Will Hay | |
|---|---|
 Hay inThe Ghost of St. Michael's (1941) | |
| Born | William Thomson Hay (1888-12-06)6 December 1888 Stockton-on-Tees,County Durham, England |
| Died | 18 April 1949(1949-04-18) (aged 60) |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, actor, film director, amateur astronomer |
| Years active | 1909–1945 |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Randi Kopstad |
| Children | 3 |
William Thomson HayFRAS (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian best known for playing authority figures with comic failings in several films, most notably as aschoolmaster. His filmOh, Mr Porter! (1937), made byGainsborough Pictures, is often cited as the supreme British-produced film-comedy, and in 1938 he was the third highest-grossing star in the UK.[1] Many comedians have acknowledged him as a major influence. Hay was also a keen amateur astronomer.
Hay was born at 23 Durham Street inStockton-on-Tees,County Durham, one of the five children (two sons and three daughters) of William Robert Hay (1859–1920) and his wife, Elizabeth (1859–1910) (née Ebden).[2] The family moved toLowestoft inSuffolk when he was less than a year old.[3][4] By his late teens, Hay had become fluent in Italian, French and German and secured employment as an interpreter.[5]
Hay decided to become an actor at the age of 21 after watchingW. C. Fields perform a juggling act inManchester. In the early years of the twentieth century Hay experienced some moderate success as a stand-up comedian and an after-dinner speaker.[6] Hay's first professional job came when he was offered a contract to perform at a theatre inBelper.[6] In 1914 Hay began working with the impresarioFred Karno who had previously helpedStan Laurel andCharlie Chaplin achieve success. He worked with Karno for four years.[6] He first performed his schoolmaster character in 1910 which he based on a colleague of his sister, who was a teaching mistress.[5] The characterisation was initially performed in drag as a schoolmistress, but he transferred the character to a headmaster.[7]
The acts in which Hay performed the schoolmaster sketch became known as "The Fourth Form at St. Michael's". Hay toured with the act in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa (where he added Afrikaans to his languages).[citation needed] His wife Gladys often played a schoolboy or the character Harbottle in his sketches. The Harbottle character was one of the most appreciated in Hay's act, a dim-witted, nearly deaf old man who is still in school because of his backwardness.[7] The character was later portrayed in Hay's films byMoore Marriott. In a 1976 interview,Val Guest, who was a screenwriter for many of Hay's films, recalled transposing Harbottle from school into other everyday situations.[7] He famously performed the schoolmaster routine at the 1925 Royal Command Performance beforeKing George V andQueen Mary.[8]
Hay published a magazine piece entitledPhilosophy of Laughter, in which he discussed the psychology of comedy. In the essay he rhetorically asks, "Why does every one of us laugh at seeing somebody else slapped in the face with a large piece of cold custard pie? Is it because we're all naturally cruel? Or is it because there's something inherently funny in custard pies? Or in faces? Or in throwing things? No, no, and no! The real reason why we laugh is because we are relieved. Because we are released from a sense of fear. Wherever we may happen to be – in the cinema, theatre, or music-hall – we tend to identify with the actors we are watching. So that when a custard pie is thrown we fear for a moment that it has been thrown at us. And then, immediately we realise that it hasn't hit us, we experience a feeling of relief, and we laugh".[9]
From 1934 to 1943, he was a prolific film star in Britain and ranked as the third highest grossing star at the British box office in 1938, behindGeorge Formby andGracie Fields. He is widely regarded as one of the most prolific and influential British comedians of all time.[7]
Hay worked withGainsborough Pictures from 1935 to 1940, during which time he developed a partnership withGraham Moffatt, playing an insolent overweight schoolboy, andMoore Marriott as a toothless old man. Hay's 1937 film, with Moffatt and Marriott,Oh, Mr Porter! was described byThe Times as "a comic masterpiece of the British cinema",[10] while the writerJimmy Perry cited the film as an influence on key character development forDad's Army.[11]
Hay often portrayed incompetent authority figures who attempt to conceal their incompetence but whose true traits are gradually exposed. As well as being incompetent, his characters are often immoral; for example, a clergyman involved in horse betting inDandy Dick, a fraudster who lies about his career as a distinguished sea captain inWindbag the Sailor, and a prison warden,Dr Benjamin Twist, inConvict 99, who obtains his job under false pretences.[1] He is often compared toW. C. Fields, who typically portrayed characters similar to those of Hay, being misanthropic, self-centered scoundrels who nevertheless remain sympathetic.[12]
Hay had become interested in film making while touring in the United States in the 1920s, although, at the time he doubted he had a future in this field. Having returned to Britain, Hay started work atElstree Studios in 1934 where he made three films,Those Were the Days,Radio Parade of 1935 andDandy Dick.[7]
Hay's work at Gainsborough was his most successful, and established his reputation as a great comic actor. During this period he became one of the most prolific film stars in Britain. On three occasions, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten box office stars in an annual poll run by the Motion Picture Herald. He was ranked 8th in 1936, 4th in 1937 and 3rd in 1938.[13] He particularly thrived under the studio management of Ted Black.[14]
His first film for the studio wasBoys Will Be Boys, with the screenplay written by Hay himself. The movie's satire on the public school system was loosely based on the Narkover vein of humour in the work ofDaily Express columnist,Beachcomber. Hay's film was widely seen as subversive towards authority, and it was granted an 'A' (adult) certificate by theBritish Board of Film Classification.[1]Boys Will Be Boys is widely regarded as Hay's break-out film. Writing forThe Spectator,Graham Greene described the film as "very amusing", and Hay's portrayal of Dr Smart as "competent", though Greene thoughtClaude Dampier's portrayal of Second Master Finch (Hay's adversary) was the film's "finest performance".[15] Many years later, theRadio Times Guide to Films gaveBoys Will Be Boys three stars out of five, observing that the film contains "the blend of bluster and dishonesty that makes his films irresistible".[16]
During his time with Gainsborough Hay worked withMarcel Varnel,Val Guest,Charles Hawtrey, andMarriott Edgar, as well asMoore Marriott andGraham Moffatt, who were Hay's straight men in a number of his films. Moffatt played Albert, the overweight, insolent schoolboy reminiscent of Billy Bunter, while Marriott was the toothless old Harbottle. The trio appeared in six films together between 1936 and 1940,Windbag the Sailor,Oh, Mr Porter!,Convict 99,Old Bones of the River,Ask a Policeman andWhere's That Fire?.
Hay's 1937 film alongside Moffatt and Marriott,Oh, Mr Porter! is often considered as one of the greatestBritish comedy films of all time. TheBritish Film Institute included the film in its 360 Classic Feature Films list;[17]Variety magazine described the movie as "amusing, if over-long", noting that there was "no love interest to mar the comedy";[18] and the cult websiteTV Cream listed it at number 41 in its list of cinema's Top 100 Films.[19] The director Marcel Varnel considered the film as among his best work,[20] and it was described in 2006, byThe Times in its obituary for writerVal Guest, as "a comic masterpiece of the British cinema".[21]Jimmy Perry, in his autobiography, wrote that thetriumvirate ofCaptain Mainwaring,Corporal Jones andPrivate Pike inDad's Army was inspired by watchingOh, Mr Porter.[22]
Both Moffatt and Marriott were absent from Hay's 1938 film,Hey! Hey! USA with American comedy actorEdgar Kennedy being cast as Hay's sidekick instead; the film was a (somewhat unsuccessful) attempt to break into the American market.[23] In his Gainsborough films, Hay wore a wig, which made it appear as if he was balding.[12]
Hay decided to break up the partnership with Moffatt and Marriott after their 1940 filmWhere's That Fire? due to his concern that their act was becoming repetitive.[12] He was known to dislike working with the pair, describing their partnership as "a three legged stool".[24] He had also expressed concern thatMoore Marriott, who portrayed Harbottle, received a bigger reaction from audiences than he did.[12] He had been seeking to break up their partnership in previous years, and it was only due to his filmHey! Hey! USA being somewhat unsuccessful that the writers and producers successfully talked him into bringing Moffatt and Marriott back.[6]
Hay left Gainsborough and began working with Ealing Studios in 1940, in an attempt to break up his partnership with Moffatt and Marriott.Claude Hulbert andCharles Hawtrey were Hay's sidekicks in his first film for Ealing,The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941). Both would return to act with Hay in subsequent films - Hawtrey inThe Goose Steps Out (1942) and Hulbert in Hay's final film,My Learned Friend (1943).John Mills, who had appeared in Hay's first film,Those Were the Days returned to act as his sidekick inThe Black Sheep of Whitehall.The Goose Steps Out (1942) for Ealing was an effective piece of anti-Nazislapstick. In the film, Hay acts as a British spy posing as a Nazi agent and teaches Nazi students about British customs. When lecturing them on this topic, he tells the students that theV sign (often used in Britain as an insult) is a mark of respect, and instructs the class to make a synchronised V sign to a portrait ofAdolf Hitler. This scene is often considered one of the most iconic from aBritish comedy film.[1]
During Hay's tenure with Ealing he was credited as a director in three of his films,The Black Sheep of Whitehall,The Goose Steps Out andMy Learned Friend. In all three, he co-directed withBasil Dearden. In 1942, he starred in a short information film,Go to Blazes alongsideThora Hird andMuriel George. The film was set duringthe Blitz and his role was a dim-witted father who tried unsuccessfully to defuse a bomb which had landed near his house, the bomb is only defused through the help of his daughter, portrayed by Hird.[25] Also in 1942, he made an appearance in thepropaganda film,The Big Blockade among other prolific actors of the time, includingLeslie Banks,John Mills andMichael Redgrave.[26]
His final film,My Learned Friend in 1943 has been described as a masterpiece of black comedy and has been cited as paving the way for the futureEaling comedy filmsKind Hearts and Coronets (1949) andThe Ladykillers (1955).[27] Due to ailing health,My Learned Friend was Hay's final film.[12]
Hay was scheduled to star in another film for Ealing in 1943,Bob's Your Uncle, but his diagnosis of cancer prevented him from proceeding.[28]
Hay's tenure with Ealing was a box office success and his films were critically acclaimed, but have been described as not at the level of his Gainsborough films with Moffatt and Marriott.[7]
The half-hour weekly Will Hay Programme began in August 1944, and was broadcast live from theBBC Paris Theatre in Lower Regent Street. With him in his schoolmaster role, were his pupils,Charles Hawtrey playing the cheeky Smart,John Clark as the class swot D'arcy Minor, and Billy Nicholls playing the dumb Beckett. The series lasted for four months and was cancelled, it is said, due to Hay's dispute with theBBC over the quality of the scripts. Just before Christmas, the show went live at theVictoria Palace for six weeks.
The sketch was performed one more time at a gathering of variety entertainers at midnight on 4 May 1945 (4 days beforeVE Day) before theroyal family and many military notables. This was at a private function at theLife Guards barracks inWindsor. It was not publicised in the newspapers due to security concerns. Hay's character during his radio series was called Dr Muffin, a name chosen so that the students could mock him with the name "Old Crumpet".[29]
In June 1932 Hay joined theBritish Astronomical Association; in November of the same year he also became a Fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society.[30][31] He is noted for having discovered aGreat White Spot on the planetSaturn in 1933.[32][33]
Hay kept his career in astronomy separate from his comedy career and publishedThrough My Telescope under the name ofW.T. Hay, using the same title when giving lectures on astronomy.[7] Hay was an advocate for education on astronomy and considered those who had an interest in astronomy "the only men who see life in its true proportion". In a 1933 interview with theDaily Mail he stated "If we were all astronomers, there'd be no more war."[34] He was a friend ofWilliam Herbert Steavenson, who would later become thePresident of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1957.[34]
Shortly before Hay's death, a few items of his equipment were donated to the British Astronomical Association.[35]
The asteroid 3125 Hay[36] is named in his honour.
In 1907 Hay married Gladys Perkins (1889–1982),[37] whom he had known since he was 15.[38] They legally separated on 18 November 1935, although they never divorced; the reason Gladys gave for this was that she was a Roman Catholic.[6] They had two daughters and a son: Gladys Elspeth Hay (1909–1979), William Edward Hay (1913–1995)[39] and Joan Athol Hay (1917–1975).[40] Following his separation from Gladys in 1935, he began a long-term relationship with Randi Kopstad, a native of Norway.[6]
Off-screen, Hay was described as being somewhat of an eccentric, as well as a very serious and private man, and some thought he may have had a dark side due to his demeanour.[1]Peter Ustinov, who made his film debut inThe Goose Steps Out as a straight man to Hay, said in a 1990 interview when asked about working with him "Well, Will Hay wasn't very funny but I found that very few comics are"; he also said "And Will Hay was always wrapped in a blanket at certain hours and had his tea, and we all stopped talking while he was having his tea, and then we went on shooting. I don't remember him saying anything memorable, nothing I could remember at all. He was very funny when you saw him on the screen, but in life all those people are very, very strange."[41]
He was known to be ahypochondriac, and would often complain of illness to his colleagues when working.[7]
Hay was a passionate aviator, and gave flying lessons toAmy Johnson.[42]
In 1946, while on holiday, Hay suffered a stroke which left the right side of his body crippled and also affected his speech. He was told by his doctors that he would in all likelihood only make a partial recovery.[6] Following his stroke, he spent time inSouth Africa on the advice of his doctors, because of the climate.[7] His health had improved slightly by the following year, when he had plans to become a film producer but, in 1947, his friendMarcel Varnel, who had directed many of Hay's films, died in a car accident, and Hay postponed his plans.[6]
Hay made his last public appearance on Good Friday (15 April) 1949. On 18 April 1949, he died at the age of 60, after suffering a stroke at his flat inChelsea, London.[2] His funeral took place atStreatham Park Cemetery in London.[43] Those who were present at Hay's final appearance described him as having shown no sign of illness, and said he had discussed his plans for the future.[6]
Comedians who have cited Hay as an influence includeKen Dodd,[44]Eric Morecambe,Tommy Cooper,Harry Worth,[23]Harry Enfield,Jimmy Perry andDavid Croft.[11]Ronnie Barker also cited Hay as an influence, and in 1976 hosted a documentary onBBC Radio that discussed Hay's life and career.[7]
'The Will Hay Appreciation Society' was founded in 2009 by British artistTom Marshall and aims to preserve Hay's legacy and bring his work to a new generation of fans. As of October 2023, the organisation has over 8000 members.[45]The Will Hay Appreciation Society unveiled a memorial bench to Will Hay,Moore Marriott andGraham Moffatt in October 2018, inCliddesden,Hampshire, the filming location for 'Buggleskelly' inOh, Mr Porter!. The bench was unveiled byPete Waterman.[46]
The humour of Hay's films has been described as subversive and similar to that of fellow English comedianFrank Randle. His films are often characterised as exhibiting traits ofanti-authoritarianism and having asatirical approach towards how authority figures are portrayed. This is notable with Hay himself, who often played an incompetent authority figure who struggled not to be found out, but whose idiocy was discovered by those around him.[1]
In 2009 abiography of Hay by Graham Rinaldi was published with a foreword byKen Dodd. Hay never published anautobiography during his lifetime; however, when ill in the 1940s, he had begun writing one, entitledI Enjoyed Every Minute. Excerpts from this unpublished autobiography were included in the 2009 book.[44]
Roy Hudd defined Hay as the "supreme master" ofsketch comedy.[7]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Playmates | silentshort | |
| 1933 | Know Your Apples | short andlost film | |
| 1934 | Those Were the Days | Magistrate Brutus Poskett | |
| 1934 | Radio Parade of 1935 | William Garland | |
| 1935 | Dandy Dick | The Reverend Richard Jedd | |
| 1935 | Boys Will Be Boys | Dr Alec Smart | |
| 1936 | Where There's a Will | Benjamin Stubbins | |
| 1936 | Windbag the Sailor | Captain Ben Cutlet | |
| 1937 | Good Morning, Boys | Dr Benjamin Twist | |
| 1937 | Oh, Mr Porter! | William Porter | |
| 1938 | Convict 99 | Dr Benjamin Twist | |
| 1938 | Hey! Hey! USA | Dr Benjamin Twist | |
| 1938 | Old Bones of the River | Professor Benjamin Tibbetts | |
| 1939 | Ask a Policeman | Sergeant Dudfoot | |
| 1939 | Where's That Fire? | Captain Benjamin Viking | |
| 1941 | The Ghost of St. Michael's | Will Lamb | |
| 1942 | The Black Sheep of Whitehall | Professor Davis | |
| 1942 | The Big Blockade | Royal Navy: Skipper | |
| 1942 | The Goose Steps Out | William Potts / Muller | |
| 1942 | Go to Blazes | Father | Short |
| 1943 | My Learned Friend | William Fitch | |
| 2016 | Will Hay and the Stars | Self | Documentary |
