Will Hay
Encyclopedia
William Thomson "Will" Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English
comedian
, actor
, film director
and amateur astronomer
.
, in north east England
, to William R. Hay and his wife Elizabeth, but moved to Suffolk
at an early age.
Hay was educated at Gardner Street Higher Grade School in Pendleton
, a suburb of Salford
— then in Lancashire
, but now within Greater Manchester
.
doing it in a film. Later, he took up acting. He had a relatively brief screen career: by the time he made his first film
he was in his mid-40s and an established music hall
artist
, and his last role came less than a decade later. But between 1934 and 1943 he was a prolific and popular film comedian. He was credited on several films as a writer or co-ordinator, and was arguably the dominant" author" of all the films in which he appeared, in that they were built around his persona and depended on the character and routines he had developed over years on the stage
.
He worked at the British film studios of Elstree
, then Gainsborough
, then Ealing
; the Gainsborough period was the most consistently successful, particularly when he worked with the team of Marcel Varnel
(director
), Val Guest
and Marriott Edgar
(writers), and Moore Marriott
and Graham Moffatt
(supporting cast) - as on the railway film Oh, Mr Porter!
(1937), his most fondly remembered picture with its catchphrase, 'The next train's gone!', spoken by Marriott as the decrepit old deputy stationmaster. Hay decided to break up the partnership with Moffatt and Marriott and brought in Claude Hulbert
as his side-kick for The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941). The Goose Steps Out
for Ealing (1942) was an effective anti-Nazi
piece of slapstick
, and while he was never quite the same again without Moffatt and Marriott, My Learned Friend
(1943) again with Hulbert, is considered a masterpiece of black comedy
which some regard as his best.
. There, St. Michael's schoolmaster Dr. Muffin (referred to by his students as Old Crumpet) barely kept a kind of order from his desk, perched slightly higher from his unruly students, Charles Hawtrey
who played the cheeky Smart (later to go on to the Carry On films
), John Clark, a child actor who played the annoying swot D'arcy Minor (later to gain fame as Just William
), and an air force recruit, Billy Nichols, who on his days off played the really dumb schoolboy, Beckett. The series lasted about four months, and was prematurely cancelled, owing, it was said, to a dispute with the BBC
over scripts. But it found a continuing life on the music hall stage, at the top of the bill at London's Victoria Palace
.
The cast was brought together one last time for an all variety anticipatory celebration at midnight on 4 May 1945 for the Royal Family and many military notables at a private function at the Life Guards
barracks in Windsor
, which featured the leading comics of the day. The war in Europe ended just four days later. This may also have been Will Hay's last performance prior to his illness, and his son Will Hay, Jr. carried on his father's act for a while.
. His personal observatory sat in his garden in Mill Hill, the dome very visible from the main Hendon Road. He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
in 1932. He is noted for having discovered a white spot on the planet Saturn
in 1933; the spot lasted for a few months and then faded. He also measured the positions of comet
s with a micrometer
he built himself, and designed and built a blink comparator
. He wrote the book Through My Telescope in 1935, which had an impressive foreword by Sir Richard Gregory FRS, formerly Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Queen's College, London. At Hay's death, a few items of his equipment were bequeathed to the British Astronomical Association
.
He was also one of Britain's first private pilots
and gave flying lessons to Amy Johnson
. In 1942, as part of the war effort, he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), serving in the Special Branch as a sub-lieutenant. He was able to put his hobby to practical use when he later became an instructor in astronomy and navigation with the Sea Cadet Corps.
He was a polyglot
and, before entering the acting profession full time, was an accomplished translator - fluent in French
, German
, Latin
, Italian
, Norwegian
and Afrikaans
.
As a favourite trick for his friends, he would write rapidly seeming nonsense on a blackboard
, look at it thoughtfully for a minute with a puzzled expression, then turn the blackboard upside down and there would be a perfectly written statement of some kind. And he could take someone's dictation, and repeat the trick.
He married Gladys Perkins in 1907 but legally separated on 18 November 1935. They had two daughters and a son: Gladys Elspeth Hay (b. 1909), William E. Hay (b. 1913), and Joan A. Hay (b. 1917).
In 1947, Hay suffered a stroke
which left him physically disabled. He died at his flat in Chelsea
, London
after a further stroke in 1949 and is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London
SW16.
Will Hay's grave is cared for by the theatre charity The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
.
Early life
He was born in Stockton-on-TeesStockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
, in north east England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to William R. Hay and his wife Elizabeth, but moved to Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
at an early age.
Hay was educated at Gardner Street Higher Grade School in Pendleton
Pendleton, Greater Manchester
Pendleton is an inner city area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is about from Manchester city centre. The A6 dual carriageway skirts the east of the district....
, a suburb of Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
— then in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, but now within Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
.
Stage and Film career
Hay was trained as an engineer and joined a firm of engineers but at the age of 21 he gave up that profession for the stage, starting in Manchester, as a juggler, self-taught after seeing W C FieldsW. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
doing it in a film. Later, he took up acting. He had a relatively brief screen career: by the time he made his first film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
he was in his mid-40s and an established music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, and his last role came less than a decade later. But between 1934 and 1943 he was a prolific and popular film comedian. He was credited on several films as a writer or co-ordinator, and was arguably the dominant
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
.
He worked at the British film studios of Elstree
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, then Gainsborough
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
, then Ealing
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
; the Gainsborough period was the most consistently successful, particularly when he worked with the team of Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel was a film director. He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France.Varnel started his working life on the Paris stage but soon became a director of musical comedies. In 1925 he moved to New York working as director in several Broadway operettas, musicals and dramas for the...
(director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
), Val Guest
Val Guest
Val Guest was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s.-Early life and career:He was born Valmond Maurice...
and Marriott Edgar
Marriott Edgar
Marriott Edgar , born George Marriot Edgar in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, was a poet, scriptwriter and comedian best known for writing many of the monologues performed by Stanley Holloway, particularly the 'Albert' series....
(writers), and Moore Marriott
Moore Marriott
Moore Marriott was a British character actor most notable for a series of films he made with Will Hay in the 1930s.-Career:...
and Graham Moffatt
Graham Moffatt
Graham Moffatt was a British character actor and comedian.Born in Hammersmith, London, he is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': an insolent, overweight, overgrown-schoolboy type character, loosely reminiscent of Billy Bunter.His first...
(supporting cast) - as on the railway film Oh, Mr Porter!
Oh, Mr Porter!
Oh, Mr Porter! is a British comedy film starring Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel. While not his most commercially successful, it is probably his best-known film to modern audiences...
(1937), his most fondly remembered picture with its catchphrase, 'The next train's gone!', spoken by Marriott as the decrepit old deputy stationmaster. Hay decided to break up the partnership with Moffatt and Marriott and brought in Claude Hulbert
Claude Hulbert
Claude Noel Hulbert was a British comic actor. He was the younger brother of Jack Hulbert. Like his brother, he was Cambridge educated and was a member of the Footlights comedy club as an undergraduate....
as his side-kick for The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941). The Goose Steps Out
The Goose Steps Out
The Goose Steps Out is a British comedy film released in 1942. This film starred, and was co-directed by, the British comedian Will Hay.The film's title refers to the Nazis' vigorous ceremonial marching, called "goose-stepping".-Plot summary:...
for Ealing (1942) was an effective anti-Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
piece of slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
, and while he was never quite the same again without Moffatt and Marriott, My Learned Friend
My Learned Friend
My Learned Friend is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden, co-directed with regular collaborator Will Hay and starring Ronald Shiner as the Man in Wilson's café, Will Hay as William Fitch and Charles Victor as "Safety" Wilson. It was produced by Michael Balcon,...
(1943) again with Hulbert, is considered a masterpiece of black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
which some regard as his best.
Radio career
The half hour weekly Will Hay Programme began in August 1944, and was broadcast live from the Paris Cinema, which still exists in a basement just off Piccadilly CircusPiccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
. There, St. Michael's schoolmaster Dr. Muffin (referred to by his students as Old Crumpet) barely kept a kind of order from his desk, perched slightly higher from his unruly students, Charles Hawtrey
Charles Hawtrey (film actor)
George Frederick Joffre Hartree , known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English comedy actor and musician.Beginning at a young age as a boy soprano, he made several records before moving on to the radio...
who played the cheeky Smart (later to go on to the Carry On films
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
), John Clark, a child actor who played the annoying swot D'arcy Minor (later to gain fame as Just William
Just William
Just William is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for numerous television series, films and radio adaptations...
), and an air force recruit, Billy Nichols, who on his days off played the really dumb schoolboy, Beckett. The series lasted about four months, and was prematurely cancelled, owing, it was said, to a dispute with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
over scripts. But it found a continuing life on the music hall stage, at the top of the bill at London's Victoria Palace
Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station.-Origins:The theatre began life as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a small hotel and tavern built in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge...
.
The cast was brought together one last time for an all variety anticipatory celebration at midnight on 4 May 1945 for the Royal Family and many military notables at a private function at the Life Guards
Life Guards (British Army)
The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and with the Blues and Royals, they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards which were raised some...
barracks in Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, which featured the leading comics of the day. The war in Europe ended just four days later. This may also have been Will Hay's last performance prior to his illness, and his son Will Hay, Jr. carried on his father's act for a while.
Private life
Aside from his day job as a comedian, Hay was a dedicated and respected amateur astronomerAstronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
. His personal observatory sat in his garden in Mill Hill, the dome very visible from the main Hendon Road. He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
in 1932. He is noted for having discovered a white spot on the planet Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
in 1933; the spot lasted for a few months and then faded. He also measured the positions of comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
s with a micrometer
Micrometer
A micrometer , sometimes known as a micrometer screw gauge, is a device incorporating a calibrated screw used widely for precise measurement of small distances in mechanical engineering and machining as well as most mechanical trades, along with other metrological instruments such as dial, vernier,...
he built himself, and designed and built a blink comparator
Blink comparator
A blink comparator was a viewing apparatus used by astronomers to find differences between two photographs of the night sky shot using optical telescopes such as astrographs. It permitted rapidly switching from viewing one photograph to viewing the other, "blinking" back and forth between the two...
. He wrote the book Through My Telescope in 1935, which had an impressive foreword by Sir Richard Gregory FRS, formerly Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Queen's College, London. At Hay's death, a few items of his equipment were bequeathed to the British Astronomical Association
British Astronomical Association
The British Astronomical Association is the senior national association of amateur astronomers in the UK.-Function:It encourages observational astronomy by non-professionals in areas which cannot be covered by professional observatories...
.
He was also one of Britain's first private pilots
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and gave flying lessons to Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
. In 1942, as part of the war effort, he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), serving in the Special Branch as a sub-lieutenant. He was able to put his hobby to practical use when he later became an instructor in astronomy and navigation with the Sea Cadet Corps.
He was a polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
and, before entering the acting profession full time, was an accomplished translator - fluent in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
and Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
.
As a favourite trick for his friends, he would write rapidly seeming nonsense on a blackboard
Blackboard
A chalkboard is a reusable writing surface.Blackboard may also refer to:* Blackboards are synonymous with "boards of infamy", an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor...
, look at it thoughtfully for a minute with a puzzled expression, then turn the blackboard upside down and there would be a perfectly written statement of some kind. And he could take someone's dictation, and repeat the trick.
He married Gladys Perkins in 1907 but legally separated on 18 November 1935. They had two daughters and a son: Gladys Elspeth Hay (b. 1909), William E. Hay (b. 1913), and Joan A. Hay (b. 1917).
In 1947, Hay suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
which left him physically disabled. He died at his flat in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
after a further stroke in 1949 and is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
SW16.
Will Hay's grave is cared for by the theatre charity The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London and was founded by Adrian Barry in 1992...
.
Filmography
- Playmates (Around the Town)Playmates (Around the Town)A silent clip of a young Will Hay playing with a girl and some mechanical toys, from his revue 'Listening In'.-Synopsis:Introducing some clever mechanical toys, M'lita Dolores dressed as a young girl, stands on steps in front of a door - enter Will Hay dressed as a schoolboy. They show each other a...
(1922) (A silent short) - Know Your Apples (1933) (A short and lost filmLost filmA lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
) - Those Were The DaysThose Were the Days (1934 film)Those were the Days is a film primarily remembered as Will Hay's first major film role. It was based on the farce The Magistrate written by playwright Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, and was the first of two Hay movies that were based Pinero's plays, the other being Dandy Dick...
(1934) - Radio Parade of 1935Radio Parade of 1935Radio Parade of 1935 , released in the USA as Radio Follies, is a British comedy film directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Will Hay, Clifford Mollison and Helen Chandler.-Plot:...
(1934) - Dandy DickDandy DickDandy Dick is a 1935 British comedy film starring Will Hay. It was based on the 1887 play Dandy Dick by Arthur Wing Pinero. It is the second and last of his films to be based on a play by Pinero – the first was Those Were the Days which was based on The Magistrate.-Plot:A vicar who lives in...
(1935) - Boys Will Be Boys (1935)
- Windbag the SailorWindbag the SailorWindbag the Sailor is a British comedy film directed by William Beaudine, starring Will Hay in the title role. Ben Cutlet is a sea captain who entertains his bar room audience with tales of his days at sea, even though in reality his maritime experience extends only to navigating a coal barge...
(1936) - Where There's a Will (1936)
- Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)
- Good Morning, BoysGood Morning, BoysGood Morning, Boys is a 1937 British comedy film featuring Will Hay, Martita Hunt, Lilli Palmer and Peter Gawthorne.-Plot outline:Will Hay plays the roguish headmaster, Dr Twist, of a dubious boarding school for boys. Twist bets on the horses with his pupils and teaches them little...
(1937) - Hey! Hey! USA!Hey! Hey! USA!Hey! Hey! USA is a 1938 British comedy film starring comedian Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie Ryan. Hay appears as Benjamin Twist, a porter who accidentally finds himself on a ship bound for the United States.-Plot outline:...
(1938) - Old Bones of the RiverOld Bones of the RiverOld Bones of the River is a comedy film released in 1938 starring British actor Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel...
(1938) - Ask A PolicemanAsk A PolicemanAsk a Policeman is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel which stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. The title comes from the popular music hall song Ask a Policeman. The Turnbottom Round police force are threatened with dismissal by their Chief Constable and decide to...
(1939) - Convict 99Convict 99Convict 99 is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring British comedian Will Hay and Googie Withers.-Synopsis:Incompetent Dr Benjamin Twist is dismissed from his job as headmaster at St. Michaels' School Convict 99 is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel...
(1939) - The Big BlockadeThe Big BlockadeThe Big Blockade is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy-drama, propaganda film, war film, directed by Charles Frend and starring Will Hay, Ronald Shiner as the Shipping Clerk and John Mills. It was produced by Ealing Studios...
(1940) - Where's That Fire?Where's That Fire?Where's That Fire? is a 1940 British comedy film, produced by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt.-Synopsis:...
(1940) - The Ghost of St. Michael'sThe Ghost of St. Michael'sThe Ghost of St. Michael’s is a 1941 British comedy-thriller film, produced by Ealing Studios.-Plot:An ineffectual science teacher William Lamb is hired by a school recently transferred because of World War II to the remote Dunbain Castle on the Isle of Skye, Scotland...
(1941) - Go to Blazes (1942)
- The Goose Steps OutThe Goose Steps OutThe Goose Steps Out is a British comedy film released in 1942. This film starred, and was co-directed by, the British comedian Will Hay.The film's title refers to the Nazis' vigorous ceremonial marching, called "goose-stepping".-Plot summary:...
(1942) - The Black Sheep of WhitehallThe Black Sheep of WhitehallThe Black Sheep of Whitehall is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy, war film, directed by Will Hay and Basil Dearden, and; starring Will Hay as Professor Will Davis, John Mills and Basil Sydney...
(1942) - My Learned FriendMy Learned FriendMy Learned Friend is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden, co-directed with regular collaborator Will Hay and starring Ronald Shiner as the Man in Wilson's café, Will Hay as William Fitch and Charles Victor as "Safety" Wilson. It was produced by Michael Balcon,...
(1943)
See also
- Radio comedyRadio comedyRadio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
- Cinema of the United KingdomCinema of the United KingdomThe United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
- List of British actors and actresses
- English film directorsEnglish film directorsThis is a list of film directors and television directors who were born in the United Kingdom, or lived and/or worked in the UK for a significant part of their career...
Further reading
- Will Hay by Graham Rinaldi with foreword by Ken Dodd, Tomahawk Press, 2009
External links
- Will Hay.Comic Genius
- Astronomical obituary MNRAS 110 (1950) 130 - NB: this biography wrongly gives Hay's middle name as Thompson - it was Thomson
- The Next Train's Gone: Will Hay pages including bio and audio