Editing Stanley Holloway (section)

====Inter-war years====
[[File:Stanley-Holloway-as-René-in-a-night-out.jpg|thumb|right|alt=theatrical photograph of chorus and principals for an early 20th century show|As René (centre) in ''[[A Night Out (musical)|A Night Out]]'' (1920)]]
After relinquishing his army commission in May 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette|title=4th Conn. Rang. – Lt. S. A. Holloway relinquishes his commn. on account of ill-health 7th May 1919, and retains the rank of Lt.|issue=31328|supp=y| date=6 May 1919|page=5737}}</ref> Holloway returned to London and resumed his singing and acting career, finding success in two [[West End theatre|West End]] musicals at the [[New London Theatre|Winter Garden Theatre]]. Later that month, he created the role of Captain Wentworth in [[Guy Bolton]] and [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s ''[[Kissing Time]]'',<ref>Findon, B. H., "Kissing Time", ''[[The Play Pictorial]]'', May 1919, p. 82; "Theatres", ''The Times'', 3 July 1920, p. 14</ref> followed in 1920 by the role of René in ''[[A Night Out (musical)|A Night Out]]''.<ref>"A Night Out", ''The Play Pictorial'', September 1920, p. 71</ref> Following its provincial success, ''The Disorderly Room'' was given a West End production at the [[Victoria Palace Theatre]] in late 1919, in which Holloway starred alongside Henson and [[Tom Walls]].<ref>Holloway and Richards, p. 61</ref> Holloway made his film debut in a 1921 silent comedy called ''The Rotters''.<ref name=epm>[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/epm/12660 "Holloway, Stanley Augustus (1890–1982)"], ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Oxford University Press, 2006, online edition, accessed 5 December 2011 {{subscription required}}</ref>

From June 1921, Holloway had considerable success in ''[[The Co-Optimists]]'', a concert party formed with performers whom he had met during the war in France, which ''[[The Times]]'' called "an all-star '[[Concert party (entertainment)|pierrot]]' entertainment in the West-end."<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 20 June 1921, p. 9</ref> It opened at the small [[Royalty Theatre]]<ref>Holloway and Richards, p. 28</ref> and soon transferred to the much larger [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]], where the initial version of the show ran for over a year, giving more than 500 performances.<ref>"The Palace Itself Again&nbsp;– Co-Optimists' Cheery Burlesque", ''The Times'', 23 August 1921, p. 6</ref><ref name=Holloway29>Holloway and Richards, p. 29</ref> The entertainment was completely rewritten at regular intervals to keep it fresh, and the final edition, beginning in November 1926, was the 13th version.<ref>"The Co-Optimists", ''The Times'', 30 November 1926, p. 12</ref> ''The Co-Optimists'' closed in 1927 at [[Her Majesty's Theatre|His Majesty's Theatre]] after 1,568 performances over eight years.<ref name=Holloway29/> In 1929, [[The Co-Optimists (film)|a feature film version]] was made, with Holloway rejoining his former co-stars.<ref>"The Film World", ''The Times'', 18 December 1929, p. 12</ref>

In 1923 Holloway established himself as a [[BBC Radio]] performer. The early BBC broadcasts brought variety and classical artists together, and Holloway could be heard in the same programme as the cellist [[John Barbirolli]] or the [[Band of the Scots Guards]].<ref>"Programmes for the Week-End", ''The Times'', 16 January 1926, p. 4</ref> He developed his solo act throughout the 1920s while continuing his involvement with the musical theatre and ''The Co-Optimists''. In 1924 he made his first gramophone discs, recording for [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] two songs from ''The Co-Optimists'': "London Town" and "Memory Street".<ref>His Master's Voice records 1724 and 1725 (1924)</ref> After ''The Co-Optimists'' disbanded in 1927, Holloway played at the [[Hippodrome, London|London Hippodrome]] in [[Vincent Youmans]]'s musical comedy ''[[Hit the Deck (musical)|Hit the Deck]]'' as Bill Smith, a performance judged by ''The Times'' to be "invested with many shrewd touches of humanity".<ref>"Hit the Deck", ''The Times'', 4 November 1927, p. 7</ref> In ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'', [[Ivor Brown]] praised him for a singing style "which coaxes the ear rather than clubbing the head."<ref>Brown, Ivor. "Hit the Deck", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 4 November 1927, p. 15</ref>

[[File:Fine and dandy with Holloway and Henson.JPG|thumb|left|200px|alt=stage shot of two actors in mid scene dressed in historic war costumes|Holloway as Sam Small in ''Fine and Dandy'' with Leslie Henson]]
Holloway began regularly performing monologues, both on stage and on record, in 1928, with his own creation, Sam Small, in ''Sam, Sam, Pick oop thy Musket''.{{#tag:ref|Holloway had earlier performed [[R. P. Weston]] and [[Bert Lee]]'s ''And yet I don't know'' at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1919.<ref name=Holloway76/> He later took up their numbers, ''Brahn Boots'', ''[[With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm]]'' and ''Yorkshire Puddin''.|group= n}} Over the following years, he recorded more than 20&nbsp;monologues based around the character, most of which he wrote himself. He created Sam Small after Henson had returned from a tour of northern England and told him a story about an insubordinate old soldier from the [[Battle of Waterloo]].<ref name=H83>Holloway and Richards, p. 83</ref> Holloway developed the character, naming him after a Cockney friend of Henson called Annie Small;<ref name=H85>Holloway and Richards, p. 85</ref> the name Sam was chosen at random. Holloway adopted a northern accent for the character.<ref name=H85/> ''The Times'' commented, "For absolute delight&nbsp;... there is nothing to compare with Mr. Stanley Holloway's monologue, concerning a military contretemps on the eve of Waterloo&nbsp;... perfect, even to the curled moustache and the [[Lancashire]] accent of the stubborn Guardsman hero."<ref>"Variety Theatres", ''The Times'', 12 February 1929, p. 7</ref>

In 1929 Holloway played another leading role in musical comedy, Lieutenant Richard Manners in ''Song of the Sea'', and later that year he performed in the revue ''Coo-ee'', with [[Billy Bennett (comedian)|Billy Bennett]], [[Dorothy Dickson]] and [[Claude Hulbert]].<ref name=Gaye/> When ''The Co-Optimists'' re-formed in 1930, he rejoined that company, now at the [[Savoy Theatre]], and at the same venue appeared in ''Savoy Follies'' in 1931,<ref name=Gaye>Gaye, p. 746</ref> where he introduced to London audiences the monologue ''The Lion and Albert''.<ref>"Savoy Follies&nbsp;– Sparkle and Spontaneity", ''The Times'', 8 July 1932, p. 12</ref>{{#tag:ref|The monologue has become known as ''Albert and the Lion'', but the author, Marriott Edgar, called the piece ''The Lion and Albert''. See copy deposited at the [[British Library]].<ref>[http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/5CLFIQ4PTVVNQF9QEVCMJXRB44X96Q2IVSULYMI9GA8RKEP4UV-60338?func=find-b&request=The+Lion+and+Albert&find_code=WRD&adjacent=N British Library integrated catalogue], accessed 21 April 2011</ref>|group= n}} The monologue was written by [[Marriott Edgar]], who based the story on a news item about a boy who was eaten by a lion in the zoo.<ref name=Ginell>Ginell, Cary. [http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=718 "Stanley Holloway: Old Sam and Young Albert Original 1930–1940 Recordings"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233659/http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=718 |date=3 March 2016 }} "About this Album", ClassicsOnline, accessed 5 December 2011</ref> In the monologue, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom react in a measured way when their son Albert is swallowed. Neither Edgar nor Holloway was convinced that the piece would succeed, but needing material for an appearance at a Northern Rugby League dinner Holloway decided to perform it.<ref name=H91>Holloway and Richards, p. 91</ref> It was well received, and Holloway introduced it into his stage act. Subsequently, Edgar wrote 16 monologues for him. In its obituary of Holloway, ''The Times'' wrote that Sam and Albert "became part of English folklore during the 1930s, and they remained so during the Second World War."<ref name=times/> These monologues employed the Holloway style that has been called "the understated look-on-the-bright-side world of the cockney working class. ... Holloway's characters are [mischievous, like Albert, or] obstinate, and hilariously clueless. He often told his stories in costume; sporting outrageous attire and bushy moustaches."<ref name=Ginell/> In 1932 [[Harry S. Pepper]], with Holloway and others, revived the White Coons Concert Party show for [[BBC Radio]].<ref>[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/fabdc58524d84987bef85552d972e385 Harry S. Pepper revives The White Coons Concert Party: National Programme Daventry, 28 September 1932 22.00], BBC.co.uk, accessed 28 July 2016</ref>

Beginning in 1934, Holloway appeared in a series of British films, three of which featured his creation Sam Small.{{#tag:ref|''[[D'Ye Ken John Peel?]]'' (1934),<ref>"Drama and films", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 20 July 1935, p. 15</ref> ''Play up the Band'' (1935),<ref>"Music, drama, and films", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 8 February 1936, p. 15</ref> and ''Sam Small at Westminster'' (1935), a propaganda film on behalf of the [[National Government (United Kingdom)|National Government]].<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1187338/index.html ''Sam Small at Westminster (1935)''], British Film Institute, accessed 23 April 2011</ref>|group= n}} He started his association with the filmmakers [[Ealing Studios]] in 1934, appearing in the fifth [[Gracie Fields]] picture ''[[Sing As We Go]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090113205609/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/348048 "Sing as We Go"], British Film Institute, accessed 23 April 2011</ref> His other films from the 1930s included ''Squibs'' (1935)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114015721/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/52490 "Squibs"], British Film Institute, accessed 23 April 2011</ref> and ''[[The Vicar of Bray (film)|The Vicar of Bray]]'' (1937).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114073813/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/56598 "The Vicar of Bray"], British Film Institute, accessed 23 April 2011</ref> In December 1934, Holloway made his first appearance in [[pantomime]], playing Abanazar in ''[[Aladdin]]''. In his first season in the part, he was overshadowed by his co-star, [[Henry Lytton|Sir Henry Lytton]], as the Emperor,<ref>"Stanley Holloway in Pantomime", ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'', 1 January 1935, p. 10</ref> but he quickly became established as a favourite in his role, playing it in successive years in [[Leeds]], London, Edinburgh and [[Manchester]].<ref name=who/>