Robert Moreton (born Henry Moreton; 25 June 1922 – 22 July 1957) was an English comedian and actor.

Biography

Born in

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, he initially had a successful straight acting career with the

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

, before becoming a scriptwriter for comedians

Tommy Handley Thomas Reginald Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian, best known for the BBC radio programme ''It's That Man Again'' ("''ITMA''") which ran between 1939 and 1949. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Handley went on th ...

and

Lupino Lane Henry William George Lupino (16 June 1892 – 10 November 1959) professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous theatrical Lupino family, which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/di ...

. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, where he performed in

Gang Show A Gang Show is a theatrical performance by members of Scouts and Guides. The shows are produced with the dual aims of providing a learning opportunity for young people in the performing arts, as well as contributing to the artistic and cultur ...

s with

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series '' Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

among others. He developed a distinctive character as an amateurish and dithering aspiring comedian. His act involved him looking through his imaginary "Bumper Fun Book" for a joke, trying to tell it but hesitating and getting confused, for instance through turning over the wrong page, before eventually coming up with the punchline -- which would frequently make no sense, until Moreton went back and read the set-up. This 'reverse' style of joke telling would get a laugh on the reveal of the unexpected set-up, and became Moreton's signature. On receiving applause, he would cry out "Get in there, Moreton!", which became a well-known

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

. After the end of the war, he appeared on radio shows such as ''

Variety Bandbox ''Variety Bandbox'' is a BBC Radio variety show transmitted initially in the General Forces Programme and then the Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show helped to launch the careers of a number of leadi ...

'' and '' Workers' Playtime''. Search, Robert Moreton, ''Radio Times'', BBC
Retrieved 22 December 2020 In 1950, he appeared in the first series of the popular radio comedy series '' Educating Archie'', as Archie's tutor. He was replaced in later series by Tony Hancock. Moreton also had his own radio series starting in 1951, ''Bumblethorpe'', scripted by

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

, in which he would repeatedly search for the eponymous character. He failed to maintain the momentum of his career in subsequent years,

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née Barham ...

suggesting that "the public tired of isone-joke approach". However, he appeared in several comedy films, including '' One Wild Oat'' (1951), ''

The Time of His Life ''The Time of His Life'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Richard Hearne, Ellen Pollock, Richard Wattis and Robert Moreton. The screenplay was by Hiscott and Hearne from a story by Hiscott and Brock Wi ...

'' (1955) and '' Tons of Trouble'' (1956). He also appeared in the pilot series of the radio show '' The Clitheroe Kid'' in 1956. ''Radio Times'', Issue 1693, 24 April 1956, p.24
/ref> Moreton killed himself in 1957, aged 35, after suffering depression from his lack of work.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , pp.125-126

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreton, Robert 1922 births 1957 deaths 20th-century English comedians English radio personalities 1957 suicides Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Suicides in Chelsea Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Actors from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames English male comedians People from Teddington Comedians from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames British military personnel who died by suicide