- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGeorge Hoy Booth
- Nickname
- Ukulele George
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Born George Hoy Booth in Wigan, Lancashire on 26 May 1904, he later took his father's stage name of George Formby. He briefly attended school where he failed to learn to read or write so was removed from formal education and sent to become a stable boy in Middleham, North Yorkshire, where he later became an apprentice jockey. In 1915 with the closure of the English racing season because of the First World War he moved to Ireland and continued as a jockey until the end of hostilities. Returning to England he raced for Lord Derby's Newmarket stables where he never won a race. Following his father's death in 1921 he gave his professional two week appearance at the Hippodrome in Lancashire where he was paid £5 a week and soon after hired to appear on the Moss Empire chain of theatres at £17 10 shillings a week. Touring around venues in Northern England his act didn't go down well resulting in bouts of unemployment. In 1923 he made two career changing decisions - he bought a ukulele and married Beryl Ingham, an Acrington, Lancashire, born champion champion clog dancer and actress who transformed his act. She insisted he appear on stage formally dressed and introduce his ukulele to his performance.. By June 1926 he'd started his recording career and from 1934 he was increasingly working in films developing into a major star by the late '30's and becoming the U.K.'s most popular and highest paid entertainer. During WWII he worked extensively for the ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) entertaining civilians and troops and touring factories, theatres and concert halls. By 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel. After the war his career declined although he toured the commonwealth and continued to appear in variety and pantomime. His last television appearance was in December 1960, two weeks before the death of Beryl. Seven weeks after her funeral he announced his engagement to a school teacher but died in Preston three weeks later at the age of 56. He was buried in Warrington alongside his father.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- The show business career of George Formby spanned 40 years starting in 1921 until his death in 1961, During that period he appeared in 21 hit films and made over 230 records and made hundreds of stage performances including two Royal Command Performances and entertained an estimated 3 million Allied service men and women during War !! throughout Europe and the Middle East, His success was a combination of personality, natural ability and talent coupled with the driving force of his wife, Beryl as his manager, With his natural warmth and friendliness he could hold an audience in the palm of his hand as he sang and played the ukulele leaving his audiences always calling for more, He wrote or helped to write over 300 songs man flavoured with his own brand of English North Country Humour, He was well known for playing the Banjo Ukulele, a hybrid instrument combining the Hawaiian ukulele and the large American Banjo which he christened the Banjulele, He was born George Hoy Booth on 26 May 1904 in Wigan, Lancashire, the eldest of seven children having 4 sisters and 2 brothers, His father, George Formby Senior, whose real name was James Booth was already a famous stage actor and comedian when young George was born, and he never wanted any of his family to enter show business so young George was sent to become an apprentice jockey at 7, He rode his first professional race at 10 weighing only 3 stone 13 pounds, When his father died suddenly in 1921 and being too heavy to continue horse racing and encouraged by his mother he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps, so took to the stage calling himself George Hoy (his mothers maiden name ) The results were disastrous After 2 years learning the business and marrying Beryl he met an actor who strummed a banjo ukulele for fun between shows and sold it to George who quickly learned a couple of songs and on a bet played it at the Alhambra in Barnsley and brought the house down, From then on he and the Uke were inseparable, In 1932 he made a record, the A side being Do De O Do and the B side Chinese Blues and it was that side that became all the rage causing George to adopt it as his signature tune which he renamed Chinese Laundry Blues complete with Mr Wu, In 1934 he made his film debut in Boots Boots which launched his film career and a contract to make 11 more resulting in him becoming the most popular British entertainer and earning some £100,000 a year, Another contract with Columbia earned him a further "£500,000, He continued to entertain throughout the war as part of ENSA going through Europe and the Middle East and was on of the first entertainers into Normandy after the invasion where he was personally invited by General Montgomery to entertain the front line troops,, After the war he toured and entertained throughout the world, In 1951 he was offered the pat of Percy Piggott in the musical show Zip Goes a Million based on the play Brewsters Millions which was acclaimed when it opened in the West End but 6 months into the run George suffered a heart attack causing him to leave the show. After 18 months rest he started to do one night stands and seaside Summer shows and pantomime easing himself back into work, In 1960 he made his last record, Happy Gio Lucky Me and in the December did what was to be his last television programme - a 40 minute one man show called The Friday Show in which he admitted that Beryl had been the driving force behind his success, that he couldn't read or write properly, that he didn't understand music and that he regretted not having children. Beryl watched the programme from her sickbed where she was dying from leukemia but she was still able to criticise George's performance. A few months after her death George announced his engagement to Patricia Howson, a 36 year old schoolteacher who he knew from having bought cars from her father's garage, The wedding was planned for early Spring but George had another heart attack and although he seemed to be recovering he died on 6 March 1961 aged 56 He was buried in Warrington Cemetery in the family grave attended by some 100,000 mourners lining the streets, He lived at St Annes, near Blackpool- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpouseBeryl Formby(September 1924 - December 24, 1960) (her death)
- He had never been to school and couldn't read or write. His wife and manager, Beryl Formby, had to rehearse him through every line he ever spoke on the stage or on film, and all the songs, too.
- In 1946 he and wife Beryl Formby arrived in South Africa to embark on a tour when they discovered that they would have to play to segregated audiences. They objected strongly, resulting in the South African authorities throwing them out of the country.
- In October 1936 he made a £5 wager with his producer friend, Jack Taylor, that he could climb the 500-foot Blackpool Tower by its intricate inner network of staircases and ladders.On the morning of the climb there was a crowd of some 6,000 waiting for him. By that time, though, he had received telegrams from his manager and the General Manager of ATP, the company that produced his films, stating that if he went ahead with the climb his contracts would be immediately canceled. He told the assembled crowd and the waiting reporters that he couldn't lose £50,000 for a £5 quid bet and that the bets would be given to the local hospital--and that the sad thing was that he could have done it.
- His father George Formby Sr. was a member of a music hall troupe that included a young Charles Chaplin and it was George's father's insistence that Charlie should try his luck in the US.
- He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1946 King's Birthday Honours List for his services to the Forces during World War II.
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