref name="Sunday Post">
{{cite news|title=Mrs George Formby's Own Story|work=[[The Sunday Post]]|date=13 February 1921|location=Dundee|page=16}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Influenza">
{{cite news|title=The Influenza Grip: Minor Social Effects|work=[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]|date=4 July 1918|location=Manchester|page=4}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Court action">
{{cite news|title=Action Against George Formby: The Comedian's Ill-Health|work=[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]|date=4 April 1917|location=Manchester|page=2}}</ref>

<ref name="Obs: Razzle 1">
{{cite news|title=Razzle-Dazzle!|work=[[The Observer]]|date=25 June 1916|location=London|page=7}}</ref>

<ref name="Obs: Razzle 2">
{{cite news|title=Dramatis Personae|work=[[The Observer]]|date=2 July 1916|location=London|page=7}}</ref>

<ref name="Obs: Razzle 3">
{{cite news|title=The Empire: ''Razzle-Dazzle'' in its New Home|work=[[The Observer]]|date=20 August 1916|location=London|page=8}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Jnr Obit">
{{cite news|title=George Formby: A Man With Pride in his Roots|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 March 1961|location=Manchester|page=16}}</ref>

<ref name="Times—Jan 1910">
{{cite news|title=The Tivoli|work=[[The Times]]|date=4 January 1910|location=London|page=11}}</ref>

<ref name="Express—Oct 1913">
{{cite news|title=The King Spends a Merry Evening|work=[[Daily Express]]|date=13 October 1913|location=London|page=5}}</ref>

<ref name="Warrington Cemetery">
{{cite web|title=Warrington Cemetery|url=http://www.warrington.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/799/warrington_cemetery_leaflet|publisher=[[Warrington Borough Council]]|access-date=16 July 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="BBC profile">
{{cite web|title=George Formby Senior – Entertainer|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-london/plain/A735013|website=BBC online|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Variety: Loom">
{{cite journal|title=London Notes|journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|location=Los Angeles, CA|date=24 August 1907|volume=7|issue=11|page=8}}</ref>

<ref name="EDP: TONA">
{{cite news|title=Turned Out Nice Again as Research Bears Fruit|work=[[Eastern Daily Press]]|date=8 October 2011|location=Norwich|page=21}}</ref>

<ref name="D Tel: Bret review">
{{cite news|last1=Wilkes|first1=Roger|title=Beryldene: The death of George Formby's wife freed him from a loveless marriage, but new-found bliss was brief|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=19 May 2001|location=London|page=4}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Louv">
{{cite news|last=Louvish|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Louvish|title=That Lad will go Far!|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=6 December 2002|page=B2}}</ref>

<ref name="ILN obit">
{{cite journal|last1=Grein|first1=J.T.|author-link1=J. T. Grein|title=The World of the Theatre|url=https://archive.org/details/worldoftheatreim00greiuoft|journal=[[The Illustrated London News]]|date=26 February 1921|page=277|location=London}}</ref>

<ref name="Red Letter">
{{cite journal|last1=Formby|first1=George|title=My Life When Singing for Coppers|journal=The Red Letter|date=25 November 1911|volume=13|page=322}}</ref>

<ref name="Times: Obit">
{{cite news|title=Death of Mr. George Formby|work=[[The Times]]|date=9 February 1921|location=London|page=8}}</ref>

<ref name="Guard: Obit">
{{cite news|title=Mr. George Formby|work=[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]|date=9 February 1921|location=Manchester|page=4}}</ref>

<ref name="Skinner docu">
{{cite AV media|people=[[Frank Skinner|Skinner, Frank]]|date=27 October 2011|title=Frank Skinner on George Formby|publisher=[[BBC Four]]}}</ref>

}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|30em}}

*{{cite book|last=Bret|first=David|author-link=David Bret|title=George Formby: A Troubled Genius|year=1999|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-86105-239-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=John|title=George Formby|year=1975|publisher=Woburn-Futura|location=London|isbn=978-0-7130-0139-6}}
*{{cite book|last=Gildart|first=Keith|title=Images of England Through Popular Music: Class, Youth and Rock 'n' Roll, 1955–1976|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fDRAQAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke, Hampshire|isbn=978-1-137-38425-6}}
*{{cite book|last=Kershaw|first=Baz|title=Theatre Ecology: Environments and Performance Events|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjnuNCTXIjQC&pg=PA4|year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-87716-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Krishnamurthy|first=Aruna|title=The Working-class Intellectual in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBnxHA4yCAYC&pg=PP1|year=2009|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|location=Farnham, Surrey|isbn=978-0-7546-6504-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Macnab|first=Geoffrey|title=Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ComxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2000|publisher=A&C Black|location=London|isbn=978-1-4411-8425-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Quigley|first=Joseph|title=The Slogan – Sidelights on recruiting with Harry Lauder's Band|year=1916|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co|location=London|oclc=35122379}}
*{{cite book|last1=Randall|first1=Alan|last2=Seaton|first2=Ray|title=George Formby|year=1974|publisher=W. H. Allen|location=London|isbn=978-0-491-01771-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Richards|title=Imperialism and Music: Britain, 1876–1953|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YJUbPSBT94C&pg=PP1|year=2001|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-6143-1}}
*{{cite ODNB|last=Richards|first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Richards|title=Formby, George (1904–1961)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33205|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33205|year=2004}}
*{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Jeffrey|author-link=Jeffrey Richards|title=The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in 1930s Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6E-caLC4HZEC&pg=PP1|year=2010|publisher=I.B. Tauris|location=London|isbn=978-1-84885-122-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=David|author-link=David Robinson (film critic)|title=Chaplin: His Life and Art|year=1986|publisher=Paladin|location=London|isbn=978-0-586-08544-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Dave|title=Popular Music in England 1840–1914: A Social History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3PHdGaUqIkC&pg=PP1|year=1997|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-5261-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Dave|title=Looking North: Northern England and the National Imagination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGI3Bgy54OcC&pg=PP1|year=2004|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-5178-4}}
*{{cite book|last1=Smart|first1=Sue|last2=Bothway Howard|first2=Richard |title=It's Turned Out Nice Again!: The Authorized Biography of the Two George Formbys, Father and Son|year=2011|publisher=Melrose Books|location=Ely, Cambridgeshire|isbn=978-1-907732-59-1}}
*{{cite book|last=St. Pierre|first=Paul Matthew|title=Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895–1960: On the Halls on the Screen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvxgFdRJ66kC&pg=PP1|year=2009|publisher=Associated University Press|location=Cranbury, NJ|isbn=978-0-8386-4191-0}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/GeorgeFormbySr.-01-06 Recording of six of Formby's songs] from the [[Internet Archive]]
*[http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/gf_senior/md/23052011.html Biography at George Formby fan site]
*[http://monologues.co.uk/musichall/George-Formby.htm Links to the lyrics of many of Formby's songs]
*[http://www.georgeformby.org/george-formby-senior/george-formby-senior-songs/ List of Formby's songs]
*[https://rfwilmut.net/site/musichll/xformby.html George Fomby Senior] includes two recordings

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Formby Sr, George}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century British male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century British male singers]]
[[Category:19th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:English male musical theatre actors]]
[[Category:Music hall performers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Manchester]]
[[Category:People from Ashton-under-Lyne]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in England]]

The Goon Show Depository - User contributions [en]

George Formby Sr