Max Wall

Max Wall
as Professor Wallofski
Born	Maxwell George Lorimer (1908-03-12)12 March 1908 , London, England, UK
Died	21 May 1990(1990-05-21) (aged 82) Westminster Hospital, London, England, UK
Resting place	Highgate Cemetery (East)
Occupation	Music hall, television & film comedian
Years active	1934-1990
Children	Michael, Melvin, Martin and Meredith, Maxine

Max Wall (12 March 1908 – 21 May 1990), was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.

Wall was born Maxwell George Lorimer, son of the successful music-hall entertainer Jack (Jock) Lorimer, a Scottish comedy actor from Forfar, known for his songs and dancing, and his wife Stella (born Maud Clara Mitchison). He was born near the Oval, at 37 Glenshaw Mansions, Brixton Road, London SW9. In 1916, during a World War I air raid, Max and his elder brother Alex were saved from death by a cast iron bed frame, but his younger brother Bunty and their Aunt Betty, who was looking after them, were killed by a bomb dropped from a German Zeppelin which also destroyed their house.

Max and Alex went to live with their father and his family, whilst their mother went to live with Harry Wallace, whom she had met on tour. When their father died of tuberculosis in 1920, aged 37, their mother married Harry Wallace, and they all moved to a pub in Essex.

Wall auditioned for a part with a touring theatre company, and made his stage debut at the age of 14 as Jack in Mother Goose with a travelling pantomime company in Devon and Cornwall featuring George Lacey. In 1925 he was a speciality dancer in the London Revue at the Lyceum. He became determined not to rely on his father's name, so abbreviated Maxwell to Max, and his stepfather's name Wallace, to Wall.

He is best remembered for his ludicrously attired and hilariously strutting Professor Wallofski. John Cleese has acknowledged Wall's influence on his own "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch for Monty Python's Flying Circus. After appearing in many musicals and stage comedies in the 1930s, Wall's career went into decline, and he was reduced to working in obscure nightclubs. He then joined the Royal Air Force during World War II and served for three years until he was invalided out in 1943.