John Randolph Sutton (24 July 1888 – 28 February 1969) was an English singer and comic entertainer 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 ...

and

variety show 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 comp� ...

Life and career

Sutton was born in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...

. He made his first stage appearance in a concert at

Burnham-on-Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...

in 1905, and was so well received that he left his job with a printing company to start a performing career."The original influencers: Inspiring people from Bristol’s history: John Randolph Sutton", ''The Bristol Mag''
Retrieved 2 January 2021 He made his Bristol stage debut in 1910, and his London debut in 1915.Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, ''British Music Hall: A story in pictures'', Studio Vista, 1965, p.164 He rapidly became popular as a singer and entertainer, touring around the country, and always performed in top hat and tails, with a combination of "charm and cheekiness". Sutton was a prolific recording artist during the late 1920s and 1930s, and many of his records are of a suggestively humorous nature. Among his recordings were " Jolly Good Company" (1931) and " The Sun Has Got His Hat On" (1932). While his best-known song (though first performed by Fred Barnes) was " On Mother Kelly's Doorstep", this was never recorded commercially, but private recordings were made and subsequently released on commercial compilations, including one recorded as late as January 1969, shortly before his death. He appeared regularly in

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

broadcasts from 1932, billed as "Britain's Premier Light Comedian". Search, Randolph Sutton, ''Radio Times'', ''BBC''
Retrieved 2 January 2020 He was also a star and producer of

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 ...

, and one of the modern era's earliest male

principal boy In pantomime, a principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boy's clothes. The earliest example is Miss Ellington who in 1852 appeared in ''The Good Woman in the Wood'' by James Planc ...

s.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.177 As part of Don Ross's show ''Thanks For the Memory'', he appeared at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

in 1948. He continued to appear in radio and television broadcasts such as '' The Good Old Days'', and in 1966 made a guest appearance as himself in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''. He made his final stage appearance at the City Hall Theatre in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

on 26 February 1969 and died two days later. He was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

on 5 March and his ashes placed in the Garden of Remembrance. A memorial plaque has been erected on the east wall of the West Memorial Court there, as well as a

green plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

outside his Bristol birthplace.

References

External links

Variety Series CD
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Randolph 1888 births 1969 deaths English male singers 20th-century English singers British music hall performers 20th-century British male singers