George Formby Sr, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

George Formby Sr

English comedian and singer

Date of Birth: 04-Oct-1875

Date of Death: 08-Feb-1921

Profession: singer, comedian

Zodiac Sign: Libra


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About George Formby Sr

  • 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.
  • 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 bronchial cough as a comedic device in his act. Formby was born into poverty in the industrial north west of 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." 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—the latter contracted in the 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.

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