Roy Rolland - Revision history

Kurt at 16:52, 19 February 2023

2023-02-19T16:52:01Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:52, 19 February 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~[[File:~~Roy Rolland.jpg\|~~thumb~~\|~~right\|Roy~~ Rolland as [[Old Mother Riley]]]]		{{Infobox person
			\| image = Roy Rolland.jpg
			\| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
			\| caption = Rolland as [[Old Mother Riley]]
			\| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
			\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1921\|05\|29\|df=y}}
			\| birth_place = [[Oldham]], [[Lancashire]]
			\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1997\|08\|16\|1921\|05\|29\|df=y}}
			\| death_place = [[Rhyl]], [[Denbighshire]]
			\| other_names =
			\| occupation =
			\| years_active =
			\| known_for =
			\| notable_works =
			}}
	'''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the [[understudy]] for [[Arthur Lucan]] as [[Old Mother Riley]] and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>		'''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the [[understudy]] for [[Arthur Lucan]] as [[Old Mother Riley]] and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>

Kurt at 04:56, 19 February 2023

2023-02-19T04:56:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:56, 18 February 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{Short description\|English comedian and stage actor}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=August 2016}}~~
	[[File:Roy Rolland.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Roy Rolland as [[Old Mother Riley]]]]		[[File:Roy Rolland.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Roy Rolland as [[Old Mother Riley]]]]
	'''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the [[understudy]] for [[Arthur Lucan]] as [[Old Mother Riley]] and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>		'''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the [[understudy]] for [[Arthur Lucan]] as [[Old Mother Riley]] and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>

Kurt: /* External links */

2023-01-14T19:27:39Z

External links

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:27, 14 January 2023
Line 18:		Line 18:

	==External links==		==External links==
	*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140810234601/https://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2bbdfb7aee Rolland] on the [[British Film Institute]] website		*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140810234601/https://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2bbdfb7aee Rolland] on the [[w:British Film Institute\|British Film Institute]] website

	~~{{authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Roy}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Roy}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-09-23T18:37:41Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 13:37, 23 September 2022
(No difference)

en>DankJae: Adding short description: "English comedian and stage actor"

2022-09-04T22:28:17Z

Adding short description: "English comedian and stage actor"

New page

{{Short description|English comedian and stage actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
[[File:Roy Rolland.jpg|thumb|right|Roy Rolland as [[Old Mother Riley]]]]
'''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the [[understudy]] for [[Arthur Lucan]] as [[Old Mother Riley]] and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>

==Biography==
Rolland was born in [[Oldham]] in [[Lancashire]] in 1921; as a teenager he appeared in a number of concert parties and seaside summer shows in the [[Northern England|North of England]] without much success until he met Lucan in about 1950 and who saw his comedic potential.<ref name=Obit>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-roy-rolland-1247384.html Rolland's Obituary] in ''[[The Independent]]'' – 26 August 1997</ref>

Rolland acted as [[Arthur Lucan]]'s [[understudy]] and stand-in for [[Old Mother Riley]] both on stage and in film (including in Lucan's last film ''[[Mother Riley Meets the Vampire]]'', where he stood in for Lucan in the more physical scenes). Towards the end of Lucan's life, as he was affected more and more by alcoholism, Rolland appeared more frequently in the role.<ref name=Obit/> Following Lucan's death in 1954, [[Kitty McShane]], his on-stage daughter and real-life ex-wife, hired Rolland to appear with her as Old Mother Riley.<ref>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/doubleacts.html Rolland on the 'It's Behind You' website]</ref> After a disagreement with McShane, Rolland renamed the character Old Mother Kelly, but to all intents and purposes the character was the same.<ref name=Obit/>

After McShane's death in 1964, Rolland moved to [[Rhyl]] where every Christmas he played the [[pantomime dame]] at the Gaiety Theatre. Usually he played the dame as [[Old Mother Riley]], but occasionally he appeared as [[Mother Goose|Old Mother Goose]]. In 1973, he joined the cast of [[Jess Yates]]' ''[[Junior Showtime]]'' as Old Mother Riley.<ref name=IMDb/> Following this he appeared with [[Danny La Rue]] in his Summer Show at the [[Blackpool Opera House]]. For this, Rolland and La Rue played Mother Riley and her daughter Kitty in a recreation of the Lucan and McShane sketch "Bridget's Night Out" from the 1930s.<ref name=Obit/> Rolland appeared as himself in the television documentary ''Danny La Rue: The Ladies I Love''.<ref name=IMDb>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0738336/ Rolland] on the [[Internet Movie Database]]</ref><ref>[https://nigelthedame.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/old-mother-riley-arthur-lucan-the-cinema-museum/ Rolland in The Cinema Museum]</ref>

Rolland retired to [[Rhyl]] in [[Denbighshire]] where he lived with his male partner, a former supermarket manager.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UkkfEiXTb5gC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=roy+rolland+supermarket&source=bl&ots=kh1YT8tSaC&sig=mzBao2X3YDoSRLZeivagqD2vyVg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBGoVChMIh83Busy1xwIVLDnbCh2GsA2S#v=onepage&q=roy%20rolland%20supermarket&f=false Anthony Slide, ''Eccentrics of Comedy'' – Scarecrow Press, Inc. (1998)] – [[Google Books]] pg 96</ref> Roy Rolland died there in August 1997, aged 76.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=roy&gsln=rolland&mswpn__ftp=Oldham%2c+Lancashire%2c+England&mswpn=84940&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5271%7c84940%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&msbdy=1921&msddy=1997&msdpn__ftp=Rhyl%2c+Flintshire%2c+Wales&msdpn=1651591&msdpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c5250%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5364%7c1651591%7c0%7c&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=rc8&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=2745320&db=ONSDeath93&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Roy Rolland in the England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140810234601/https://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2bbdfb7aee Rolland] on the [[British Film Institute]] website

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Roy}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Oldham]]
[[Category:People from Rhyl]]
[[Category:LGBT actors from England]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:LGBT male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century LGBT people]]