George Grossmith

George Grossmith Jr 11 May 1874 6 June 1935 was a British actor theatre producer and manager director playwright and songwriter best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies Grossmith was also an important innovator in bringing cabaret and revues to the London stage Born in London he took his first role on the musical stage at the age of 18 in Haste to the Wedding 1892 a West End collaboration between his famous songwriter and actor father and W S Gilbert Grossmith soon became an audience favourite playing dude roles Early appearances in musicals included George Edwardess hit A Gaiety Girl in 1893 and GoBang and The Shop Girl in 1894 In 1895 Grossmith left the musical stage instead appearing in straight comedies but after a few years he returned to performing in musicals and Victorian burlesques Early in the new century he had a string of successes in musicals for Edwardes including The Toreador 1901 The School Girl 1903 The Orchid 1903 The Spring Chicken 1905 The New Aladdin 1906 The Girls of Gottenberg 1907 Our Miss Gibbs 1909 Peggy 1911 The Sunshine Girl 1912 and The Girl on the Film 1913 The lanky Grossmith was often comically paired with the diminutive Edmund Payne At the same time he developed a reputation as a cowriter of musicals and revues usually adding jokes Grossmith soon established himself as a major producer together with Edward Laurillard of such hits as Tonights the Night 1914 Theodore Co 1916 and Yes Uncle 1917 He wrote the longrunning revue series that began with The Bing Boys Are Here 1916 scheduling these projects around his naval service in World War I He then produced Eastward Ho 1919 and produced cowrote directed and sometimes starred in Kissing Time 1919 A Night Out 1920 Sally 1921 The Cabaret Girl 1922 The Beauty Prize 1923 and Primrose 1924 many of these featuring Leslie Henson He also continued to appear in other producers shows including The Naughty Princess 1920 and No No Nanette 1925 Later he performed in such pieces as Princess Charming 1926 and appeared in at least ten films for London Film Productions Ltd among other films in the 1930s He produced The Land of Smiles and Cavalcade both in 1931 and in 1933 he played Touchstone in a production of As You Like It