Billy Merson
Encyclopedia
Billy Merson was an English music hall
performer and songwriter. He began his career while working in a lace-making factory, and doing shows in the evenings. It took some time until he could make a living from his stage work. "For five or six years on the stage, I survived on a salary hardly enough to keep body and soul together", he said. In 1922, he starred in Whirled into Happiness
. As a comedian Merson was often paired with George Formby Senior
.
Songs he wrote include "The Photo of the Girl I Left Behind", "Desdemona" and (possibly his best known) "The Spaniard That Blighted My Life
".
He was chairman of the music hall at the Players Theatre in London. He also appeared in a few films, including three made in the DeForest Phonofilm
sound-on-film process, Billy Merson Sings Desdemona, Billy Merson Sings Scotland's Whiskey (a satire on Sir Henry Lauder), and Billy Merson in a Russian Opera (all 1926-1927).
He came from Nottingham
.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
performer and songwriter. He began his career while working in a lace-making factory, and doing shows in the evenings. It took some time until he could make a living from his stage work. "For five or six years on the stage, I survived on a salary hardly enough to keep body and soul together", he said. In 1922, he starred in Whirled into Happiness
Whirled into Happiness
Whirled into Happiness is a musical comedy with music by Robert Stolz, and book and lyrics by Harry Graham, adapted from Stolz's Der Tanz ins Glück, with a libretto by Robert Bodanzky and Bruno Hardt-Warden...
. As a comedian Merson was often paired with George Formby Senior
George Formby, Sr.
George Formby , born James Booth, was an English comedian and musician. He was a star in Edwardian music halls, singing and clowning in a sardonic style that influenced the young Charlie Chaplin. Formby was plagued by ill-health and suffered from tuberculosis, but despite this was one of the...
.
Songs he wrote include "The Photo of the Girl I Left Behind", "Desdemona" and (possibly his best known) "The Spaniard That Blighted My Life
The Spaniard That Blighted My Life
"The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" is a comic song which was composed and first performed by music-hall performer Billy Merson.It startsIt was performed by Al Jolson in his show The Honeymoon Express and his recording of it was a hit in 1913, selling over a million copies.Merson sued Jolson for...
".
He was chairman of the music hall at the Players Theatre in London. He also appeared in a few films, including three made in the DeForest Phonofilm
Phonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film process, Billy Merson Sings Desdemona, Billy Merson Sings Scotland's Whiskey (a satire on Sir Henry Lauder), and Billy Merson in a Russian Opera (all 1926-1927).
He came from Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
.