Syd Courtenay was a South African-born British actor and screenwriter. He was a frequent collaborator with the comedian

Leslie Fuller Leslie Fuller (9 October 1888 – 24 April 1948) was a British comedy film actor. Early life Albert Leslie Fuller was born in 1888 at 14 Pollard Row, Bethnal Green, London.Some sources wrongly give his birthplace as Margate, as he had a lifelo ...

. Courtenay first met Fuller in 1919 in

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

and they soon struck up a partnership with routines featuring their comedic character Bill.Sutton p.105 With the arrival of

sound films A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befor ...

they were signed to

British International Pictures Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

and made their first film '' Not So Quiet on the Western Front'' in 1930. They made a large number of films during the 1930s, generally featuring the character of Bill, with Courtenay writing and acting in many of them. He was married to Lola Harvey, who co-wrote a number of films with him.

Selected filmography

Actor

* ''

Why Sailors Leave Home ''Why Sailors Leave Home'' is a 1930 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Leslie Fuller, Peter Bernard and Eve Gray. The screenplay concerns a British sailor on shore leave in the Middle East who ends up being mistaken for a ...

'' (1930) * '' What a Night!'' (1931) * ''

Poor Old Bill ''Poor Old Bill'' is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Leslie Fuller, Iris Ashley and Syd Courtenay. It marked the film debut of a very young Peter Lawford, playing the child of the main character, Bill (Leslie F ...

'' (1931) * '' Bill's Legacy'' (1931) * ''

Kiss Me Sergeant ''Kiss Me Sergeant'' is a 1930 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Leslie Fuller, Gladys Cruickshank and Gladys Frazin. It was based on a play by Syd Courtenay and was sometimes released under the alternative title ''Idol ...

'' (1932) * '' Old Spanish Customers'' (1932) *''

Hawley's of High Street ''Hawley's of High Street'' is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Leslie Fuller, Judy Kelly, Francis Lister and Moore Marriott. Its plot concerns a butcher and a draper who stand for election to the local counci ...

'' (1933) * '' Strictly Illegal'' (1935) * '' Boys Will Be Girls'' (1937) * ''

Cotton Queen ''Cotton Queen'', also known as ''Crying Out Loud'', is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Bernard Vorhaus, and starring Stanley Holloway, Will Fyffe, and Mary Lawson. Production The film was directed by Vorhaus at Elstree Studios for th ...

'' (1937) * '' Sing as You Swing'' (1937)

Director

* '' Darby and Joan'' (1937)

Screenwriter

* '' Old Soldiers Never Die'' (1931) * ''

The Man Behind the Mask ''The Man Behind the Mask'' is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Michael Powell and starring Hugh Williams, Jane Baxter, Ronald Ward, Maurice Schwartz, George Merritt, Henry Oscar and Peter Gawthorne. A man assaults and switches places wi ...

'' (1936)

References

External links

Bibliography

* Sutton, David R. ''A Chorus of Raspberries: British Film Comedy 1929-1939''. University of Exeter Press, 2000. British male film actors British male screenwriters {{UK-film-actor-stub