Roy Rolland (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

for Arthur Lucan as

Old Mother Riley Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is a ...

and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.

Biography

Rolland was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

in 1921; as a teenager he appeared in a number of concert parties and seaside summer shows in the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

without much success until he met Lucan in about 1950 and who saw his comedic potential.Rolland's Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' – 26 August 1997 Rolland acted as Arthur Lucan's

and stand-in for

both on stage and in film (including in Lucan's last film '' Mother Riley Meets the Vampire'', where he stood in for Lucan in the more physical scenes). Towards the end of Lucan's life, as he was affected more and more by alcoholism, Rolland appeared more frequently in the role. Following Lucan's death in 1954, Kitty McShane, his on-stage daughter and real-life ex-wife, hired Rolland to appear with her as Old Mother Riley. After a disagreement with McShane, Rolland renamed the character Old Mother Kelly, but to all intents and purposes the character was the same. After McShane's death in 1964, Rolland moved to

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the west ...

where every Christmas he played the

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of '' travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or els ...

at the Gaiety Theatre. Usually he played the dame as

, but occasionally he appeared as Old Mother Goose. In 1973, he joined the cast of Jess Yates' '' Junior Showtime'' as Old Mother Riley. Following this he appeared with

Danny La Rue Danny La Rue, (born Daniel Patrick Carroll, 26 July 1927 – 31 May 2009) was an Irish singer and entertainer, best known for his on-stage drag persona. He performed in drag and also as himself in theatrical productions, television shows and f ...

in his Summer Show at the Blackpool Opera House. For this, Rolland and La Rue played Mother Riley and her daughter Kitty in a recreation of the Lucan and McShane sketch "Bridget's Night Out" from the 1930s. Rolland appeared as himself in the television documentary ''Danny La Rue: The Ladies I Love''.Rolland
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Rolland retired to

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnew ...

where he lived with his male partner, a former supermarket manager. Roy Rolland died there in August 1997, aged 76.Roy Rolland in the England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007
/ref>

References

External links

Rolland
on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Roy 1921 births 1997 deaths English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from Oldham People from Rhyl English LGBT actors 20th-century English male actors LGBT male actors 20th-century British LGBT people