1. Bransby Williams became known as "The Irving of the music halls".
16 Facts About Bransby Williams
1. 2.
Bransby Williams appeared as an amateur actor before turning professional doing impersonations of Dan Leno, Gus Elen, Joe Elvin, Albert Chevalier and other music hall stars in working men's clubs.
3.
In 1897, Williams first created a variety of characters, including many from the works of Dickens such as Mr Micawber, Uriah Heep, Bill Sikes and Fagin.
4.
Bransby Williams performed in monologues, recitations and sketches, including the Lounger and The Green Eye of the Yellow God.
5.
Bransby Williams became a great success, and he appeared before King Edward VII at Sandringham House in a Royal Command Performance on 3 December 1903, when he performed the characters from Dickens as well as his impersonations of famous actors and comedians of the day.
6.
On 7 January 1914, in King's Hall, Covent Garden, Bransby Williams played Anthony Durdles in the mock trial of John Jasper for the murder of Edwin Drood.
7.
In 1922, Bransby Williams toured the UK with his own company as actor-manager, performing in a series of plays based on Dickens, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Barnaby Rudge.
8.
Bransby Williams regularly appeared in pantomime, making his first appearance in that medium playing the Baron in Babes in the Wood at the Shakespeare Theatre in Liverpool in 1906, and appearing at the London Palladium as 'Abanazer' in Aladdin in 1926.
9.
Bransby Williams appeared in a Royal Variety Performance before King George V and Queen Mary on 27 May 1926.
10.
Later in his career Bransby Williams was a regular on radio and television.
11.
Bransby Williams had first played the role on stage over fifty years before while on tour.
12.
Bransby Williams was a guest on the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs on 4 November 1957 and appeared on BBC Television's This is Your Life in 1958, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.
13.
Bransby Williams appeared in a number of films, including Royal England, a Story of an Empire's Throne ; Hard Times as Gradgrind; the title role in Adam Bede ; The Adventures of Mr Pickwick ; Scrooge, made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process; The Common Touch ; Those Kids from Town ; Tomorrow We Live ; The Agitator and Judgment Deferred.
14.
Bransby Williams made a number of audio recordings for Edison, including The Awakening of Scrooge and The Street Watchman's Christmas, both in 1913.
15.
Bransby Williams married Emilie Margaret Dent in London on 20 February 1892.
16.
Bransby Williams died in London in 1961 aged 91 and was survived by his daughters, Winnie, Ida and Betty, and by his son, the actor Eric Bransby Williams.