George Arthurs (13 April 1875 – 14 March 1944) was an English songwriter, playwright, composer, author and screenwriter who contributed lyrics to several successful

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

such as ''

The Belle of Mayfair ''The Belle of Mayfair'' is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton and lyrics by George Arthurs. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Romeo and Juliet''. The origin ...

'' (1906), ''

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

'' (1908) and ''

Yes, Uncle! ''Yes, Uncle!'' is a musical comedy by Austen Hurgon and George Arthurs, with music by Nat D. Ayer and lyrics by Clifford Grey (who also wrote ''The Bing Boys are Here'' and the following series of highly successful reviews). The story is based o ...

'' (1917), before writing dialogue for such films as ''

The Yellow Mask ''The Yellow Mask'' is a 1930 British musical crime film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Lupino Lane, Dorothy Seacombe and Warwick Ward. A criminal plans to rob the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. It was based on the 1927 Edgar W ...

'' (1931).

Early life and songwriting

Arthurs was born at

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1875, the son of John Arthurs, a commercial traveller, and Harriet Laurina ''née'' Savage. As a young man, Arthurs worked as an accountant in his native city, but at night he regularly visited 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 ...

s where he got to know performers for whom he began to write jokes.Baker, Richard Anthony
''British Music Hall: An Illustrated History''
Pen & Sword History (2014),

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

p. 151 Encouraged by his joke writing success, he began also to write songs for famous music hall artistes. Songs he wrote lyrics for at that time include "I Want to Sing In Opera", "The Wriggley Rag", "You’ve Got to Sing In Ragtime", "I Can't Reach That Top Note" and "Chrysanthemums", sung by the comedian

Wilkie Bard Wilkie Bard (born William August Smith) (19 March 1874 – 5 May 1944) was a popular British vaudeville and music hall entertainer and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his songs "I Want to Sing in Opera" ...

; The humorous

patter song The patter song is characterised by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note. It is a staple of comic opera, especially Gilbert and Sullivan, but it ...

"The English Language" for Wilson James, for which he wrote both the words and music; "Josh-u-a" written in 1910 with

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

and made famous by

Clarice Mayne Clarice Mayne (6 February 1886 – 16 January 1966) was a music hall and variety theatre singer and performer. Life and career Clarice Mabel Dulley, whose stage name was Clarice Mayne, was born in London in 1886. She is best known for the s ...

; "The Caddie", sung by Neil Kenyon; "A Different Girl Again" and "If the World Were Ruled by Girls" for Whit Cunliffe. He wrote the words to music by

Louis Hirsch Louis Achille Hirsch, also known as Louis A. Hirsch and Lou Hirsch (November 28, 1887 – May 13, 1924), was an American composer of songs and musicals in the early 20th century. Life and career Hirsch was born in New York City. In his senior ...

for the song "The Red, White and Blue" sung by Henri Leoni in the revue ''Business As Usual''. In 1914 Arthurs and

Fred Godfrey Fred Godfrey (17 September 1880 – 22 February 1953) was the pen name of Llewellyn Williams, a World War I songwriter. He is best known for the songs "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916) and "Bless 'Em All" (1917), a 1940s hit record ...

wrote "Be Sure He’s Irish" and "Up He Goes In His Little Monoplane" for

Ella Retford Elinor Maud Dawe ( Flanagan, 2 July 1885 – 29 June 1962), who used the stage name Ella Retford, was an English music hall comedian, singer and dancer, and later a stage and film actress. Biography She was born in Sunderland (not Ireland, ...

; and Arthurs and

Fred W. Leigh William Frederick Bridgen (1871 – 21 August 1924), known professionally as Fred W. Leigh, was an English lyricist who co-wrote several popular music hall songs of the early twentieth century, Biography Born in London, he worked when young i ...

wrote "

A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good "A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good" is an English music hall song first published in 1915 (originally as "A Little Bit of What You Fancy Does You Good"), and popularised by Marie Lloyd. It was composed by George Arthurs with lyrics by Fred ...

" sung by

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " T ...

. For the musical revue ''Jingle Bells'' (1916) he wrote the words to the title song.George Arthurs

Database

Musical theatre

Arthurs moved into

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, writing lyrics for such shows as ''

'' (1906) and ''

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

'' (1908), before collaborating with composer

on the revue ''Hullo, Tango'' (1913). He wrote the book and lyrics for ''Honeymoon Express'' (1914) before working on such revues and musicals as ''The Whirl of the Town'' (1914), ''The Million Dollar Girl'' (1915), ''Don’t Tempt Me'' (1915), ''She's a Daisy'' (1915) to a score by Louis Jerome, ''We’re All In It'' (1916), ''Seeing Life'' (1917) and ''Hanky Panky'' (1917). He contributed to the musical comedies ''Suzette'' (1917), '' Arlette'' (1917), ''

'' (1917), and ''The Girl for the Boy'' (1919; book by

Austen Hurgon Austen Hurgon (1867 – 24 June 1942) was an actor, singer, theatre director and librettist for several successful Edwardian musical comedies of the 1900s and 1910s. Early life Born as Richard Cornelius Horgan in London in 1867 to Irish par ...

, score by

Percy Greenbank Percy Greenbank (24 January 1878 – 9 December 1968) was an English lyricist and librettist, best known for his contribution of lyrics to a number of successful Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century. His older brothe ...

). Arthurs also contributed lyrics for a Broadway revival of ''

Florodora ''Florodora'' is an Edwardian musical comedy. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the music was by Leslie St ...

'' (1920), and for ''Peri, The Slave of Love'' (1921), ''Many Happy Returns'' (1922), ''Archie'' (1924), ''Belles of Britain'' (1925), ''Pastimes'' (1926), and ''Patsy from Paris'' (1926).Biography of George Arthurs - All Music website
/ref> In 1930 he collaborated once again with

on the song ''The Christening of the Baby Doll''.

Films

Arthurs wrote dialogue for the 1931 film ''

''. The films ''

Their Night Out ''Their Night Out'' is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Claude Hulbert, Renee Houston and Gus McNaughton. It was made by British International Pictures at Elstree Studios.Wood p.76 The film's sets were designed by ...

'' (1933) and '' Marry the Girl'' (1935) were based on original plays by Arthurs and Arthur H. Miller, the latter on the 1930

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

'' Marry the Girl''.

Personal life and death

Arthurs married Lyra Jane Rense White (1878–1944) on 17 August 1903 at St Paul's Church, Parish of Hammersmith, London, England,George Arthurs
London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1932,

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

and the couple had a son, Francis William George (1910–1976) and two daughters, Margery Pearl (1906–1989) and Muriel Isobel (1910–1963) (twin of Francis). In 1939, Arthurs and his wife were living at 21 Surrey Road in Harrow, Middlesex. He died in Harrow on 14 March 1944 aged 68 and was cremated on 17 March 1944 at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

, London."Mr George Arthurs", ''

Gloucestershire Echo The ''Gloucestershire Echo'' is a local weekly newspaper based in Gloucester, England. Published every Thursday, it covers the areas of Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold and Tewkesbury. The newspaper is he ...

'', 13 May 1944, p. 4

References

External links

George Arthurs
on

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

List of plays by George Arthurs
on Great War Theatre website {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthurs, George 1875 births 1944 deaths Writers from Manchester English musical theatre librettists British musical theatre composers English composers English musical theatre lyricists English songwriters English lyricists English male screenwriters 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers