Arthur Askey(1900-1982)
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Arthur Askey was a diminutive British comedian, born in 1900. He began
his professional career as a music hall performer in 1924, but it
wasn't until 1938's
Band Waggon (1940) (which lasted for
three seasons), that he became a household name in England. His
film debut was in the 1937 British feature
Calling All Stars (1937), but
then, in 1939, Band Waggon (1940)
swooped in again and made him a film star with a film following on from
when Arthur and co-star Richard "Stinker" Murdoch were evicted from
their beloved flat. Film stardom carried Arthur through to the
mid-1940s, but it wasn't till 1956 when he starred in another film,
Ramsbottom Rides Again (1956).
He started his own television show:
The Arthur Askey Show (1961),
where, of course, he was the main player and that carried on till his
retirement. He died in 1982.