'Monsewer' Eddie Gray

Edward Earl Gray ('Monsewer' Eddie Gray) (10 June 1898 – 15 September 1969) was an English stage comedian who performed in music halls as a solo act and also as a member of the Crazy Gang.

From an early age he was destined for the stage, and was apprenticed to a juggler at the age of nine.

Though a technically proficient straight juggler, Gray gradually introduced a wry humour into his act, and was invited to appear with the comic double act Nervo and Knox in 1919. The three performers formed the original basis of the group of seven comedians who became famous under the collective name the Crazy Gang in the 1930s.

When the Crazy Gang re-formed after the Second World War, Gray did not rejoin them. He pursued a solo career until 1956 when he once more became a regular member of the group for their last three shows, ending in 1962. After the disbandment of the Crazy Gang, Gray continued to work. Among his later appearances was in the London production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962.

Gray was born in Pimlico, London, one of nine children of Edward Earl Gray, a shopkeeper, and his wife, Rebecca, née Daniels. Gray and his brother Danny were apprenticed to a juggling troupe when Gray was nine years old. His son, yet another Edward, was for many years the manager of the Coburg Hotel in Bayswater. As a juggler he toured Europe, the US, and Asia. At first he performed as a straight, and highly skilled, juggler, but he gradually introduced into his act the deadpan humour for which he became known.

As a friend of the comedian Jimmy Nervo since they were both child performers, Gray was invited to appear with Nervo and his stage partner Teddy Knox in 1919. He made further appearances with them in the 1920s, his laconic stage persona contrasting with their frantic anarchy.

During the 1920s Gray toured widely. He was a member of Harry Lauder's company touring Australia and South Africa. The Sydney Morning Herald praised his "amusing dexterity in the handling of clubs and hoops". In 1931 he married Marie Cecilia Loftus (d. 1994), a variety performer known professionally as Patti Loftus, one of the "Loftus Sisters".

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