As we leave the 1930’s and move into the 1940’s, we are featuring two comedic artistes the careers of whom begin the former decade and blossom in the latter. Today our post features Arthur Askey and Tommy Trinder.
Arthur Askey, was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation and catchphrases including “Hello playmates!”, “I thank you” (pronounced “Ay-thang-yaw”) and “Before your very eyes”. Askey achieved prominence in the 1930s in the BBC’s first radio comedy series Band Waggon and subsequently starred in several Gainsborough Pictures comedy films during the Second World War. His novelty recordings for HMV include “The Bee Song” (1938), a lasting part of his act. From the 1950s, Askey was a prominent television presence and made regular appearances on the BBC’s long-running music hall programme The Good Old Days. Askey continued to appear frequently on television, radio and the stage until his death in 1982.
Askey’s recording career included “The Bee Song”, which was an integral part of his stage and television act for many years, “The Thing Ummy Bob” and his theme tune, “Big-Hearted Arthur” (which was also his nickname). In 1941 a song he intended to record, “It’s Really Nice to See You Mr Hess” (after Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess fled to Scotland), was banned by the War Office. A collection of Askey’s wartime recordings appear on the CD album Band Waggon/Big Hearted Arthur Goes To War.
Tommy Trinder was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was “You lucky people!”. Described by cultural historian Matthew Sweet as “a cocky, front-of-cloth variety turn”, he was one of the United Kingdom’s foremost entertainers during the Second World War.
Known for his confident and direct style of comedy, Trinder first found recognition with his music hall revues in the late 1930s. During the war, he worked for ENSA and maintained a successful film career, starring in a string of Ealing Studios films. In 1944, Trinder starred in the musical film Champagne Charlie, playing the 19th-century music hall performer |George Leybourne opposite Stanley Holloway as his peer Alfred Vance.
During the 1950s, Trinder became a television star, notably as the original host for Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1955-1958). In 1959, he was elected chairman of Fulham Football Club, a position he maintained until 1976. He continued to perform into the 1980s.
