Neville Kennard (born Lord Nevil Brown; c. September 1900 – 30 December 1963) was an English actor, comedian and writer, most active in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He was a prolific writer of sketches and a specialist in

variety entertainment Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

, who was one of the most famous names associated with the concert party form of entertainment.

Early life

Neville Kennard, real name Lord Nevil Brown, was born in Eastbourne in 1900, the son of Harriet (née Kennard) and Edwin Brown, a carpenter.1911 Census of England and Wales, RG14PN4818 RG78PN208 RD71 SD2 ED6 SN94 They had married on 20 February 1892 in Ripe, SussexAncestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940 , Place: Ripe, Sussex, England; Collection: ; BTs; Date Range: 1890 - 1893; Film Number: 1468913. where Harriet was from. Lord Nevil was the third of at least five children. He grew up in 12 Mona Road with his four sisters: Evelyn Violet (born 1896), Winifred Kennard (1898 - 1982London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, Richmond Cemetery Services, Grave Details of Cyril Wagner Newman and Winifred Kennard Lewis
/ref>), Bessie Lilian (born 1903) and Gwendoline Isabella Linda (born 1906). Lord Nevil Brown took as his stage name Neville Kennard (his middle name plus the surname of his maternal grandfather, George Kennard).

Career

Kennard's career was initially encouraged by the great music-hall comedian,

Sam Mayo Sam Mayo (born Samuel Cowan; 30 July 1881 – 31 March 1938) was an English music hall entertainer, pianist and songwriter. Life Born Samuel Cowan in London on 30 July 1881, he first worked in his father's second-hand shop while also collecting ...

. Neville's early years were with alfresco concert parties,Roy Hudd, Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's cavalcade of variety acts: a who was who of light entertainment, 1945-60'', 1997, p94 a form of entertainment described as long-gone and much lamented. He performed in variety alongside the comedian, Gladys Wells, who later became his wife. Together they were often billed as "Kennard and Wells". In the 1930s he advertised himself as "The Perfect Fool" alongside Gladys Wells (billed as a Comedienne). It was at this time that he spent a number of seasons at the

Windmill Theatre The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street, London, was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude ''tableaux vivants'', which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to a cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of t ...

. He also toured with

Fred Karno Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1865 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-pie-in ...

's Mumming Birds, an act made famous previously by the pairing of

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (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 considered ...

and

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

. He later became a popular principal comedian in pantomime, revue and summer show. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he continued to perform in pantomime. At every performance of the 1943 pantomime, "Cinderella," Neville Kennard, who played Buttons, appealed for anything smokeable for the troops. He also presented his own summer shows, and wrote a number of successful concert party sketches including: The tale of a tail; At your service; Babies in the park; and probably the most performed *It's Up To You Sir. In the "It's Up To You Sir" sketch the audience were invited to make suggestions as to how the sketch should proceed. After the gradual demise of concert party and other forms of variety, mainly due to the rise of cinema, he remained active. In 1949 he started to write a weekly column in the theatrical newspaper ''The Performer'' all about summer shows. It was called ''"Pom Poms and Ruffles"'' and was so successful that he continued it once the winter started and called it ''"Bon Bons and Trifles"''. He spent his later years, from 1956, in Eastbourne. He died on 30 December 1963 and in the ''"Business of the Theatrical Managers' Association"'' section of The Stage magazine a small obituary was posted.

Personal life

Kennard was married to Gladys Wells''The Stage'', Thursday, 9 January 1964, page 17 (real name Gladys B. Turner) who on a number of occasions performed with him. They had married at the latter end of 1938 in Hendon, Middlesex. Despite much of their work being in London, they lived for most of the 1930s in

Sharrow Sharrow is a suburb of Sheffield located directly southwest of Sheffield city centre. The district lies within the Nether Edge and Sharrow ward of the city. The inner city area of Sharrow situated around London Road is distinct from the m ...

. At the end of the thirties they had relocated to Kenton before finally living in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

from 1956. He died in

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northea ...

, Sussex in 1963.Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005, Death Registration Month/Year: 1963, Registration district: Cuckfield, Volume: 5h, Page: 228

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Neville 1900s births 1963 deaths English male comedians British music hall performers Slapstick comedians Male actors from Eastbourne 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English comedians Comedians from Sussex