1. Robert Wilton Smith, better known as Robb Wilton, was an English comedian and actor.
12 Facts About Robb Wilton
1. 2.
Robb Wilton was best known for his filmed monologues during the 1930s and 1940s, in which he played incompetent authority figures.
3.
Robb Wilton's trademark was to put his hand over part of his face at the punchline.
4.
Robb Wilton had a dry Lancashire accent, which suited his comic persona as a procrastinating and work-shy impediment to the general public.
5.
Robb Wilton's comedy emerged from the tradition of English music halls.
6.
Robb Wilton was a contemporary of northern comedians Frank Randle and George Formby, Sr.
7.
Robb Wilton portrayed the human face of bureaucracy; for example, playing a policeman who shilly-shallies his way out of acting upon a reported murder by pursuing a contrarian line of questioning.
8.
Robb Wilton, rubbing his face in a world-weary way, would fiddle with his props while his characters blithely and incompetently went about their work, his humour embodying the inherent absurdity of everyday life.
9.
Robb Wilton has been acknowledged as an influence by fellow Lancashire comedians Ken Dodd and Les Dawson, and the film historian Jeffrey Richards has cited him as a key influence for the TV sitcom Dad's Army ; he made several monologues in the person of a layabout husband, who wryly takes part in the Home Guard.
10.
Robb Wilton then appeared in several films from 1934, generally in supporting comic roles.
11.
Robb Wilton was inducted into the exclusive entertainers' fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats and served as its "King Rat" in 1947.
12.
On 1 May 1957, Robb Wilton died in London at the age of 75.