Arthur Tolcher (9 April 1922 – 9 March 1987), born Arthur John Stone-Tolcher in

Bloxwich Bloxwich is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills. Early history Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as th ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England, was a virtuoso British

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player and child star who started his career in the British

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 ...

s in the 1930s.

Career

He appeared at the London Palladium at 15 and was an early friend and colleague of

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

. Tolcher was managed by his mother Beatrice ("Beef"), who knew Eric Morecambe's mother well. When the double act became successful, Eric and Ernie did not forget their friend and he appeared for many years in their TV shows. He would come on stage in evening wear and start to play his harmonica (always " España cañí/Spanish Gypsy Dance"), only to be stopped by Eric and Ernie saying, "Not now, Arthur!" He also played in some longer sketches on their show. In a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme in August 2007, Tolcher's life story was narrated by Stewart Henderson. Although he had applied to work for the BBC many times in the 1950s, he was dismissed as "amateurish". This did not stop him from performing many backing tracks on hit records for singers such as Frank Ifield.

Personal life

Tolcher often worked away from home, but his home was in

, in the West Midlands, for many years. Tolcher, who was a lifelong and devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, died in March 1987 aged 64.

References

1922 births 1987 deaths British harmonica players Morecambe and Wise People from Bloxwich 20th-century British musicians 20th-century British comedians {{UK-musician-stub