William Henry Ralph Reader (25 May 1903 – 18 May 1982), known as Ralph Reader, was a British
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
,
theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre Stagecraft, production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backin ...
and
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
, known for staging the original
Gang Show
A Gang Show is a theatrical performance by members of Scouts and Guides. The shows are produced with the dual aims of providing a learning opportunity for young people in the performing arts, as well as contributing to the artistic and cultura ...
, a variety entertainment presented by members of the
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
movement, and for leading community singing at FA Cup Finals.
Childhood
Reader was born in
Crewkerne
Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard all in the South Somerset district. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley – and b ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, the son of a
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
bandmaster. He was
orphan
An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died.
In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
ed by the age of eight and brought up by aunts and uncles. Joining the
Scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
movement at 11, he put on Scout shows as a patrol leader in the 2nd Denton and South Heighton Troop in
Newhaven,
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
.
His first job was as delivery boy for a relative's
greengrocer
A greengrocer is a person who owns or operates a shop selling primarily fruit and vegetables. The term may also be used to refer to a shop selling primarily produce. It is used predominantly in the United Kingdom and Australia.
In the United ...
's shop in
Seaford.
[ His employer took Reader to ]Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
to buy supplies and then visit the Hippodrome theatre, where he saw many 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 ...
stars of the day. At age 14 he became a telegram messenger
In many English-speaking countries, a telegram messenger, more often known as a telegram delivery boy, telegraph boy or telegram boy was a young man employed to deliver telegrams, usually on bicycle. In the United Kingdom, they were employed by th ...
and, at 15, an office boy at a cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
works. From Magheramorne
Magheramorne () is a hamlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about 5 miles south of Larne on the shores of Larne Lough. It had a population of 75 people in the 2001 Census. Following the reform of Northern Ireland's local government syst ...
, County Antrim, Ireland, he moved after what he described as 'seven gloriously happy months', to New York where he began his stage career.
Early career
In 1920 he moved to the United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, working in various menial jobs, while acting in and directing off-Broadway shows. At 21 he choreographed
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
his first Broadway show and the ''New York Times'' wrote: "Watch Ralph Reader". Returning to England, he produced and choreographed West End productions, notably variety performances at Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
and at the Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
.
In 1932, still in Scouting, he anonymously staged his first all-Scout variety show at the Scala Theatre
The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...
, London. ''The Gang's All Here'' featured 150 Boy Scouts largely from London's East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, performing sketches, songs and dance numbers. The three performances were well received by public and critics. The following year ''The Gang Comes Back'' at the Scala played to capacity houses and the public and press began referring to "The Gang Show
A Gang Show is a theatrical performance by members of Scouts and Guides. The shows are produced with the dual aims of providing a learning opportunity for young people in the performing arts, as well as contributing to the artistic and cultura ...
".
In 1934 that became its title and Reader acknowledged he was their producer. Besides the Gang Shows, in 1936, Reader wrote and directed a dramatic pageant called "The Boy Scout" with a cast of 1,500 Scouts at the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. In the same year, he wrote and played the lead
The Lead (Chinese: 第一主角) is a 30-episode Singaporean drama produced and telecast on Mediacorp Channel 8. The show aired at 9pm on weekdays and had a repeat telecast at 8am the following day. The show is Channel 8's mid-year blockbuster ...
in a feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
called "The Gang Show" which premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
d at the Lyceum Theatre, London
The Lyceum Theatre ( ) is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnold ...
in April 1937.
In November 1937 "a bunch of Boy Scouts", as one writer described them, became the first amateurs to appear at a Royal Variety Performance
The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
. They shared billing with Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...
, George Formby
George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
and Max Miller.
War service
Through the prewar Gang Shows, Reader became friends with Air Commodore Archibald Boyle, the deputy director of RAF Intelligence
Intelligence services in the Royal Air Force are delivered by Officers of the Royal Air Force Intelligence Branch and Airmen from the Intelligence Analyst Trade and Intelligence Analyst (Voice) Trade. The specialisation has around 1,200 personn ...
. The German Ambassador, Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945.
Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...
, attended the 1938 London Gang Show and invited Reader to visit the Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
Movement in Germany. Boyle persuaded Reader to become an Intelligence Officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...
in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve with the rank of Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
, although the diplomatic situation had deteriorated before he could take up von Ribbentrop's invitation.
On the outbreak of war, Boyle sent Reader to France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
for undercover work, in the guise of running a concert party, for which some former Gang Show members were recruited into the RAF. The show was entitled "Ralph Reader and Ten Blokes from the Gang Show" and, besides allowing Reader to complete intelligence tasks, had a positive effect on morale.
On returning to England, Reader was ordered to expand the Gang Shows, while his visits to RAF stations allowed Reader to monitor subversive
Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
which was a concern of the RAF high command. Reader eventually raised twenty-four RAF Gang Show units and two female WAAF WAAF may refer to:
* w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner
* Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II
** Waaf, a member of the service
* WAAF (AM ...
units with a total establishment of nearly four hundred serving personnel. The RAF Gang Shows toured nearly every theatre of war, from Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
to Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
By 1944, Gang Show units were estimated to have travelled 100,000 miles and entertained 3,500,000 servicemen. Some of those who served in the RAF Gang Shows would later become well known entertainers, such as Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
, Tony Hancock
Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor.
High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...
, Harry Worth
Harry Bourlon Illingsworth (20 November 1917 – 20 July 1989), professionally known as Harry Worth, was an English comedy actor, comedian and ventriloquist. Worth portrayed a charming, gentle and genial character, totally bemused by life, ...
, Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981.
Life and career
Richard Gilbert Emery was ...
and Cardew Robinson
Douglas John Cardew Robinson (14 August 1917 – 28 December 1992) was a British comic, whose career was rooted in the music hall and Gang Shows.
Early life and career
Born in Goodmayes, Essex, Robinson was educated at Harrow County School ...
. For his services to the Royal Air Force he was awarded an MBE (Military Division) in 1943.
Postwar
After the war Reader set up his own production company, Ralph Reader Limited, which revived many shows he had produced before the war. The first postwar Gang Show ran for three weeks at the Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
Opera House and broke the theatre's records. He also began producing the London Gang Show in 1950, usually at the Golders Green Hippodrome
The Golders Green Hippodrome was built in 1913 by Bertie Crewe as a 3,000-seat music hall, to serve North London and the new London Underground Northern line expansion into Golders Green in the London Borough of Barnet, London, England.
Taken ...
in north London, and wrote more songs and musical plays for the Scout Association. He produced the Gang Show annually until 1974, and his association with it continued until his death.
He published an autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, ''It's Been Terrific'' in 1953, with a second volume, ''Ralph Reader Remembers'', in 1974. He was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1957 "for services to the Boy Scouts Association". In the 1970s he was appointed to the post of Chief Scout's Commissioner, and in 1975 was awarded the Bronze Wolf
The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee (WSC) to acknowledge "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement". It is the highest honor that can be given a volunteer Scout leader in the world and it is the ...
, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...
, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting. He died in 1982, one week short of his 79th birthday.
Reader was interviewed twice for the BBC radio programme ''Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'' (in 1944 and in 1961). Extracts from the later episode have survived. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in November 1963 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.
Legacy
Following his death, the Ralph Reader Memorial Fund was established with contributions from friends, colleagues and members of various Gang Shows. It continues to "assist deserving individual members of the Scout and Guide Movements under the age of 20 years. Grants may be given towards the costs of camp fees, Scout and Guide uniform, travel to Scout or Guide events, career training, convalescence after an illness, or any other purpose.”
In May 1984, a stone bench was unveiled in his memory outside the Church of St Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...
in the Strand, London
Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4 ...
, by the Royal Air Force Gang Show Association, in commemoration of his wartime entertainment work. In 2000, a blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
was placed on his birthplace at 12 Court Barton, Crewkerne, and on 8 October 2011, a further blue plaque was unveiled on his childhood home in Heighton Road, Denton, Newhaven.
The 2nd Denton Scouts are known as Ralph Reader's Own.
Since April 2015, Ralph Reader was added as one of the names on the buses that operate on the new Coaster 12 route of the Brighton & Hove Bus Company between Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
going through Denton Corner.
Songs written
*" On the Crest of a Wave"
*"In My Dreams I'm Going Back to Gilwell"
*"Scout Hymn"
*"Strollin'"
*"No Show Like A Gang Show"
*"We'll Go On And On"
*"Where Do We Go From Here?"
*"Nobody Wants To Know"
*"It's A Wonderful Life"
*"Together"
*"A Touch of Silver"
*"These Are the Times"
*"Freedom"
*"It's Gonna Be Warm"
*"Making Memories"
*"Stepping Out"
*"Make Friends With People"
*"Everybody Must Have Someone"
*"Troubles Rolling Down The River"
*"You Can't Go Wrong If You're Right"
*"Birds of a Feather"
*"I Got the Call"
*"Homeward Bound"
*"Lady Macbeth"
*"Till the Cows Come Home"
*"Thanksgiving Day"
*"Fall in Love"
*"Happy Ending"
*"I Don't Want My Mother to Know"
*"Don't Do It, Nellie"
*"I Want to be a Pin-Up Girl"
*"Sail Your Dreamboat"
Published works
* ''Good Turns for Scout Shows'' (1933)
* ''Oh, Scouting is a Boy'' (1950)
* ''It's Been Terrific'' (1953), an autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, originally priced as 10 shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s 6 pence, published by Werner Laurie
* ''This is the Gang Show'' (1957), a history and guide to producing Gang Shows, 247 pages, published by C. Arthur Pearson Limited, London
* ''Ralph Reader Remembers'' (1974), an autobiography
Selected filmography
* '' The Blue Squadron'' (1934)
* '' Limelight'' (1936)
* ''The Gang Show
''The Gang Show'' is a 1937 British musical film about a Boy Scout Troop who stage a variety show to raise funds, when the lease of their meeting place expires.
The film was a vehicle for material from Ralph Reader's Gang Shows that had been ...
'' (1937)
* ''Splinters in the Air
''Splinters in the Air'' (aka, ''Splinters In The Air Force'') is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Alfred J. Goulding and starring Sydney Howard and Richard Hearne. It is a loose sequel to the films '' Splinters'' (1929) and '' Splinters ...
'' (1937)
* '' Derby Day'' (1952)
* ''These Dangerous Years
''These Dangerous Years'' (also known as ''Dangerous Youth'') is a 1957 British drama musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring George Baker, Frankie Vaughan, Carole Lesley, Thora Hird, Kenneth Cope, David Lodge and John Le Mesurier. ...
'' (1957)
References
Bibliography
* Reader, Ralph ''This is The Gang Show'', C. Arthur Pearson Ltd ondon 1957
* Reader, Ralph ''Ralph Reader Remembers'', Bailey Brothers and Swinfen ondon 1975
External links
Londongangshow.org
Audio - Gang show anthem of On the crest of a wave
Material Written By Ralph Reader, Esq. CBE. (PDF)
Ralph Reader, ''Desert Island Disks'', 8 May 1961
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reader, Ralph
1903 births
1982 deaths
Military personnel from Somerset
People from Crewkerne
People from Sussex
Scouting pioneers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award
Royal Air Force officers
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
English theatre managers and producers
English songwriters
English male stage actors
English male film actors
20th-century English male actors
20th-century English musicians
20th-century English businesspeople