Will Hay
A publicity shot for the film The Ghost of St. Michael's.
Born	William Thomson Hay 6 December 1888(1888-12-06) Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England
Died	18 April 1949 (aged 60) Chelsea, London, England
Cause of death	Stroke
Burial place	Streatham Park Cemetery, London
Occupation	Comedian, comic actor, astronomer
Spouse	Gladys Perkins (m. 1907 sep 1935)
Children	Gladys Elspeth Hay (b. 1909) William E. Hay (b. 1913) Joan A. Hay (b. 1917)
Parents	William R. Hay Elizabeth

William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian, actor and amateur astronomer. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Ghost of St. ... is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Stockton-on-Tees is an industrial town and port on the River Tees in north-eastern England. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For the documentary about Jerry Seinfeld, see Comedian (film). ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Skygazing. ...

Private life

He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England to William R. Hay and his wife Elizabeth but moved to Suffolk at an early age.^[1][2] Stockton-on-Tees is an industrial town and port on the River Tees in north-eastern England. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ...

Aside from his day job as a comedian, Hay was a dedicated and respected amateur astronomer. His personal observatory sat in his garden in Mill Hill, the dome very visible from the main Hendon Road. He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1932. He is noted for having discovered a white spot on the planet Saturn in 1933 ^[3]; the spot lasted for a few months and then faded. He also measured the positions of comets with a micrometer he built himself, and designed and built a blink comparator. He wrote the book Through My Telescope in 1935. At his death, his telescopes were bequeathed to University College, London, and are still used for teaching astronomy. A day job is a form of occupation taken by a person in order to make ends meet while working another low-paying (or non-paying) job in their preferred career track. ... Galileo is often referred to as the Father of Modern Astronomy. ... This article is about the British Society. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 140 kPa Hydrogen >93% Helium >5% Methane 0. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Comet Hale-Bopp Comet West For other uses, see Comet (disambiguation). ... Outside, inside, and depth micrometers A micrometer, also known as a micrometer screw gauge, is a widely used device in mechanical engineering for precisely measuring thickness of blocks, outer and inner diameters of shafts and depths of slots. ... This blink comparator at Lowell Observatory was used in the discovery of Pluto. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... The Front Quad University College London, commonly known as UCL, is one of the colleges that make up the University of London. ...

He was also one of Britain's first private pilots and gave flying lessons to Amy Johnson. He was a polyglot and before entering the acting profession full time, was an accomplished translator - fluent in French, German, Latin, Italian, Norwegian and Afrikaans. For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ... Amy Johnson in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, July 1930. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Multilingualism#Multilingualism within an individual. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... Italian ( , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people,[4] primarily in Italy. ... Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. ... Look up Appendix:Afrikaans and Dutch Swadesh lists in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

As a favourite trick for his friends, he would write rapidly seeming nonsense on a blackboard, look at it thoughtfully for a minute with a puzzled expression, then turn the blackboard upside down and there would be a perfectly written statement of some kind. And he could take someone's dictation, and repeat the trick.

He married Gladys Perkins in 1907 ^[4] but legally separated on the 18th of November 1935. They had two daughters and a son, Gladys Elspeth Hay (b. 1909) ^[5], William E. Hay (b. 1913)^[6], Joan A. Hay (b. 1917) ^[7]. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

In 1947 he had a stroke which left him physically crippled. He died at his home in Chelsea, London after a further stroke in 1949 and is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London SW16.^[8] Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ... Statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Film career

He was trained as an engineer and joined a firm of engineers but at the age of 21 he gave up that profession for acting. He had a relatively brief screen career: by the time he made his first film he was in his mid-40s and an established music hall artist, and his last role came less than a decade later. But between 1934 and 1943 he was a prolific and popular film comedian. He was credited on several films as a writer or co-ordinator, and was arguably the dominant "author" of all the films in which he appeared, in that they were built around his persona and depended on the character and routines he had developed over years on the stage. This article is about motion pictures. ... Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ... The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

He worked at the British film studios of Elstree, then Gainsborough, then Ealing; the Gainsborough period was the most consistently successful, particularly when he worked with the team of Marcel Varnel (director), Val Guest and Marriott Edgar (writers), and Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt (supporting cast) - as on the railway film Oh, Mr Porter! (1937), his most fondly remembered picture with its catchphrase, 'The next train's gone!', spoken by Marriott as the decrepit old deputy stationmaster. Hay decided to break up the partnership with Moffatt and Marriott and was never quite the same again. He brought in Claude Hulbert as his side-kick for The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941). The Goose Steps Out for Ealing (1942) was an effective anti-Nazi piece of slapstick, and, finally, My Learned Friend (1943), again with Hulbert, was a masterpiece of black comedy, which some regard as his best. Historically, the name Elstree Studios refers to any of several film studios that were based in the town of Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England. ... Gainsborough Pictures was a film studio based in Poole Street, Hoxton in the London Borough of Hackney, active between 1924 and 1951. ... Ealing Studios, a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London, claims to be the oldest film studio in the world. ... Marcel Varnel (16 October 1894 - 13 July 1947) was a film director. ... Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of War Brides, 1916 A director is a person who directs the making of a film. ... Val Guest (December 11, 1911 – May 10, 2006) was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s. ... Marriott Edgar (1880-1951) born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, was a poet, scriptwriter and comedian best known for writing many of the monologues performed by Stanley Holloway, particularly the Albert series. ... Moore Marriott (1885-1949) was a British character actor. ... Graham Moffatt (1919-1965) was a British actor. ... Oh, Mr Porter! (with minor variations in punctuation) can refer both to a song and a film inspired by the song. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Claude Hulbert (25 December 1900 - 11 January 1964) was a British comic actor. ... The Goose Steps Out is a zany knockabout British comedy film made in 1942. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... For other uses, see Slapstick (disambiguation). ... A British film comedy by Will Hay, who stars and co-directs. ... This article is about the tone of comedy. ...

Radio career

The half hour weekly Will Hay Programme began in August 1944, and was broadcast live from the Paris Cinema, which still exists in a basement just off Piccadilly Circus. There, St. Michael's schoolmaster Dr. Muffin (referred to by his students as Old Crumpet) barely kept a kind of order from his desk, perched slightly higher from his unruly students, Charles Hawtrey who played the cheeky Smart (later to go on to the Carry On films), John Clark, a child actor who played the annoying swot D'arcy Minor (later to gain fame as Just William), and an air force recruit, Billy Nichols, who on his days off played the really dumb schoolboy, Beckett. The series lasted about four months, and was prematurely cancelled, owing, it was said, to a dispute with the BBC over scripts. But it found a continuing life on the music hall stage, at the top of the bill at London's Victoria Palace. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... George Frederick Joffre Hartree (30 November 1914 – 27 October 1988), better known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English comedy actor. ... The Carry On films were a long-running series of British low-budget comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. ... John Clark was born on All Saints Day, November 1, 1932, and is perhaps best known now as the ex-husband of Lynn Redgrave, who divorced him December 22, 2000, after 32 years of marriage. ... Just William is the first book of childrens short stories about William Brown written by Richmal Crompton, published in 1922. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... The Victoria Palace Theatre during the 2002 season, showing Cole Porters 1948 musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate Victoria Palace Theatre in 2005, showing Billy Elliott The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster. ...

The cast was brought together one last time for an all variety anticipatory celebration at midnight May 4, 1945 for the Royal Family and many military notables at a private function at the Life Guards barracks in Windsor, which featured the leading comics of the day. The war in Europe ended just four days later. This may also have been Will Hay's last performance prior to his illness, and his son Will Hay, Jr. carried on his father's act for a while. The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army. ... This article is about the English town. ...

Filmography

• Know Your Apples (1933) (A short and lost film)
• Those Were The Days (1934)
• Radio Parade of 1935 (1934)
• Dandy Dick (1935)
• Boys Will Be Boys (1935)
• Windbag the Sailor (1936)
• Where There's a Will (1936)
• Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)
• Good Morning, Boys (1937)
• Hey! Hey! USA! (1938)
• Old Bones of the River (1938)
• Ask A Policeman (1939)
• Convict 99 (1939)
• The Big Blockade (1940)
• Where's That Fire? (1940)
• The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)
• Go to Blazes (1942)
• The Goose Steps Out (1942)
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
• My Learned Friend (1943)

Short subject is an American film industry term that historically has referred to any film in the format of two reels, or approximately 20 minutes running time, or less. ... A lost film is a feature film or short film that no longer exists in either studio archives or private collections. ... Those were the Days (1934) is a film primarily remembered as Will Hays first major film role. ... In Radio Parade of 1935 (released in the USA as Radio Follies) is a film released in 1934 which tells the story the sophisticated Director General of the National Broadcasting Group (Will Hay) promotes the ambitious Head of Complaints to Programmer Director (Clifford Mollison) in an attempt to stem the... Dandy Dick is a 1935 British comedy film. ... Boys Will Be Boys is a 1935 British comedy film. ... In Windbag the Sailor Ben Cutlet (Will Hay) is a sea captain who entrances his bar room audience with tales of his days at sea, even though in reality his maritime experience extends only to navigating a coal barge. ... Where Theres a Will (1936) features an incompetent solicitor who unwittingly becomes party to a bank robbery. ... Oh, Mr Porter! (with minor variations in punctuation) can refer both to a song and a film inspired by the song. ... Good Morning, Boys is a 1936 British comedy film. ... Hey! Hey! USA! is a 1938 British movie, featuring comedy actor Will Hay as Bejmanin Twist, a porter on a ship bound for the United States. ... Old Bones of the River is a comedy film released in 1938 starring British actor Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel. ... Ask a Policeman is a 1939 British comedy film starring Will Hay. ... The Big Blockade is a wartime propaganda film from Ealing studios, made in a mock documentary style, in which the success of the economic blockade of Germany is highlighted in a humorous manner via a series of sketches. ... Wheres That Fire? is a 1940 British comedy film, produced by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Marcel Varnel and and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. ... The Ghost of St. ... Go to Blazes is a 1942 British informational film, produced by the Ministry of Information, directed by Walter Forde and starring Will Hay and Thora Hird. ... The Goose Steps Out is a zany knockabout British comedy film made in 1942. ... Made in 1942, The Black Sheep of Whitehall is a wartime comedy film, starring Will Hay, John Mills and Felix Aylmer. ... A British film comedy by Will Hay, who stars and co-directs. ...

See also

• Radio comedy
• Cinema of the United Kingdom

Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches, and many other forms of comedy found on other mediums. ... Michael Caine in Get Carter (1971). ...

References

, Lowestoft (pronouned IPA: /loʊs tɔft, -tɒft, -təf/) is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England, lying between the eastern edge of The Broads National Park at Oulton Broad and the North Sea. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ...

External links

• Will Hay at the Internet Movie Database
• Will Hay at Find A Grave
• Will Hay.Comic Genius
• Astronomical obituary [MNRAS 110 (1950) 130] - NB: this biography wrongly gives Hay's middle name as Thompson - it was Thomson
• The Next Train's Gone: Will Hay pages including bio and audio
• Radio files