The English comic, singer and actor George Formby (1904–1961) performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including film, radio and theatre. His career spanned from 1915 until December 1960. During that time he became synonymous with playing "a shy, innocent, gauche, accident-prone Lancashire lad".

Formby began his working life as a jockey but always held an ambition to become a performer. In 1915, against the wishes of his father, Formby made his screen debut in the film By the Shortest of Heads. Upon his father's death in 1921, he began to build a full-time performing career, and worked predominantly on the variety circuit. In 1926 he began his music career, singing light, comical songs, and playing the ukulele or banjolele. From 1934 he increasingly worked in film, and had become a major star by the 1930s and '40s. He appeared on television for the first time in 1938 in the festive special Christmas Greetings. He became the UK's highest-paid entertainer during those decades. The film historian Brian McFarlane writes that Formby portrayed "essentially gormless incompetents, aspiring to various kinds of professional success ... and even more improbably to a middle-class girlfriend, usually in the clutches of some caddish type with a moustache. Invariably he scored on both counts".

During the Second World War Formby joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), and entertained civilians and troops; by 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel. Formby appeared in his final film role in 1946, the commercially unsuccessful George in Civvy Street. He toured Canada, Australia, South Africa and Sweden and appeared on local and national radio during his travels. He continued to record songs and appear on television into the 1950s; on 16 December 1960 he appeared in The Friday Show: George Formby in a farewell programme looking back at his life. His biographer, David Bret, observes that the show is "generally regarded as George's greatest performance—it was certainly his most sincere".

Formby died of a heart attack in 1961. His biographer, the academic Jeffrey Richards, considers that Formby "had been able to embody simultaneously Lancashire, the working classes, the people, and the nation", also observing that "his passing was genuinely and widely mourned".

Filmography

+ Film sequence Title Release Director Studio Plot By the Shortest of Heads Barker Motion Photography A ten-year-old stable hand outwits a gang of villains, and wins a £10,000 prize when he comes first in a horse race. Boots! Boots! Blakeley's Productions A boot boy at a prestigious hotel falls in love with a maid who is a niece of a wealthy hotel guest. Off the Dole Mancunian Film Corporation A work-shy young man is struck off the dole and is employed by his uncle's detective agency, tracking down criminals. No Limit Associated Talking Pictures An amateur racing driver unexpectedly wins the Isle of Man's Tourist Trophy and the heart of a charm-school actress. Keep Your Seats, Please Associated Talking Pictures A desperate boyfriend pawns his banjo in order to help stop his girlfriend's niece from moving into an orphanage. He then discovers that a late aunt left him a large inheritance which proves to be elusive. Feather Your Nest Associated Talking Pictures An incompetent apprentice sound engineer passes off an established performer's song as his own and becomes an overnight star. Keep Fit Associated Talking Pictures A feeble hairdresser takes up boxing and triumphs in the ring over an athletic opponent. I See Ice Associated Talking Pictures A prop man with a touring ice ballet invents a new mini camera concealed in a bow-tie. He inadvertently takes a compromising photo of a crook at work. It's in the Air Associated Talking Pictures A bungling recruit begins his R.A.F. training and gets mistaken for a regularly enlisted airman, much to the annoyance of his strict sergeant major. Trouble Brewing Associated Talking Pictures A young newspaper reporter attempts to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Come On George! Associated Talking Pictures A stable-hand forms a bond with a nervous horse and encourages the animal to become a success on the racecourse. Let George Do It! Associated Talking Pictures A ukulele player is mistaken for a British spy and unwittingly foils a plot by German intelligence agents. Spare a Copper Associated Talking Pictures A policeman during the Second World War foils a plot to destroy a warship. Turned Out Nice Again Associated Talking Pictures An employee at an underwear factory struggles to keep both his modern wife and his battle-axe mother in domestic bliss. South American George Columbia Pictures An eager-to-please show business agent hires a more capable singer in the place of an untalented opera performer. Much Too Shy Columbia Pictures A group of art students help a reserved odd-job man pursue his interest in painting nude portraits. Get Cracking Columbia Pictures A vehicle mechanic converts a truck into a tank and defeats a neighbouring town's villagers in a friendly Home Guard exercise. Bell-Bottom George Columbia Pictures A rejected serviceman loses the affections of his girlfriend. To win her back he pretends to be a sailor and in doing so, foils a sinister plan by a group of spies. His success leads to a rekindling of his relationship and fame among the local community. He Snoops to Conquer Columbia Pictures Two London reporters investigate an alleged corruption case in a sleepy town. They are unwittingly assisted by a local handyman who has been ordered to destroy the evidence by his bosses at the council. I Didn't Do It Columbia Pictures An amateur performer in London stays with other entertainers in a hotel, and becomes a murder suspect when an Australian acrobat is killed in the next room. George in Civvy Street Columbia Pictures A publican falls in love with a waitress from a rival establishment who is also being romantically pursued by her boss.

Stage credits

Formby appeared on stage in numerous variety and music hall performances, although no full record exists. He appeared in variety shows and concerts for troops with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) during the Second World War, as well as in regular winter pantomime in the 1950s, Babes in the Wood at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

+ Stage credits of George Formby Production Role Date Theatre Notes Variety  – Hippodrome, Earlestown, Lancashire First professional appearance; billed as George Hoy Babes in the Wood  – Bolton Christmas pantomime King Cheer  – Opera House Theatre, Blackpool Summer season Royal Variety Performance London Palladium A 12-minute slot Dick Whittington Idle Jack –1942 Opera House Theatre, Blackpool Winter season Zip Goes a Million  – 27 April 1952 Palace Theatre, London Formby was replaced following a heart attack on 28 April 1952 Fun and the Fair  – 19 December 1953 London Palladium 138 performances Turned Out Nice Again  – Hippodrome Theatre, Blackpool Six week run Too Young to Marry –1956 Touring Babes in the Wood Simple Simon  – Liverpool Empire Theatre Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington and His Cat Idle Jack  – February 1957 Palace Theatre, London Beside the Seaside Wilf Pearson  – 31 May 1958 Touring 12 venues, 96 performances

Recordings