George Clarke, born George Henry Broome (11 April 1886 – 21 December 1946) was an English comedian, prominent in music halls and musical revues from the 1910s to the mid-1940s. He began his career as child performer with his father, performing comic patter and dances. After his father's retirement from the stage in 1910 Clarke performed with another comedian, with whom he toured Australia and New Zealand in late 1911 and early 1912. Throughout the years of World War I into the 1920s, Clarke performed in revues in provincial and London theatres, many of them productions by the revue and vaudeville promoter Harry Day. He continued to perform until the mid-1940s in various theatrical productions, including three separate Royal Command Performances. Clarke played the lead roles in two films, performed in New York and toured in South Africa (on three occasions).
George Clarke's signature on-stage persona throughout his career was that of the 'dude comedian', impeccably dressed, often with a monocle and top hat, and delivering his comedic patter in an exaggerated upper-class accent. By the late-1920s Clarke had developed a comedy routine which involved him driving an Austin Seven car on stage, skilfully manoeuvred for dramatic and comedic effect. His car routine became Clarke's best-known comedy sketch, incorporated into a number of productions including Royal Command performances, a theatrical production in New York and a short film made in 1930.
Biography
Early life
George Henry Broome was born on 11 April 1886 at Bromley or Poplar (adjoining districts in inner-city East London), England, the son of George Thomas Broome and Selena (née Hewett).John Parker (compiler & editor) (1939), 'Clarke, George', Who's Who in the Theatre, New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, pages 436-437.Family records, Ancestry.com. His father was an entertainer who had adopted the stage-name of 'George Clarke'. Young George began his career in about 1893-4 as a child performer alongside his father, appearing as "patter comedians and dancers" in British music halls and billed as 'George Clarke and His Half'.Roy Busby (1976), British Music Hall: An Illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the Present Day, London: Paul Elek Ltd. The young boy possibly made his stage debut at the Albert Hall Music Hall in 1894. George's mother, Selina Broome, died in March 1901 at Bethnal Green in London.
A dude comedian
Later, as George grew to adulthood, the father-and-son partnership was billed as 'Clarke and Clements'. In 1910 George's father retired from the stage to become a publican and George (junior) took on the stage-name of 'George Clarke' and adopted the on-stage persona of a 'dude comedian'.ELHS Newsletter, East London History Society, Vol. 2 No. 14, Spring 2006; available on-line (accessed 22 December 2024). The 'dude comedian' was a popular on-stage persona in music hall tradition, a working-class send-up of the upper classes, embodied as the well-dressed toff with monocle and top hat who indulged in routines of verbal nonsense.Jeffrey Richards (1994), Stars in Our Eyes: Lancashire Stars of Stage, Screen and Radio, Preston: Lancashire County Books, pages 28-29. In a summary of his career published in The Performer magazine in 1946, it was said of Clarke: "He was a master in the art of giving full rein to the most priceless verbal inanities, was always impeccably attired on the stage, and with his monocle typified the 'silly ass' character so vastly enjoyed by the average man in the street".
After his father retired from the stage Clarke teamed up with another comedian named Harold Price, who used the stage-name of 'Tom Mostol'. The two were billed as 'Clarke and Mostol', described as "fine patter comedians and dancers". Within a short period of time they had established themselves, performing in British music halls and variety shows.'In Bankruptcy', The Times (London), 8 November 1916, page 3.Amusements, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 5 August 1911, page 17. In early 1911 Clarke and Mostol were engaged for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by the theatrical entrepreneur Harry Rickards, who had established a circuit of touring vaudeville acts in Australia, involving theatres he both owned and leased, known as the 'Tivoli circuit'.Amusements, The Register (Adelaide), 2 August 1911, page 8; Dramatic Notes, The Register, 26 August 1911, page 5. Rickard visited England each year for the purpose of visiting music halls to identify and engage acts for the Australian variety stage.Martha Rutledge (1988), Harry Rickards (1843–1911), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biology, Australian National University; accessed 22 December 2024.Amusements, Evening News (Sydney), 21 August 1911, page 4.
George Clarke married Isabelle Markey at Lambeth on 21 June 1911, a week before his departure for Australia.'Australia', Variety, 14 October 1911, page 30. Isabelle was an actress who used the stage-name 'Mamie Watson'.Mamie Watson (1889-1964), IMDb website; accessed 24 December 2024.
Australasian tour
George Clarke and Tom Mostol arrived at Adelaide from London aboard the steamer R.M.S. Mongolia and made their Australian debut on 5 August 1911 at Adelaide's Tivoli Theatre.Shipping News, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 7 August 1911, page 6. A reviewer for The Bulletin commented that Clarke and Mostol "have nothing new to show, but their step-dancing, single or double, is very good, and their cross-talk amusing". The writer gave an example of their comedic patter: "I planted a dead cat in my garden, and up came – a sanitary inspector".Sundry Shows, The Bulletin, 17 August 1911, page 8. After a fortnight in Adelaide the two comedians travelled to Sydney and made their first appearance at the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney on 19 August.Sydney Shows, Punch (Melbourne), 24 August 1811, page 37. A reviewer for a Sydney newspaper described their act: "Made up as dudes, they succeeded with their comedy dances and clever patter in keeping the audience in shrieks of laughter, while their exhibition of fine dancing fairly 'brought down the house'". Another reviewer described Clarke and Mostol's performance as "a sort of brief Baccanalia of mirth and motion". The writer singled out Clarke as the more accomplished of the two entertainers: "... but the gentleman with the giggle and the eyeglass is perhaps the easier, the less strained, of the two".Tivoli Theatre, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 August 1911, page 4. Clarke and Mostol were featured in the programme of acts presented by Rickards at the Opera House in Melbourne from early October 1911.Opera House, Punch (Melbourne), 12 October 1911, page 37.
From late-October 1911 Clarke and Mostol toured in New Zealand as part of The Harry Rickards' Tivoli Vaudeville Combination. Rickards' variety show performed in various theatres in New Zealand for two months.Amusements, Auckland Star, 23 October 1911, page 12; Harry Rickards' Vaudeville Co, Manawatu Times, 13 November 1911, page 4.Mimes and Mummers, Star (Christchurch), 21 December 1911, page 2. During January 1911 Clarke and Mostol returned to the Tivoli in Sydney and the Opera House in Melbourne.Amusements, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 January 1912, page 10.Dramatic Notes, The Australasian (Melbourne), 27 January 1912, page 28. From early February 1912 Clarke and Mostol performed at the Melrose Theatre in Perth in a programme of vaudeville items and "animated pictures". A reviewer wrote that the pair "gave astonishing exhibitions of rapid dancing" and described their patter as "diverting", with a "freshness about some of their jokes that was distinctly pleasing".Entertainments, The West Australian (Perth), 6 February 1912, page 6. The comedy duo made their final Australian appearance on 19 February 1912.Amusements, The West Australian (Perth), 17 February 1912, page 2.
Theatrical revues
In June 1913 Clarke played the character of 'Hon. G. P. Washington' in the revue Step This Way! at the Oxford Music Hall in Westminster, London. After two months the production moved to the Pavilion Theatre in London's East End where it had a successful run.London, Variety, 15 August 1913, page 17; London's Show Season Has Very Good Start, Variety, 3 October 1913, page 7. During 1914 Clarke toured with the company performing Hullo Everybody!, a production of the revue and vaudeville promoter Harry Day. In late-October 1916 it was reported that a Harry Day production, Hip! Hip! Hooray! at the Ilford Hippodrome, was to feature George Clarke, "the inimitable dude comedian".'The Stage', The Jewish Chronicle, 27 October 1916, page 27. Clark became a regular performer in revues produced by Harry Day throughout the war years and into the mid-1920s.
In early 1917 Clarke was a cast-member of Zig-Zag! at the London Hippodrome. The successful revue opened on 29 January and ran for 648 performances.Zig-Zag!, The Guide to Musical Theatre website; accessed 23 December 2024. He appeared in Here and There at the Empire Theatre in November 1917. In 1918 Clarke again appeared at the Hippodrome in Box o'Tricks. In about September that year he appeared in a production of Zig-Zag!, staged at the Folies Bergère in Paris.'New Productions', The Times (London), 5 August 1918, page 9.
During 1919 Clarke was a member of the touring company of the Harry Day musical comedy On the Wing, with Clarke and Isabelle Dillon in the leading roles. The production was a success and ended up playing in London's West End by the end of the year."On the Wing" Flies High, The New York Clipper, 31 December 1919, page 14. In 1921 Clarke appeared in the revues Hullo Everybody! and Spangles, both Harry Day productions.
In March 1923 Clarke received top billing in the Harry Day revue Radios at the London Palladium. A reviewer for The Times described him as "a tremendous worker and a really clever comedian", adding: "Why he has been so long out of London at a time when the chief complaint about some of our revues is concerned with their lack of humour is a question which seems to call for an answer". Clarke's apparel in the show included "immaculate evening clothes" and "the dude's familiar equipment of a monocle".'Radios at the Palladium', The Times (London), 6 March 1923, page 12. By mid-April Radios was playing in the Empire Theatre in Bristol.London, Variety, 13 May 1925, page 11. In July 1924 it was reported that Clarke was both the manager and "chief comedian" of the revue.Music and the Cinema, The Cinema, 31 July 1924, page 19.
George Clarke performed in the Harry Day revue Records during 1925. In December 1925 he played the 'first shepherd' (alongside John Gielgud as the 'second shepherd') in E. K. Chambers's Old English Nativity Play at Daly's Theatre in London.David Pickering (editor), International Dictionary of Theatre - 3: Actors, Directors and Designers, Detroit: St. James Press, page 301. In February 1926 Clarke performed in Charles Gulliver's musical revue Palladium Pleasures at the Palladium Theatre. At a time when American productions and actors were pervasive in London's entertainment scene, Palladium Pleasures was advertised as "an all-British revue, produced, staged and written by Britons, with even dress designing and scene painting by British artists".London As It Looks, Variety, 24 February 1926, page 10.
In 1927-28 Clarke played the character of 'Harry Bassett' in a touring production of the musical Lido Lady (with songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart). In 1928 he toured in Vogues and Vanities.
The car sketch