Edward Stanley de Groot (16 June 1894 – 12 February 1961), usually known professionally by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Stanelli, or sometimes Edward Stanelli, was an Irish-born British musician, composer and comic entertainer.

Biography

He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, into a Jewish family, and moved to

Brentham Garden Suburb Brentham Garden Suburb near Pitshanger in Ealing was the first garden suburb in London to be built in co-partnership housing movement principles, predating the larger and better-known Hampstead Garden Suburb by some years. It was mostly built ...

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was hi ...

, with his parents as a child."Edward Stanley de Groot (Stanelli)", ''Brentham Lives''
Retrieved 26 March 2021 He studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and was awarded the James Tubbs and Sons Prize for his violin playing in 1909., Apollo. He went on to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

,Richard Anthony Baker, ''Old Time Variety: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2011, , pp.117-118 and in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

served in the

London Scottish Regiment The London Scottish was a Army Reserve (United Kingdom), reserve infantry regiment then a Company (military unit), company of the British Army. In its final incarnation it was A (The London Scottish) Company, the London Regiment (1993), Londo ...

. He composed violin pieces, and was at different times a member of the

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

, the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, and the

Halle Orchestra Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Ha ...

.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.173 He also performed in

variety shows 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 ...

, usually as one half of a duo, Stanelli and Douglas, or Stanelli and Edgar, in which he provided comedic introductions to their musical performances. Stanelli and Douglas appeared in the 1928

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 ...

, and Stanelli and Edgar, billed as "The Fiddle Fanatics", performed frequently on

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

from the early 1930s. He often performed with his "Hornchestra", a contraption of his own invention consisting of motor and other horns with different notes attached to a large metal frame. Harry Francis, "Harps, Stanelli and Leslie Clare", ''Jazz Professional.com''
REtrieved 26 march 2021 In 1935, he recorded a

stag party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...

in his own flat, and suggested to

Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and des ...

at the BBC that an edited version be broadcast. This was done, as ''Stanelli's Stag Party'', and led to a lengthy radio series, soon renamed ''Stanelli's Bachelor Party''. Regular guests included Norman Long, and the two sometimes performed together as Stanelli and Long.

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , pp.272-273 The shows were popular, and edited versions were released as

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

s. Stanelli also appeared with his Hornchestra on television in 1937. In 1939, he fronted a further radio series, ''Stanelli's Crazy Cruise'', another comedy variety show, in which he played the role of a ship's captain. Stanelli, ''V&A Collections''
Retrieved 26 March 2021 He appeared in and composed the soundtrack for ''

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in 16 ...

'' (1930) and ''

The Adventures of Jane ''The Adventures of Jane'' is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Edward G. Whiting. It is the film version of the stage show based on the comic strip '' Jane'' originally created by Norman Pett. It was written by Alfred Goulding and Con W ...

'' (1949). He also acted in the films '' Hearts of Humanity'' (1936), ''

Old Mother Riley Overseas ''Old Mother Riley Overseas'' is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Anthony Holles. In the screenplay, Old Mother Riley relocates to Portugal. Plot summary Mother Riley is tricked ...

'' (1943), and '' Dear Mr. Prohack'' (1949), all in small bit-parts. Stanelli became a conductor and composer, and his work ''Atlantis'' was performed by the

and the Hallé Orchestra in 1946, which sometimes he conducted. In the 1950s he regularly conducted the orchestra at pantomimes in the

New Theatre Oxford New Theatre Oxford (formerly the Apollo Theatre Oxford and The Apollo, from 1977–2003) is the main commercial theatre in Oxford, England. It has a capacity of 1,785 people; is on George Street, in the centre of the city; and puts on a wid ...

. He ended his career as a dance band conductor. In the 1950s, he occasionally appeared on the BBC in nostalgia programmes, and appeared in panel shows and as a talent contest judge on television. Search: Stanelli, ''Radio Times'', BBC Genome
Retrieved 26 March 2021 He died in

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually t ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, in 1961.

References

External links

*
Stanelli and Edgar
''British Pathe'', 1932
Stanelli and his Hornchestra
''British Pathe'', 1935
Stanelli performance
''British Pathe'', 1941 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanelli, Edward 1894 births 1961 deaths Military personnel from Dublin (city) British Army personnel of World War I London Scottish soldiers 20th-century Irish male actors British violinists Musicians from Dublin (city) 20th-century composers 20th-century British male musicians Comedians from Dublin (city)