Hal Roach (4 November 1927 – 28 February 2012) was a prominent Irish

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 ...

. He spent over 60 years in show business as a live performer, having also recorded albums, DVDs and was featured in the ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' for the longest-running engagement of a comedian at the same venue: 26 years at Jury's Irish Cabaret, Jury's

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely situated north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the ...

Hotel,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Despite having the same first and last name, he is not related to the pioneering comedy film producer of the same name known for his work with

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

The Little Rascals ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

, and

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

. Coincidentally, both people of the same first and last name are known for comedy.

Early life

Born John Roche in

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, where he attended the Manor Christian Brothers school, Roche began his career after winning a local talent competition as a boy

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. He initially toured with an illusionist and specialised in magic, but later moved to comedy.

Comedy

A typical Hal Roach joke is as follows: "He told me that I have a cult following, at least I think that's what he said". Another- "There is a man sitting in the middle of the road casting his fishing line... now none of us is perfect, but c'mon! So I asked him, "How many have you caught today?" He said, "You're the ninth." Perhaps his most famous catchphrase is "Write it down, it's a good one!". He was a regular panelist on the 1970s

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

television show ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' which was based on the original American version of the same name. Roach has been cited as a major influence by other comedians such as

Brendan Grace Brendan Grace (1 April 1951 – 11 July 2019) was an Irish comedian and singer. He portrayed the comedy schoolboy character 'Bottler', appeared in the 1995 film ''Moondance'', and played Father Fintan Stack in the Irish TV sitcom ''Father Ted' ...

. Roach was popular particularly with American tourists visiting Ireland. His act played heavily on traditional tourist imagery of Ireland and on Irish jokes. Several of his shows have been released on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

and CD, and they are popular with

tour bus A tour bus service is an escorted tour (sometimes a package holiday) or bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions. Information Double-decker buses and open top buses are commonly used, for provid ...

drivers in several English-speaking countries who play them to passengers to help pass the time between destinations.

Death

After suffering from a long bout of ill health, Roach died on 28 February 2012. The following month, RTÉ broadcast a tribute to Roach in one of its

graveyard slot A graveyard slot (or death slot) is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots are usually situated in the ea ...

s, a repeat airing of a programme from the ''That's Entertainment'' series first broadcast in 1972.

Recordings

Albums

*''The King of Blarney'' Irish Records *''We Irish Talk Like That'' Irish Records/Ceol *''He Must Be Joking'' Irish Records/Ceol/Rajon *''I Think I'm Having One of My Turns'' Cabaret Records *''An Audience With'' Irish Records/Ceol/Rajon *''The Best of Irish Humour'' Grainne Music/Ceol/Rajon *''Hal Roach & Friends'' Ovation *''Write It Down'' Grainne Music/Rajon *''It's That Man Again!'' Grainne Music/Rajon *''He's at It Again'' Grainne Music/BMG/Rajon

DVDs/videos

*''Hal Roach It's himself Live at Jurys Cabaret'' Sony BMG *''An Audience With Hal Roach, The King of Blarney'' Emdee *''Hal Roach The King of Irish Comedy'' (2005) Irish Records (double-DVD) *''Tony Kenny's Ireland - The Green Island'' (guest appearance)

Books

*''Ireland's International Comedian: Hal Roach (His Greatest Collection of Irish Humour and Wit, featuring the "Unnecessary Sayings" of the Irish in conversation)'' (1995) Folens *''Party Laughs'' (1995) Grainne Music

References

External links

Hal Roach
IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Hal 1927 births 2012 deaths Irish male comedians 1940s in Irish comedy 1950s in Irish comedy 1960s in Irish comedy 1970s in Irish comedy 1980s in Irish comedy 1990s in Irish comedy 2000s in Irish comedy 2010s in Irish comedy