Dave Willis (Nom de Guerre of David Williams) (1895– 1 January 1973) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He was a major

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

star in the 1930s and the 1940s in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, who came to prominence in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

. The actor

Jerry Desmonde Jerry Desmonde (born James Robert Sadler; 20 July 1908 – 11 February 1967) was an English actor and presenter. He is perhaps best known for his work as a double act, comedic foil in duos with Norman Wisdom and Sid Field. Early life Jerry ...

acted as a stooge to him. He made two films for

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make so ...

co-starring with

Patricia Kirkwood Patricia Kirkwood (24 February 1921 – 25 December 2007) was a British stage actress, singer and dancer who appeared in numerous performances of dramas, cabaret, revues, music hall, variety and pantomimes. She also performed on radio, televi ...

in the late 1930s. The 'Scottish Theatre Archive' describes how a "genial, slightly bemused style of comedy characterised his 'little' man style of comedy". One of his best known songs was "In my wee gas mask" about an ARP warden ("the nicest looking warden in the A.R.P").

Biography

He was born in Glasgow, the son of a butcher. He had appeared in "Half-Past Eight" show at Theatre Royal. In 1943 it ran for 32 weeks, the longest a show had run in Glasgow and a record that he still held at the time of his death. He retired from the stage in 1950. A decade later he was back on stage. He died at his home in

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

on 1 January 1973. His son

Denny Willis Dennis Willis (1920 – 17 March 1995) was a Scottish comedian. Early life Willis was born to comedian and actor Dave Willis, who performed sketches in Scotland in the 1930s. During this time, in Ayr, his father was in the Gaiety Whirl summ ...

was also a music hall performer and incorporated a number of his father's routines into his act.

Filmography

* ''

Save a Little Sunshine ''Save a Little Sunshine'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Norman Lee and starring Dave Willis, Pat Kirkwood and Tommy Trinder. It was written by Victor Kendall, Gilbert Gunn and Vernon Clancey based on the play ''Lights Out at Elev ...

'' (1938) * '' Me and My Pal'' (1939) * ''Slick Tartan'' (1949, short)

References

Bibliography

* Donnelley, Paul. ''Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries''. Omnibus Press, 2000.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Dave 1895 births 1973 deaths Scottish male film actors British music hall performers Scottish male comedians 20th-century Scottish male actors 20th-century Scottish comedians Comedians from Glasgow