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Jack Train (28 November 1902 – 19 December 1966) was a British comic actor best known for his appearances as a variety of eccentric characters in the

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radio series ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' (''ITMA'').

Life and career

Train was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, Devon on 28 November 1902."Mr Jack Train", ''The Times'', 20 December 1966, p. 10 During his service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he began performing as an entertainer.

Leslie Hore-Belisha Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha, PC (; 7 September 1893 – 16 February 1957) was a British Liberal, then National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet Minister. He later joined the Conservative Party. He proved highly su ...

, later Minister for War, saw his act when he was entertaining sailors at Devonport, advised him to turn professional and arranged an audition for him. In 1928 he made his first West End appearance, in a

Herbert Farjeon Herbert (Bertie) Farjeon (5 March 1887 – 3 May 1945) was a major figure in the British theatre from 1910 until his death. He was a presenter of revues in London's West End, a theatre critic, lyricist, librettist, playwright, theatre manager and ...

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

called ''Many Happy Returns''. His only stage appearance in a serious play was in ''

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

'', after which he spent five years as the straight man to

Nervo and Knox Jimmy Nervo and Teddy Knox were part of the original Crazy Gang. They started their stage careers as an acrobatic dancing team. They used this ability in many of the earlier Crazy Gang shows. Among their many routines, a slow motion wrestling a ...

. He first broadcast in 1924 and was heard on the air frequently, mostly in light entertainment but from time to time in serious drama. In October 1939 he became one of the members of the ''

ITMA ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' company supporting its star,

Tommy Handley Thomas Reginald Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian, best known for the BBC radio programme ''It's That Man Again'' ("''ITMA''") which ran between 1939 and 1949. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Handley went o ...

. Train was seriously ill in 1943 and had to miss one series of the show, but otherwise he remained a stalwart until Handley's sudden death in 1949 put an end to ''ITMA''. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said of Train: Train said he based his characterisation of the Colonel on an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

officer he once met in a golf-club bar. After ''ITMA'', Train was a long serving panellist on the radio show '' Twenty Questions'', in which, according to ''The Times'', he "showed himself to be capable of wild flights of fantasy without a script writer to prompt him". He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1957 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the BBC Television Theatre. Train appears as a character, played by himself, in the 1950 crime film, ''

The Twenty Questions Murder Mystery ''The Twenty Questions Murder Mystery'' is a 1950 British crime film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Rona Anderson, and Clifford Evans. The film is a strange hybrid: with the Twenty Questions sections being a true studi ...

'', in which he becomes involved in solving a series of murders connected with the radio show. He made two cameo appearances in ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' as Colonel Chinstrap: one in ''Shifting Sands'' (Series 7, programme 17, first broadcast 24/1/1957) and the other in ''Who Is Pink Oboe?'' (Series 9, programme 11, first broadcast 12/1/1959). In 1958, Train was the host and interviewer for ''The Stars Rise in The West'', an opening night programme for TWW, the new ITV station for South Wales and the West of England. Train died in London on 19 December 1966.

References

Films

* ''

The Nursemaid Who Disappeared ''The Nursemaid Who Disappeared'' is a 1939 British, black-and-white, crime film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Ronald Shiner as Detective Smith (uncredited), Ian Fleming, Arthur Margetson, Peter Coke and Edward Chapman. Based on ...

'' (1939) * ''

King Arthur Was a Gentleman ''King Arthur Was a Gentleman'' is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy, musical film, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Arthur Askey. It was produced by Edward Black and Maurice Ostrer for Gainsborough Pictures. Synopsis Set during W ...

'' (1942) * ''

'' (1943) * ''

Miss London Ltd. ''Miss London Ltd.'' is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, musical, war film, directed by Val Guest and starring Arthur Askey and Evelyn Dall. It was produced by Edward Black, Maurice Ostrer, Fred Gunn and Gainsborough Pictures. Plot ...

'' (1943) * ''

Gaiety George ''Gaiety George'' is a 1946 British historical musical film directed by George King and Leontine Sagan and starring Richard Greene, Ann Todd and Peter Graves.Harper p.179 It is set in the late Victorian music hall, when an Irish impresario ...

'' (1946) * ''

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

'' (1948) * ''

Colonel Bogey The "Colonel Bogey March" is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881–1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. ...

'' (1948) * ''

Your Very Good Health ''Your Very Good Health'' is a 1948 British animated short film and public information film about the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS). It explains how people would be affected by the National Health Service Act 1946 introduced u ...

'' (1948) * '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1949) * ''

Twenty Question Murder Mystery ''The Twenty Questions Murder Mystery'' is a 1950 British crime film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Rona Anderson, and Clifford Evans. The film is a strange hybrid: with the Twenty Questions sections being a true studi ...

'' (1950) * ''

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

'' (1965)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Train, Jack 1902 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English male actors English male film actors English male radio actors Male actors from Plymouth, Devon Royal Navy personnel of World War I Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon Royal Navy sailors