Randolph Sutton

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Randolph Sutton
Sheet music cover, 1930
Sheet music cover, 1930
Background information
Birth nameJohn Randolph Sutton
Born(1888-07-24)24 July 1888
Clifton, Bristol, England
Died28 February 1969(1969-02-28) (aged 80)
Brixton, London, England
GenresVariety show, novelty
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1910–1969

John Randolph Sutton (24 July 1888 – 28 February 1969) was an English singer and comic entertainer in music hall and variety shows.

Life and career[]

Sutton was born in Clifton, Bristol. He made his first stage appearance in a concert at Burnham-on-Sea, and was so well received that he left his job with a printing company to start a performing career.[1] He made his Bristol stage debut in 1910, and his London debut in 1915.[2] He rapidly became popular as a singer and entertainer, touring around the country, and always performed in top hat and tails, with a combination of "charm and cheekiness".[3]

Sutton was a prolific recording artist during the late 1920s and 1930s, and many of his records are of a suggestively humorous nature.[3] Among his recordings were "Jolly Good Company" (1931) and "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" (1932).[1] While his best-known song (though first performed by Fred Barnes)[4] was "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep", this was never recorded commercially, but private recordings were made and subsequently released on commercial compilations,[5] including one recorded as late as January 1969, shortly before his death.

He appeared regularly in BBC radio broadcasts from 1932, billed as "Britain's Premier Light Comedian".[6] He was also a star and producer of pantomime, and one of the modern era's earliest male principal boys.[4][7] As part of Don Ross's show Thanks For the Memory, he appeared at the "Royal Variety Performance" in 1948.[8] He continued to appear in radio and television broadcasts such as The Good Old Days,[6] and in 1966 made a guest appearance as himself in Coronation Street.[9]

He made his final stage appearance at the City Hall Theatre in St Albans, Hertfordshire on 26 February 1969 and died two days later.[10] He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 5 March and his ashes placed in the Garden of Remembrance. A memorial plaque has been erected on the east wall of the West Memorial Court there, as well as a green plaque outside his Bristol birthplace.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "The original influencers: Inspiring people from Bristol’s history: John Randolph Sutton", The Bristol Mag. Retrieved 2 January 2021
  2. ^ Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, British Music Hall: A story in pictures, Studio Vista, 1965, p.164
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Dixon, Stephen (2013). "Don Ross and 'Thanks for the Memory'". Voices of Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts, Robson Books, 1998, ISBN 1-86105-206-5, p.177
  5. ^ "Review, The Gramophone June 1969".
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Search, Randolph Sutton, Radio Times, BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2020
  7. ^ Wilkes, Joseph; Byrne, Eugene (25 November 2017). "How Bristol pioneered pantomime... oh yes it did!". bristolpost.
  8. ^ Charity, Royal Variety. "Performances :: 1948, London Palladium - Royal Variety Charity". www.royalvarietycharity.org.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Good Stuff. "Randolph Sutton green plaque in Bristol". Blue Plaque Places. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  10. ^ "Randolph Sutton". BFI.

External links[]

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