George Formby (1904-1961)

George Formby, Jnr. OBE (26th May 1904 - 6th March 1961) was an English singer and comedian, famous for playing the banjolele, a banjo-like instrument, and performing a variety of light, comical songs. He would eventually become a popular star of stage and screen. Formby was born as George Hoy Booth, the eldest of seven surviving children (four girls and three boys). His father (James Booth) was George Formby, Snr. whose stage name was adopted from the town of Formby, Liverpool, was one of the great music hall comedians of his day, fully the equal of his son's later success. His father, not wishing him even to watch his performances, moved the family to Atherton Road in Hindley, near Wigan, and it was from there that Formby was apprenticed as a jockey. On the death of his father in 1921, Formby abandoned his career as a jockey and started his own music hall career using his father's material. Formby's trademark was playing the ukulele-banjo in a highly syncopated style'.