George Grossmith, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Grossmith, Jr. (May 11, 1874 – June 6, 1935) was an English actor, singer, theatre manager, director and author, best remembered for his work in and with musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important innovator in bringing "cabaret" and "revues" to the London stage.
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[edit] Life and career
George Grossmith was born in London, the son of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan performer and writer George Grossmith. His grandfather was also named "George Grossmith", and even though he was the third George Grossmith, he was credited on stage as as "George Grossmith Jnr". His brother was the actor Lawrence Grossmith. Grossmith's wife, Adelaide Astor, was one of five actress Rudge sisters. Letty Lind was the most famous of these. Grossmith died in London at the age of 61. Grossmith's daughter, Ena Grossmith (b. 1896), became a stage and film actress, and his son, George, became a manager.
[edit] Early career
Grossmith's first role in a musical was at the age of 18 in his father's collaboration with W. S. Gilbert, Haste to the Wedding. He next appeared in comic roles in The Baroness (1892) and Morocco Bound (1893), where he made the most of the small role of Sir Percy Pimpleton by adding ad-libs. This was followed by appearances in Go-Bang (Augustus Fitzpoop) and in George Edwardes's A Gaiety Girl (Major Barclay). Edwardes then hired Grossmith to create the part of Bertie Boyd in The Shop Girl. The 21-year-old actor wrote the lyrics to his character's hit song "Beautiful, bountiful Bertie".
Grossmith left the musical stage for about three years, appearing in straight theatre, but he returned in 1898 to take over in the musical Little Miss Nobody and then as Mark Antony in the burlesque, Great Caesar (1899), which Grossmith had written with Paul Rubens. The piece was not successful, but he wrote another (also unsuccessful piece), The Gay Pretenders (1900), in which he included roles for both himself and his famous father.
Grossmith then returned to Edwardes's company as leading comedian, touring in Kitty Grey on the road, and then starred in the Gaiety Theatre's hit The Toreador (1901). Grossmith supplied some of his own lyrics ("Archie") but scored his biggest hit with Rubens's song "Everybody's Awfully Good to Me." He then played in The School Girl (1903) and subsequently toured America in the piece, but he mostly remained at the Gaiety for the next dozen years, starring in a number of successes, including The Orchid (1903), The Spring Chicken (1905), The New Aladdin (1906), The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), "Hughie" in Our Miss Gibbs (1909), Peggy (1911) and The Sunshine Girl (1912). He co-wrote Havana (1908), while he moved to another Edwardes theatre to play Count Lothar in A Waltz Dream.
Grossmith was given writing credits for some of the Gaiety pieces, usually adaptations from French comedies or collaborations with other writers (such as The Girls of Gottenberg). His contributions were primarily to add in jokes. He adapted The Dollar Princess (1909) for America (but not London) and also co-wrote some of London's earliest "revues", including the Empire Theatre's Hullo ... London! in 1910, Everybody's Doing It, Kill That Fly!, Eight-pence a Mile, and Not Likely.
[edit] Later career
In 1913, Grossmith starred in The Girl on the Film first in London and then in New York, where he joined with Edward Laurillard, who had earlier produced his musical The Love Birds, to produce plays and musicals. The first of these was the successful Tonight's the Night, first staged in New York and then in London. Grossmith eventually established himself as a major producer. Back at the Gaiety Theatre, Grossmith wrote, produced and starred in the hit in Theodore & Co (1916). Edwardes had died in 1915, however, and Grossmith was dissatisfied with the offer of the new management under Robert Evett, the executor of Edwardes's estate, and so he left the Gaiety and produced three successes, Mr Manhattan, Arlette, and Yes, Uncle! elsewhere. His Oh! Joy (Oh, Boy!) was less successful. He also wrote the the tremendously successful revue series, The Bing Boys Are Here (1916), The Bing Boys on Broadway (1918), and The Bing Girls Are There.
Grossmith built his own theatre, the Winter Garden, on the site of an old music-hall in Drury Lane. He and Laurillard opened that theatre in 1919 with Grossmith and Leslie Henson starring in Kissing Time, and the theatre became a major West End musical venue with a number of Grossmith productions, including A Night Out (1920), Sally (1921, with music by Jerome Kern and Victor Herbert), The Cabaret Girl (1922, with book by P. G. Wodehouse and music by Kern), The Beauty Prize (1923, with Wodehouse and Kern), a revival of Tonight's the Night, Primrose (1924, with music by George Gershwin), Tell Me More and Kid Boots (1926). Grossmith co-wrote some of the Winter Garden pieces, including Theodore & Co, directed many of his own productions and starred in several, notably as Otis in Sally.
Grossmith also co-produced Eastward Ho!, Baby Bunting (both in 1919) and Faust on Toast (1921) at other theatres during this period. At the same time, in the early 1920s, he continued to appear in other producers' shows, including La Reine s' amuse (The Naughty Princess, 1920) and as Billy Early in Joe Waller and Herbert Clayton's original hit British production of No, No, Nanette (1925). Around this time, Grossmith also worked as an advisor to the BBC to negotiate with theatre managers over their boycott on songs from plays. Provincial theatre managers had threatened to cancel contracts for play on tour if excerpts from the new plays had already been played on the BBC. Grossmith also advised on programme development, particular comedy programming.
After 1926, Grossmith stopped producing, but he continued to perform, playing King Christian in Albert Szirmai's Princess Charming (1926) for producer Robert Courtneidge, The Five o'Clock Girl, and Lady Mary (1928). In New York in 1930, and later in London (where it flopped), he starred in Ralph Benatzky's My Sister and I (aka Meet My Sister). In the 1930s, Grossmith appeared in (and wrote the screenplay, in two cases, for) a number of films.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] As an actor
- A Gaiety Duet (1909) .... Honourable Hugh
- The Argentine Tango and Other Dances (1913)
- Women Everywhere (1930) .... Aristide Brown
- Those Three French Girls (1930) .... Earl of Ippleton
- Are You There? (1930) .... Duke of St. Pancras (aka Exit Laughing (USA))
- Service for Ladies (1932) .... Mr. Westlake (aka Reserved for Ladies (USA))
- Wedding Rehearsal (1932) .... Earl of Stokeshire
- Homme à l'Hispano, L' (1933) (as Georges Grossmith) .... Lord Oswill (aka The Man in the Hispano-Suiza (USA))
- Épervier, L' (1933) .... Erik Drakton (aka Amoureux, Les (France))
- The Girl from Maxim's (1933) .... The general
- Châtelaine du Liban, La (1934) .... Le colonel Hobson
- Princess Charming (1934) .... King of Aufland
[edit] As composer
- Women Everywhere (1930) (writer: "All the Family")
[edit] As screenwriter
- Women Everywhere (1930) (story)
- Wedding Rehearsal (1932) (story)
[edit] References
- Grossmith, George (1933). GG. London: Hutchinson.
- Naylor, S (1913). Gaiety and George Grossmith. London: Stanley Paul. Introduction by Martyn Green.
