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Fred Karno | |
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 | |
| Born | Frederick John Westcott 26 March 1866 |
| Died | 17 September 1941 (aged 75) Lilliput, Dorset, England |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, theatre impresario of music hall |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Karno (nee Cuthbert), Marie Karno (nee Moore) |
| Website | https://www.fredkarno.com/ |
Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1865 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall.[1] As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-pie-in-the-face gag.[2] During the 1890s, in order to circumvent stage censorship, Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue.
Cheeky authority-defying playlets such as Jail Birds (1895) in which prisoners play tricks on warders and Early Birds (1899), showing the poverty and realities for the poor of London's East End, can be seen as precursors of movie silent comedy. Many of his comics subsequently worked in film and used Karno material throughout their work. Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him."[3]
Among the music hall comedians who worked for him were Charlie Chaplin and his understudy, Arthur Stanley Jefferson, who later adopted the name of Stan Laurel. These were alumni of his comedy companies all of whom trained at his headquarters, The Fun Factory, in Vaughan Road, Camberwell. Such was Karno's fame that his name became associated with any chaotic situation, and the disorganised volunteer soldiers of the Great War labelled themselves "Fred Karno's Army". The phrase was also adapted into a trench song in World War I, to the tune of the hymn "The Church's One Foundation".[4] In World War II it was adapted as the Anthem of the Guinea Pig Club, the first line becoming "We are McIndoe's Army ...". The song also features in the musical comedy film Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
upwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Leslie Halliwell, John Walker (2001). "Halliwell's Who's who in the Movies". p. 240. HarperCollinsEntertainment, 2001
- ^ J. P. Gallagher (1971). "Fred Karno: master of mirth and tears". p. 165. Hale.
- ^ "'Trench Songs', The First World War Poetry Digital Archive". University of Oxford. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
We are Fred Karno's army, we are the ragtime infantry. We cannot fight, we cannot shoot, what bleeding use are we? And when we get to Berlin we'll hear the Kaiser say, 'Hoch, hoch! Mein Gott, what a bloody rotten lot, are the ragtime infantry'