Arthur Leslie Norman English (9 May 1919 – 16 April 1995) was an English television, film and stage actor and comedian from the
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
tradition.
Early life
![22 Lysons Road Aldershot 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/22_Lysons_Road_Aldershot_2018.jpg)
English was born at 22 Lysons Road in
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
,
['Arthur English, ''Aldershot Historical & Archaeological Society'' (AHAS), Yearbook 23 (2010) pg7] Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, the son of Walter Frederick English (1856–1948) and Ethel English (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Parsons) (1886–1975), who married at
Holy Trinity church in Aldershot in 1909. Arthur English had two older brothers: Walter (born 1910) and John Edgar (born 1912). All three boys were born in their parents' bedroom in Lysons Road and all three were baptised at Holy Trinity church.
[ He attended West End Boys School in Aldershot (now the West End Centre) from the age of 5 to 14. His first stage appearance was aged 10 when he joined a group from ]Gale & Polden
Gale and Polden was a British printer and publisher. Founded in Brompton, near Chatham, Kent in 1868, the business subsequently moved to Aldershot, where they were based until closure in November 1981 after the company had been bought by media m ...
called the 'Five O'clock Follies' as an acrobat.[AHAS, pg8] On leaving school in 1933 he briefly worked at Fisher's Hotel in nearby Farnham
Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...
before becoming an errand boy in a local grocery shop.
After serving in the British Army in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
with the Hampshire Regiment
The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...
and the Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...
, reaching the rank of sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
, English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town and in the evenings worked as a semi-professional entertainer in various local venues polishing up his comedy routines.[ He married Ivy Ruth Martin in 1941; it was she who made his enormous ]kipper tie
A kipper tie is a type of necktie primarily fashionable in Britain in the mid-1960s to late 1970s. The primary characteristics of the kipper tie are its extreme breadth (normally ) and often garish colours and patterns.
Design origin
Wide neckt ...
s out of brightly coloured curtain material at the beginning of his stage career.[ They had two children, Ann Faith (1942–1999) and Anthony (born 1947).
In 1949, while still employed in ]Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
as a painter and decorator, English and his then stage partner Jonny Carrol unsuccessfully auditioned at the Windmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street, London, was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude ''tableaux vivants'', which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to a cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of t ...
in London. On a second, and this time solo audition with Vivian Van Damm
Vivian Van Damm (28 June 1889 – 14 December 1960) was a prominent British theatre impresario from 1932 until 1960, managing the Windmill Theatre in London's Great Windmill Street. The theatre was famed for its pioneering ''tableaux vivants'' o ...
, English became resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre at the same time compering a show for Bob Potter. English stayed at the Windmill as the principal comic until August 1950.[
His early professional career was as a stand-up comic in the persona of a stereotypical wartime "]spiv
In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed du ...
", and he became known as "The Prince of the Wide Boys" dressed in a trilby hat
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...
, a white jacket and padded shoulders with a pencil-thin moustache set off with a flamboyant kipper tie
A kipper tie is a type of necktie primarily fashionable in Britain in the mid-1960s to late 1970s. The primary characteristics of the kipper tie are its extreme breadth (normally ) and often garish colours and patterns.
Design origin
Wide neckt ...
four inches wide.[
]
Acting career
His radio work began with the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
spiv. His usual delivery was to tell a long rambling
at ever-increasing rapidity without losing clarity until, at top speed, he would end with the catch-phrase: "Play the music! Open the cage!" Another popular catch-phrase was "Mum. Mum. They're laughing at me!".