Benny Hill Max Miller George Formby

GREATEST BRITISH COMEDIANS BENNY HILL One of my favourite British Comedian of last century was the late ‘Benny Hill’. He certainly was one of the greatest ever lived. I’m sure that nearly every male would have watched ‘The Benny Hill Show’ if not for Benny, but for the gorgeous girls who he had on every show. Some of the antics he got up to were hilarious. Alfred Hill was born in South Hampton, England. In his earlier years before breaking into the entertainment business – Hill had various jobs – milkman, bridge operator and a driver among other occupations. He was inspired by various established comedians of British Music Hall Shows and he knew only too well he was born to entertain people. It was for stage Alfred changed his name to ‘Benny’ in honour of his favourite comedian Jack Benny and began appearing at various clubs. Benny Hill worked as a radio performer after WWII and made his first TV appearance in 1949 on a show called “Hi There”. Mid 1955 his career took off with The Benny Hill Show on BBC Television where he remained with the station until 1968. His health declined in the 1980’s. He had suffered heart problem early 1992 and was recommended a heart bypass in which he refused. Benny Hill died on April 19th 1992, age 68 – cause of death was recorded as natural causes. He was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace on April 28th 1992. He left his estimated 10 million pounds to his late parents who had already died and the only Will made was in 1961. Next in line were his brother and sister who also were deceased. Benny Hill’s estate was divided among his 7 nieces and nephews. MAX MILLER –‘ The Cheeky Chappie’ He was born Thomas Henry Sargent in Brighton, England on November 21st 1894. At a young age he loved to show off and wore clothes that were too big for him which earned him the nickname ‘Swanky Sargent’. During the Great War, he enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment and served in France. In 1921 he married Kathleen Marsh, it was Kathleen who suggested he use the stage name ‘Max Miller’. He was billed as ‘The Cheeky Chappie’ which stuck with him throughout his career. In 1932 he made his first recording, ‘Confessions of a Cheeky Chappie’ It was a success for Max and later recorded several releases for HMV. Max never swore on stage and disapproved of those who did – although his jokes were somewhat risqué. He was great at using double-entendre and when telling a story he would leave out last word, of which audience quickly laughed. Some of his materials were banned from radio deemed too rude for the time. “When roses are red, they’re ready for plucking “When a girl is sixteen, she’s ready for . . . . . ere” The laws on censorship were rather strict in those days and Max often found himself in trouble. The BBC banned him twice, one lasted 5 years. Although Max would often tell his audience he didn’t care. His television appearances were never a success – as he relied on the feedback that only a theatre audience could give him and the freedom to use his naughty material. When you hear a live recording of his shows the reception given to Max Miller it cannot be equalled by any of our slick and more modern comedians. His performances were never the same; and he could adapt himself in a split second to suit the mood of his audience and his timing was brilliant. Max would appear regularly on all the major music-hall shows in and around London. In 1958, Max suffered a heart attack, and was told to take it easy. He continued performing his one man shows and making more records. His final recording was with Lonnie Donegan in January 1963. Max Miller died on May 7th 1963 at his home, and was cremated in Brighton. He was often quoted saying “when I’m dead and gone, the game’s finished’ and also one of his many catchphrases ‘there’ll never be another’. GEORGE FORMBY Jnr. I first heard the recordings of George Formby during the late 1980’s. George Hoy Booth was born in Lancashire, England on May 26th 1904. He was the eldest of seven children. His father James Booth – an established comedian of Music Hall had changed his own name to George Formby, was equal to his son’s later success. He had chosen the name ‘Formby’ after the Formby township of Liverpool.

After his father’s un-timely death in 1921, young George started his own musical hall career using his father’s much loved materials. He originally billed himself as ‘George Hoy’ before changing his stage name to George Formby junior. He became a favourite with his cheeky Lancashire humour, and his ability to perform comical songs with his banjolele. His well known songs included ‘Leaning on a Lamp Post’ and ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ and some of his songs were considered too rude of that era for broadcasting. In 1924 George married Beryl Ingham in his hometown of Wigan, Lancashire. They worked together as a variety act and later she became his manager. It was Beryl’s successful management that Formby became UK’s highest paid entertainer where he was paying at a high of taxation at least 95.5% of his earnings as revenue. He had been releasing recordings through Gramophone since 1926, although it wasn’t until 1932 his most successful hit came with ‘Jack Hylton Band, and with his first sound film in 1934. Apparently he had been doing silent films since 1918. Formby had appeared in various Films and TV appearances and had entertained troops in Europe and North Africa during World War II. In 1952 he suffered his first heart attack. His wife Beryl died of cancer in 1960, and Formby planned to marry Pat Howson late 1961, however he suffered his second heart attack and died in hospital on March 6th 1961. His funeral was held in Liverpool where more than 100,000 mourners attended. He was buried in the Booth family grave at Warrington cemetery. Pat Howsen was believed to be well-provided for in Formby’s will, although she died not long after. It was stated among the believers that the Formby fortune was jinxed. In 2007 a bronze statue of George was unveiled in his hometown of Wigan, Lancashire in the Grand Arcade shopping centre – the second of it’s kind, the first was a bronze statue of George leaning on a lamp-post in Douglas, Isle of Man. ____________________________

ST PATRICK’S DAY - 2010 Top of the morning to you. . . . . ah, there’s nothing like a little bit of Irish, and I would’ve got a bit too if she let me. You know, when the Irish tell the tale of old St Patrick chasing all the snakes out of Ireland, what the Irish don't tell you is that he was the only one who saw the snakes!!! There are thousand of jokes about the Irish, and I’m sure you’ve heard them all. My favourites are set out below. Here’s a quickie, I guess I would always prefer a quickie if I had of been Russian – boom boom!!! “Why do we have orgasms? So that the Irish will know when to stop f—kin. Pat said “Mick I just bought a new clock today, it goes 8 days without winding” Mick said “How long would it go if you did wind it?” Now for the Irish maiden’s prayer “Dear Lord, please have Murphy on me." On a serious note now, a dear Irish friend of mine, who lived in Co. Cork, died at the age of 45. His last wish was to be buried at sea, which was unfortunate for his close mates who all drowned digging the grave.

He was a good Catholic, as all good Irishman are. His name was Pat (now that’s a novelty to start with) and he was down at the local one evening – he began making a toast “Here’s to spending the rest of my life between my wife’s legs”. He won the prize for the best toast that evening. Later that night, cuddling up to his wife in bed, he said “Bridget, I won a prize for the best toast of the evening” She said “Aye, what was the toast?” so proudly Pat said “Here’s to spending the rest of my life sitting in church beside my wife”. That’s very nice dear. Next morning, his wife ran into one of Pat’s drinking mates who was always known to cause trouble. He said “Did you about your husband winning the prize last night for the best toast?” She said “Aye, and I was a bit surprised, up until now he’s only been down there twice. Once he fell asleep and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come. Ha ha ha, ya gotta love ‘em. . . . . What about the Irishman who read an advertisement on the window of the local police station “Man wanted for robbery and murder”, so he went in and applied for the job. Only last week – I saw an Irish Punk Rocker – I knew he was Irish, cause when he took the pin out of his nose, his head blew-off. Thirst is the end of drinking and sorrow is the end of drunkenness – Happy St Patrick’s Day!

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A FORGOTTEN AFRICAN AMERICAN HERO – JOCKO I must say, I love receiving gifts and recently I was given this midget size monumental statue of a ‘lawn-jockey’ which represents AMERICA’S FIRST CHILD HERO, and yes he was coloured. Legend has it, that a 12 year old African American boy played a role in the American Revolution of 1776. The boy’s name was Jocko – he volunteered to hold the horses for General George Washington (who of course later became America’s First President) but he had frozen to death on December 25th 1776 while still holding onto the reigns of the horses. Washington was so moved about the boy’s dedication to his duty he commissioned a statue to be erected in his honour and placed it on his lawn at Mt Vernon. If you get the time read the story about this remarkable young Negro boy, he is one of the forgotten pieces of African American history. In the historical town Maitland, New South Wales (Hunter Valley Region) they have little Jocko still standing along the main street (famously known as Maitland’s Blackboy) – waiting to be called upon to hold a horse’s reign. It has been standing there in Maitland for the past 140 years – and the town folk are proud of this little hitching post statue. It was brought out from America by ironmongers. There are many statues like this one throughout America, or at least there use to be, mainly in the south. It use to be a cash-cow (pardon the expression) the local council and some business’s sure made a lot of money out of the Jocko statue over the past 40 years or so. The statue became a tourist attraction. Today, of course he stands very quietly hoping one day he’ll be called upon. He no longer is Maitland’s tourist attraction yet he is one of the town’s famous landmarks. November 2009, Waymon LeFall of Balitimore USA flew out to Australia to see Maitland’s famous blackboy and to tell the story of Jocko. He was interviewed by the local New ‘NBN’ who were interested in the story behind the blackboy statue. Waymon has been keeping the story alive in America about this much forgotten hero – a missing piece of African American history. It was December 2003, Waymon published a children’s book titled “The Legend of Jocko” and it is still readily available. I had the privilege of meeting with Waymon LeFall on his ‘Down Under’ visit – and learnt a great deal about this remarkable child hero they call ‘Jocko’. It was on this trip that Waymon presented me with the miniature Jocko lawn statue. You can visit Waymon’s website www.jockobook.com to learn more about this remarkable young boy they call ‘Jocko’.

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CRAIG STEWART – Australian Country Music Singer Craig Stewart who hails from Northern New South Wales, is no stranger to Country Music. He has been performing in the Country and City for near on 15 years. I met up with Craig at various times during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He has his own style and is a down-to-earth country boy, always ready for a joke or three. This here is his second album ‘Bellbirds & Blackboys’ containing 10 original songs with an extra track his tribute to John Williamson with ‘Raining On The Rocks’. One of my favourites on this album has to be ‘Streets and Headstones’. Its Craig’s salute to the pioneers of early Australia, particularly homing in on the parish of St Chad’s in Quirindi NSW. According to Craig, the cemetery behind the old Church was in a state of disuse with headstones dating back to when the town was first settled in the 1830’s. He soon realised the street around the little town were also named after the pioneers – hence the title.

Another songs ‘We’re Real Aussie’s’ about down to earth Aussie men and the shortage of women in the outback. It’s not the first time Craig had dabbled into comical writing, though this song should be up there with ‘The Pub With No Beer’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’. Where time permits, Craig performs at most major Country Music festivals including the notorious Country Capital, Tamworth. If you are after some great songs from a talented singer/songwriter then you won’t have to look far – Craig Stewart is one of Australia’s finest entertainers. You can purchase this CD and his previous at his website or if you would like to hire him for your next showdown I’m sure he would be available. Website: www.craigstewart.com.au

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