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Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1866 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
impresario of the British
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...
. As a comedian of
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...
he is credited with popularising the custard-pie-in-the-face gag. During the 1890s, in order to circumvent stage censorship, Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue. Cheeky authority-defying playlets such as ''Jail Birds'' (1895) in which prisoners play tricks on warders and ''Early Birds'' (1899), showing the poverty and realities for the poor of London's East End, can be seen as precursors of movie silent comedy. Many of his comics subsequently worked in film and used Karno material throughout their work. Film producer
Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
stated: "Fred Karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." Among the music hall
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...
s who worked for him were
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
and his understudy, Arthur Stanley Jefferson, who later adopted the name of
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 10 ...
. These were alumni of his comedy companies all of whom trained at his headquarters, The Fun Factory, in Vaughan Road, Camberwell. Such was Karno's fame that his name became associated with any chaotic situation, and the disorganised volunteer soldiers of the Great War labelled themselves "Fred Karno's Army", a phrase still occasionally used in the UK to refer to a chaotic group or organisation. The phrase was also adapted into a trench song in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, to the tune of the
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
"
The Church's One Foundation "The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone. Background The song was written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused by John William Colenso, first Bishop of N ...
". In the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
it was adapted as the Anthem of the Guinea Pig Club, the first line becoming "We are McIndoe's Army ...". The song also features in the musical comedy film ''
Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British comedy musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivie ...
'' (1969).


Biography

Karno was born in
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, England, in 1866. His father was a cabinet maker, although Karno's first career was as a plumber's apprentice. A chance encounter at a gymnasium led to Karno taking up acrobatics, and around 1882 Karno joined forces with an older performer called Olvene, and ran away with the circus. He subsequently worked as a solo acrobat and as part of a troupe called The Four Aubreys. Whilst with the Aubreys he met Edith Cuthbert who worked in the box office at Stockport Theatre Royal. They married in 1889. In 1891 his son, Fred Karno Jr. (born Frederick Arthur Westcott) was born. As a young man he had busked at Molesey near Tagg's Island on London's
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
and in 1912 he leased the island and the existing hotel. He demolished the original hotel and hired architect Frank Matcham to build The Karsino. With the advent of cinema, the music hall's popularity declined and as a result of this decline, Karno went bankrupt in 1927. On 27 May 1927 his wife Edith, from whom he had been separated since 1904, died in her sleep of
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
. Karno then was able to marry his long-time partner, Marie Moore. Karno went to the US in September 1929, and was hired by the Hal Roach Studios as a writer-director, thanks to the support of one of his former protégés,
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 10 ...
. However, his stay at the studio was brief and unsuccessful.
Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
later claimed that Karno's main abilities were as a producer, although in reality Karno appears to have been the victim of cost cutting at the studio following the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
. He left the studio in February 1930 and returned to England later that Spring. On his return to Britain, Karno launched a show called ''Laffs'' which was later licensed by George Black (producer) as the basis of shows for the newly formed Crazy Gang (comedy group). He later helped to write and produce several short films, some of which starred members of the Gang. In 1932 he returned to the theatre with a show called ''Real Life''. a show which launched the career of Frank Randle, Karno's second son Leslie also appeared in the show. Karno spent his last years in southwest England in the village of Lilliput, Dorset, as a part-owner of an off-licence, and died there in 1941 from diabetes, aged 75.


Legacy

Karno was hugely influential on comedy – not least in recruiting and training a generation of comics who went on to fame and fortune in their own right, notably:
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 10 ...
,
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
,
Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...
, Fred Kitchen (entertainer),
Syd Walker Syd or SYD may refer to: *Syd (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Syd.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Hans Sydow (1879–1946), German mycologist * Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ** IATA code for Sydney Airport, New South ...
, Sydney Chaplin,
Eric Campbell (actor) Alfred Eric Campbell (26 April 1879 – 20 December 1917) was a Scottish actor. He was a key member of Charlie Chaplin's film ensemble, invariably playing an intimidating bully, and appeared in eleven of Chaplin's films before he was killed in ...
, Sandy Powell (comedian), Max Miller (comedian), Frank Randle,
Billie Ritchie William Hill, known professionally as Billie Ritchie (5 September 1874 – 6 July 1921), was a Scottish comedian who first gained transatlantic fame as a performer for British music hall producer Fred Karno — thus, a full decade before Stan L ...
,
Billy Bennett (comedian) William Robertson Russell Bennett DCM MM (21 November 1887 – 30 June 1942) was a British comedian who specialised in parodies of dramatic monologues and was billed as "Almost a Gentleman".Midwinter (2004) Life Bennett's father, John Benne ...
, Walter Groves, Billy Reeves, Jimmy Nervo, of
Nervo and Knox Jimmy Nervo and Teddy Knox were part of the original Crazy Gang (comedy group), Crazy Gang. They started their stage careers as an Acrobatics, acrobatic dancing team. They used this ability in many of the earlier Crazy Gang shows. Among their ma ...
, and many more. These comedians were the backbone of British variety throughout the first half of the twentieth century, and many were recruited by fledgling studios in Hollywood as the cream of physical slapstick comedy. Karno was also an innovator: he brought slapstick circus comedy to the music hall and developed possibly the first use of the revolve in Britain, bought together troupes of comics and in so doing developed
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...
; he was instrumental in establishing copyright protections for stage productions against the threat from film; and was a pioneer of adding musical accompaniment to stage slapstick. Karno's reputation and legacy was significantly tarnished by a salacious biography: ''Master of Mirth and Tears'' (1971) by J. P. Gallagher, but this text has now been largely discredited by the 2021 biography by David B Crump: ''Fred Karno, the Legend Behind the Laughter''. The American writer Trav S.D., author of ''No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,'' has proclaimed Crump's biography as "definitive, full of original primary research and then digested and turned into perceptive and entertaining prose", adding "there is a tendency to restrict Karno mentally to the British music hall in which he was so central, and to associate him almost entirely with his two best known creative progeny (Chaplin and Laurel). But that doesn’t do him enough justice. Given the minor fact that between them Chaplin and Laurel largely wrote the rules for screen comedy, it might be well to think of Karno as a
Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...
to their
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
and
Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...
. In that respect, he has hands over all of 20th century culture. Crump’s strongly worded formulation is the one we should all now go by, calling Karno “the most significant exponent of sketch comedy and physical slapstick the stage has ever seen”. Karno's houseboat, the '' Astoria'', on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
at Hampton,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, is now used as a
recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...
by
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
's David Gilmour. On 30 September 2012, the
Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America and the Theatre and Film Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London. The Guild's patrons include Brian Croucher ...
unveiled a commemorative blue plaque to Karno at his former studios at 38 Southwell Road, Camberwell, in south London."Fred Karno Commemorated"
, The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, accessed 30 September 2012
Karno's role in Charlie Chaplin's rise to fame was highlighted in the biopic '' Chaplin'' (1992), where Karno was played by British actor John Thaw. The film included a brief routine based on Karno's sketch ''Mumming Birds''. Karno's comedy companies were the basis of a trilogy of novels by
Chris England Chris England (born 20 January 1961) is an English writer and actor. He is best known for the comedy play ''An Evening with Gary Lineker'', which he wrote with Arthur Smith, and the book ''Balham to Bollywood''. Early life Chris England was ed ...
.


References


Further reading

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External links


The Charlie Hall Picture ArchiveFred Karno Website
*
Fred Karno at the Music Hall Guild of Great BritainPlays by Fred Karno on Great War Theatre website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karno, Fred 1866 births 1941 deaths Businesspeople from Exeter English theatre managers and producers Music hall performers Deaths from diabetes