Date of Birth : May 26th 1904
English singer and comedian, famous for playing the banjolele, a banjo-like instrument, and performing a variety of light, comical songs. He would eventually become a popular star of stage and screen.
On the death of his father in 1921, Formby abandoned his career as a jockey and started his own music hall career using his father’s material. He originally called himself George Hoy (George Hoy was also his maternal grandfather’s name, who originally came from Newmarket, Suffolk, a famous horseracing town and whose family were involved in racehorse training). In 1924 he married dancer Beryl Ingham, who managed his career (and it is said his personal life to an intolerable degree – see biographies below) until her death in 1960. He allegedly took up the ukulele, for which he was later famous, as a hobby; he first played it on stage for a bet.
Formby endeared himself to his audiences with his cheeky Lancashire humour and folksy north of England persona. In film and on stage, he generally adopted the character of an honest, good-hearted but accident-prone innocent who used the phrases: “It’s turned out nice again!” as an opening line; “Ooh, mother!” when escaping from trouble; and a timid “Never touched me!” after losing a fistfight.
CAREER
Turned Out Nice Again ( 1941 )
