Will Hay

William Thomson Hay FRAS (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian, actor, author, film director and amateur astronomer who first became well known for his theatrical sketch as a joke-schoolmaster known as Dr. Muffin and his act came to be known as The Fourth Form at St. Michael's, he toured the act in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa. From 1934 to 1943, he was a prolific film star in Britain, and was ranked the third highest grossing star at the British Box Office in 1938, behind George Formby and Gracie Fields. He worked with Gainsborough Pictures from 1935 to 1940, during which time he developed a partnership with Graham Moffatt, an insolent overweight schoolboy and Moore Marriott, a toothless old man. His 1937 film, with Moffatt and Marriott, Oh, Mr. Porter! has often been cited as one of the greatest British comedy films, with The Times referring to it as "a comic masterpiece of the British cinema" and Jimmy Perry cited the film as an influence for developing the key characters in Dad's Army.

The humour of Hay's films was subversive, with Hay often portraying incompetent authority figures who attempted to conceal their incompetence but whose true traits were exposed by those around them. As well as being incompetent, his characters are often immoral, such as his portrayal of a vicar involved in horse betting in Dandy Dick, a fraudster who lies about his career as a distinguished sea captain in Windbag the Sailor and a prison warden, Dr Benjamin Twist, in Convict 99 who obtains his job by false pretenses. He is often compared to W. C. Fields, who portrayed characters similar to that of Hay, often being misanthropic, self-centered scoundrels who still remained sympathetic despite their characteristics.

He was also a distinguished amateur astronomer, and in 1933 gained fame for discovering a Great White Spot on Saturn. He built his own observatory, and was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Hay was born at 23 Durham Street in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, to William Robert Hay (1851–1920) and his wife Elizabeth (1859-1910) (née Ebden) who married on 31 May 1883. Hay had one brother, Harold Gordon and three sisters, Evelyn Jane, Lizzie and Annie. When Hay was less than a year old the family moved to Suffolk. His father's career as an engineer required the Hays to move to Hemel Hempstead; then London; and finally to Manchester, where his father established an engineering firm.

By his late teens, Hay was fluent in Italian, French and German to such an extent that he was able to leave his engineering career and become an interpreter.

Early career

Hay joined a firm of engineers, before becoming an actor at age 21. He appeared in Manchester as a juggler after seeing W.C. Fields perform. In the late 1900s, he had experienced moderate success for his performances as a stand-up comedian after dinner speeches.

Hay's inspiration for his schoolmaster gimmick came from his sister who was a full-time teacher, he first gained fame for his trademark character in 1910, following a performance when he was offered a contract to perform at a theatre in Belper. In his earlier "The fourth form of St. Michael's sketches" he performed in drag as a schoolmistress before transferring to his role as the headmaster.

In 1914, he began working with Fred Karno in order to help him develop his comedy act to its fullest potential, Karno was noted for training other notable comedy stars of the time, including Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin. He worked with Karno for four years, Hay later stated Karno taught him the importance of having a sidekick in his act as it put emphases on the comedic ability of the main character. This was something that Hay remembered during his films as he frequently had a sidekick.

His sketches as a schoolmaster which were known as "The fourth form at St Michaels" sketches, were very popular in the 1920s and he toured in various countries over the world. Hay enjoyed particular success in countries such as South Africa, Canada and the USA. His wife, Gladys, often portrayed the part of the schoolboy or the character Harbottle in his sketches, the Harbottle character was one of the most popular characters in Hay's act, the character was that of a dim-witted, nearly deaf old man who was still in school because he was backward. The character was later featured in Hay's films, being portrayed by Moore Mariott. In a 1976 interview, Val Guest who served as a screenwriter for many of Hay's films, stated he transferred the character of Harbottle into everyday situations.

Hay was chosen to perform his famous St. Michael's sketch at the 1925 Royal Command Performance before King George V and Queen Mary.

Hay published a magazine piece entitled Philosophy of laughter in which he discussed the psychology of comedy. In the essay, he stated "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 as been thrown at us. And then, immediately we realise that it hasn't hit us, we experience a feeling of relief, and we laugh".

Elstree Studios

Having returned to England, Hay worked at Elstree Studios (from 1934 to 1935), Gainsborough Pictures (from 1935 to 1940), and Ealing Studios (from 1941 to 1943). Hay had became interested in film making while touring in the United States in the 1920s, however, at the time he doubted he had a future in this field.

He began his film career with Elstee Studios in 1934, he made three films during his tenure with the studio before transferring to Gainsborough the following year, Those Were the Days, Radio Parade of 1935 and Dandy Dick. Those Were the Days, his inaugural film, was based on Arthur Wing Pinero's play, The Magistrate. His third film, Dandy Dick in 1935, was a film adaption of an 1887 play of the same name which was also the work of Pinero. Hay's second film with the studio was Radio Parade of 1935 which was released in the United States as Radio Follies. In the film, Hay portrays the Director General of a Broadcasting Company called the NBG, the film was a satirical parody of the BBC and Hay's character a parody of Lord Reith. The film was notable as two sequences were filmed in Dufaycolor. Prior to his tenure with Elstree, Hay had starred in two short films, Playmates (Around the Town) in 1922, and Know Your Apples in 1933 which is now a lost film.

Gainsborough pictures

Hay in Good Morning, Boys

His time spent at Gainsborough was his most successful period. His first film for the film studio was Boys Will Be Boys, in which the screenplay was written by Hay himself, the film's satirical approach towards the public school system was loosely based on the humor of the Daily Express columnist, Beachcomber. The film was widely regarded as one of the most subversive of its time due to the satire towards how authority is portrayed in the film, and was granted an A (adult) certificate by the British Board of Film Classification. Boys Will Be Boys is widely regarded as Hay's break-out film, writing for The Spectator, Graham Greene characterised the film as "very amusing", describing Hay's portrayal of Dr. Smart as "competent" and praising Dampier's portrayal of Second Master Finch as the film's "finest performance". Several years later, the Radio Times Guide to Films gave Boys Will Be Boys three stars out of five, observing that the film contains "the blend of bluster and disthonesty that makes his films irresistible".

During his tenure with Gainsborough he worked with Marcel Varnel, Val Guest, Charles Hawtrey, Marriott Edgar as well as Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt who acted as Hay's straight men in a number of his films, Moffatt portrayed an overweight, insolent schoolboy reminiscent of Billy Bunter who was cast as Albert Brown and Moore, a toothless old man cast as Harbottle, Harbottle was originally a character in Hay's St. Michael's sketches. Together, 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 and Where's That Fire?. Both Moffatt and Marriott were absent from Hay's 1938 film, Hey! Hey! USA with American comedy actor Edgar Kennedy being cast as Hay's sidekick instead, the film was a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to crack the American market.

Hay decided to break up the partnership with Moffatt and Marriott after their 1940 film Where's That Fire? due to his concern that their act was becoming repetitive. In many of his films, Hay wore a wig, which made it appear as if he was balding. Hay was known to dislike working with Moffatt and Marriott, describing his partnership with them as "a three legged stool."He had also expressed concern that Moore Marriott who portrayed Harbottle gained a bigger reaction from audiences than he did. He had been seeking to break up their partnership in the years prior, it was only due to his film Hey! Hey! USA being somewhat unsuccessful that the writers and producers successfully talked him into bringing Moffatt and Marriott back.

Ealing Studios

From The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)

Hay left Gainsborough and began working with Ealing in 1940, this was in an attempt for him to break up his partnership with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott who Hay had long expressed his dissatisfaction at being associated with. Claude Hulbert and Charles Hawtrey acted as Hay's sidekick in his first film for Ealing, The Ghost of St Michael's (1941). Both would return to act with Hay in respective films, Hawtrey in The 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 in The Black Sheep of Whitehall. The Goose Steps Out (1942) for Ealing was an effective piece of anti-Nazi slapstick, in the film, Hay acts as a British spy posing as a Nazi official and teaches Nazi students about British customs. When lecturing them on this topic, he tells the students that the V sign (often used in Britain as an insult) is a mark of respect, and instructs the class to make a synchronized V sign to a portrait of Adolf Hitler. This scene is often considered one of the most iconic from a British comedy film. 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 and My Learned Friend. In all three, he co-directed with Basil Dearden. In 1942, he starred in a short information film, Go to Blazes alongside Thora Hird and Muriel George. The film was set during The 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. Also in 1942, he made an appearance in the propaganda film, The Big Blockade among other prolific actors of the time, including Leslie Banks, John Mills and Michael Redgrave.

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 future Ealing comedy films Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Ladykillers (1955). Due to ailing health, My Learned Friend was Hay's final film. The plot of the film was Hay in the role of an incompetent barrister being haunted by a serial killer and an ex-client (Mervyn Johns) who seeks to kill him. Many consider My Learned Friend to be among Hay's greatest films as well as a masterpiece of black comedy.

Hay was scheduled to star in another film for Ealing in 1943, Bob's your uncle, however his diagnosis of cancer prevented him from proceeding.

Hay's tenure with Ealing was a box office success and his films were critically acclaimed. However, many consider his time spent there to not be at the level of the films he made with Gainsborough, this was due to the humor of Hay's films being different to those he made with Gainsborough and encompassing different characteristics to that while working with Moffatt and Marriott.

Radio career

The half-hour weekly Will Hay Programme began in August 1944, and was broadcast live from the BBC Paris Theatre on lower Regent Street. The series lasted for four months, and was prematurely cancelled, owing to a dispute with the BBC over scripting. The show later transferred to the Victoria Palace in London. The cast later reformed on 4 May 1945 for the Royal Family and many military notables at a private function at the Life Guards barracks in Windsor. Hay's character during his radio career was called Dr. Muffin which was the name of his schoolmaster sketches from the 1920s.

Aside from his day job as a comedian, Hay was a dedicated and respected amateur astronomer. He constructed a personal observatory in his garden in Mill Hill and built a glider in 1909. He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1932 and is noted for having discovered a Great White Spot on the planet Saturn in 1933. The spot lasted for a few months and then faded away. He also measured the positions of comets with a micrometre he built himself, and designed and built a blink comparator. He wrote the book Through My Telescope in 1935, which had a foreword by Sir Richard Gregory, formerly Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Queen's College, London. Hay kept his career in astronomy separate from his comedy career, he published his school Through My Telescope under the name of W.T. Hay and used the same title when giving lectures on astronomy. 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 the Daily Mail he stated "If we were all astronomers, there'd be no more war."He was a friend of William Herbert Steavenson, who would go onto become the President of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1957. When Hay died, a few items of his equipment were bequeathed to the British Astronomical Association.

Hay being interviewed about his discovery of the white spot on Saturn in 1933.

He married Gladys Perkins (1889–1982) in 1907, whom he had known since he was 15, but legally separated on 18 November 1935, however, they never divorced, Gladys cited the reason for this as she was a Roman Catholic. They had two daughters and a son: Gladys Elspeth Hay (1909-1979), William Edward Hay (1913-1995) and Joan A. Hay (1917–1975). Following his separation from Gladys in 1935, he was in a long-term relationship with Randi Kopstadt, a native of Norway. Hay's son, Will Hay Jr. made an appearance as a schoolboy in his father's 1937 film, Good Morning, Boys and for a time carried on his father's act as a schoolmaster.

Off-screen, Hay was described as being a very serious and private man, some thought he may have a dark side due to his demeanour. Peter Ustinov, who made his film debut in The 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." as well as "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."

In 1931, Hay was King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats. Hay made his final public appearance at a convention by the organization on April 15, 1949.

Hay was an atheist.

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.

In 1944, Hay was diagnosed with cancer which lead to the postponement of his film career, however he made a successful recovery.

Hay was close to Charles Hawtrey who considered Hay a father figure and his idol. However, they fell out when Hawtrey asked Hay for bigger billing. Hawtrey still spoke favourably of Hay following this, stating "One couldn't forget that voice at anytime, one of the loveliest people I ever knew who indirectly taught me a great deal."

In 1946 while on holiday, Hay suffered a stroke which left the right side of his body crippled and also affected his speech, Hay was told by his doctors that he would in all likelihood only make a partial recovery. Following his stroke, he spent time in South Africa on the advice of his doctors due to the climate. However, his health had improved slightly by the following year when Hay had plans to become a film producer, however in 1947 his friend, Marcel Varnel who had directed many of Hay's films died in a car accident and he postponed his plans.

He died at his flat in Chelsea, London after a further stroke on 18 April 1949 and is buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, London SW16. He had made his last public appearance on Good Friday 1949, just three days earlier, those who were present at Hay's final appearance described him as showing no sign of illness and said he discussed his plans for the future.

Hay's headstone in Streatham Park Cemetery

Comedians who have cited Hay as an influence include Ken Dodd, Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper, Harry Worth, Harry EnfieldJimmy Perry and David Croft. Hay was also an influence on Tony Hancock, who often portrayed characters of a format similar to that of Hay, typically impostors who tried to hide their true identity. Ronnie Barker also cited Hay as an influence, and in 1976 hosted a documentary on BBC Radio that discussed Hay's life and career.

The humour of Hay's films has been described as subversive and similar to that of fellow English comedian Frank Randle. His films are often characterised as exhibiting traits of Anti-authoritarianism and having a satirical approach towards how authority figures are portrayed, this is notable with Hay himself, as he often played an incompetent authority figure who struggled not to be found out, but whose idiocy was discovered by those around him.

In 2009, a posthumous autobiography of Hay was published with a foreword by Ken Dodd. Hay never published an autobiography throughout his lifetime, however when ill in the 1940s, he had begun writing an autobiography, I enjoyed every minute which was never published. However, excerpts from his unpublished autobiography were included in the 2009 book.

Hay's 1937 film, Oh, Mr. Porter! in which he worked with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott was cited as an influence by Dad's Army creator Jimmy Perry on devising the series' key characters.

Roy Hudd defined Hay as the "supreme master" of sketch comedy.

• Playmates (1922) (silent short)
• Know Your Apples (1933) (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)
• Where's That Fire? (1940)
• The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)
• The Big Blockade (1942)
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
• Go to Blazes (1942) (short)
• The Goose Steps Out (1942)
• My Learned Friend (1943)

For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald.

• 1936 – 8th
• 1937 – 4th
• 1938 – 3rd