George Martin (comedian)

George Frederick Martin, billed as "The Casual Comedian" (26 February 1922 – 4 November 1991), was a comedian, musician, composer, scriptwriter and broadcaster.

Martin was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, with Romany blood on his mother's side. He was an accordion player and singer known as "The Boy Baritone". He also played in The Tango Trio. Martin volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1940, on his eighteenth birthday, serving as a ground crew technician in Ireland and Canada. Martin developed his performance skills in numerous service productions.

He married Joan Hewitt in 1942 and had three children – Sue (1946), Ray (1947) and Mike (1954). He left the RAF in 1946 and worked for a while as an electrician in Aldershot.

Martin formed a close harmony trio, The Martin Brothers, with his younger brother, Bill, and his brother-in-law, Bob McGowan (whom he had met in the RAF in Canada). They successfully auditioned for Vivian Van Damm at the Windmill Theatre, London, (on the same day as fellow Aldershot entertainer Arthur English) and turned professional in showbusiness by taking a six-week season. A tour of Scotland followed, then a place in the touring production Buttons and Bows across Germany. Martin broke his leg and the act disbanded, but when Martin recovered, he auditioned again for Van Damm, this time as a solo act. This led to a two-year stint at The Windmill, six shows a day, six days a week, during which time he developed his style as The Casual Comedian. In shirt sleeves, accompanying himself on piano and/or accordion, Martin, with pipe and newspaper in hand, would comment and make jokes about the day's news events. This was an original approach at the time, and he became one of the very first topical comedians.

Leaving the Windmill in 1952, Martin was signed to the Grade Organization, run by brothers Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont, and began performing weekly variety shows all over the country on the Number One circuit for Moss Empires. He also appeared regularly on television and BBC Radio. His first TV series, The George Martin Show was written by Talbot Rothwell (later to write most of the Carry On films) but the format was not right for George and he swore that from then on, he would always write his own material. He quickly became a household name, and worked every top theatre and venue in the country, including performances at the London Palladium and Victoria Palace, supporting the likes of Frank Sinatra and Guy Mitchell.

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