William Edward Evans (29 May 1866 – 11 April 1931) was an English actor, comedian and playwright. He was well-known as a performer in

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 and

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically avai ...

films, and appeared in West End musical shows. As a writer his biggest success was the

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 ...

'' Tons of Money'' which opened in 1922 and ran for more than 700 performances.

Life and career

Evans was born in London in 1866, the son of Frederick William Evans, a well-known clown and acrobat. Will's older brother, Fred Evans, was the father of the popular comedian of the First World War era, also named Fred Evans."About Will Evans", ''ArthurLloyd.co.uk''
Retrieved 30 September 2020 Will Evans made his first appearance on the stage at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

on 26 December 1881, as an animal impersonator in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

''Robinson Crusoe'', also appearing with his father in the

harlequinade ''Harlequinade'' is a British comic theatrical genre, defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th cent ...

of the show. For several years he toured with his father's pantomime troupe, and was part of a musical trio with his brother Fred. He returned to the London stage in March 1890, and appeared with his first wife, Ada Luxmore, as Evans and Luxmore, in an eccentric musical turn, at most of the principal London

s.Mander and Mitchenson, p. 119 After his wife's death in 1897, he continued to perform as a solo comedian, specialising in farcical domestic sketches such as "Building a Chicken House", "Whitewashing the Ceiling", and "Papering a House", often with a

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...

, Arthur Conquest.St Pierre, pp. 25–26 He appeared in burlesque sketches of his own devising in venues throughout the United Kingdom, and in the United States, Russia, Italy, France, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany.Parker, p. 304 From 1899, he made short silent comic films, such as ''The Music Eccentric'' in which he performed

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

, tumbling out of and back into the frame. He also made films of his most popular stage sketches. In 1914, he founded the Sunny South and Sealight Film Company in

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...

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 ...

, and worked with Conquest and designer F. L. Lyndhurst on re-makes of his earlier films as well as new films, including ''The Showman's Dream'' (1914). He appeared in the annual Drury Lane pantomime for ten years from 1910 to 1919, as a

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of ''travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else ...

. He was in several West End musical shows: ''After the Girl'' (1914), ''Half-past Eight'' (1916) and ''We're All In It'' (1916). He went on a tour of Australian variety theatres in 1923–24; on returning to England he toured in ''The Other Mr. Gibbs'' (1924) of which he was co-author with R. Guy Reeve. His most successful show as a writer was '' Tons of Money'' (1922), co-written with Valentine, which ran for 737 performances in London, and was filmed in 1924 and again in 1930."Tons of Money (1930)", ''BFI''
/ref> Evans's last stage appearance in London was at the Scala, where he played in ''Cinderella''.Obituary, ''The Times'', 13 April 1931, p. 14 He gave several broadcast performances. He died at his home in London on 11 April 1931, aged 64.

Notes

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External links

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Will Evans at BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Will 1866 births 1931 deaths 20th-century British male actors 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Music hall performers Silent film comedians