Frederick Cliffe Howchin (11 April 1885 – 22 September 1957), known professionally as Fred E. Cliffe, was an English songwriter, best known for his work co-writing songs with Harry Gifford for entertainer George Formby. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and by 1907 had started working in

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 ...

s as a lightning sketch artist. He moved to London, and by 1910 was working as a songwriter with Fred Godfrey and others. His greatest period of success as a writer came in the 1930s, when he teamed up with Harry Gifford to write some of George Formby's most popular songs. These include " Fanlight Fanny" (1935), " With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" (1936), " When I'm Cleaning Windows" (1937), "It’s Turned Out Nice Again" (1939), and "Mr. Wu’s a Window Cleaner Now" (1939), some of which also included Formby's name as a co-writer. "Fred E. Cliffe (1885–1957)", ''FredGodfreySongs.ca''
Retrieved 24 August 2020
Retrieved 24 August 2020 He was married three times, and died in hospital in Taplow,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, in 1957, aged 72, from

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and coronary thrombosis.

References

1885 births 1957 deaths English lyricists {{songwriter-stub