Sue Smart - Its turned out nice again!: the authorized biography of the two George Formbys, father and son

T his book would not have been possible without the generosity of the late Edward Formby in sharing the Formby family archive with us. He gave us hours of his time, explaining the significance of the material he had and giving us a vivid picture of his early family life and of his famous brother. It is a great sadness that he did not live to see in print the story he enabled us to tell. We have benefited enormously from the hospitality of Ted and his wife Win, and from their openness in sharing their memories of George and Beryl, Eliza, Frank and the Formby sisters. We are also most grateful to Win, who gave us permission to publish, and to her elder son Alan for his enthusiastic belief in the project and for making it happen.

We have also drawn on several private collections, most notably the Norman Collection. These have yielded a wealth of contemporary newspaper and magazine reports, photographs, posters, records, playbills, recordings of interviews and other memorabilia. Georges films and newsreel footage have also proved invaluable sources.

A great debt of thanks is due to members of the George Formby Society, past and present, who have helped us with material, spent time discussing issues with us and corrected our mistakes where they could. Back copies of The Vellum were indispensable in providing information. We acknowledge our debt to the work of Eleanor Knowles Dugan in her series of articles on Georges Leading Ladies published in that magazine. Andy Eastwood, Stan Evans, Neil Forshaw, Graham Greenfield, Gerry Mawdsley, Peter Pollard, Reg Thacker and John Walley have all shared their knowledge and wisdom and saved us from some gaffes.

At the eleventh hour Michael Daly tracked us down in the wake of the launch of his brilliant website, www.georgeformby.org in March. He couldhave been a rival, but from the beginning he was a friend. In the interests of making this book as comprehensive and insightful as possible he has trusted us with transcripts of tape recordings made by his late father Kevin, a Decca record producer and George Formby aficionado, and Rex Blaker in the 1960s. We recognize the great compliment he has paid us in sharing this material and his ideas about it. Kevin and Rex spent hours searching out relatives, friends and colleagues of the Formby family and interviewing them. Had they written their projected biography this one would probably never have appeared, as their research was meticulous. Michaels generosity has allowed us to bring Eliza Booths unique contribution to the book and enriched it immeasurably. To see her story in her own words was for us the last piece of the jigsaw, though not the last piece of the puzzle. Mysteries still remain. We feel enormously privileged to have been able to use this source with no strings attached and thank Michael for permission to use information on his website. He has also saved us from a number of errors. The mistakes and omissions that remain are, of course, our own.

In the chapters about Georges films we acknowledge a considerable debt to Professor Jeffrey Richards of the University of Lancaster. We have leaned heavily on his definitive work. We have also quoted briefly from John Fishers excellent biography George Formby (1975).

We thank the following people from Norfolk who spared time to share their memories: Geoff Allen, June and Julian Barclay, Margaret Bird, Mr and Mrs David Boag, Maurice Bunting, Jamie Campbell, Peter Canfor, Arthur Castle, Beryl Clark, Sam Cooke, Pooh Curtis, James Hipwell, Anthony Ives, Peter Jay, the late Clive Manson, Michael McKee, James Oxley-Brennan, Joan Ray, Angela Sims, Peter Suckling and Roger Talbot. Roys of Wroxham and Herbert Woods also helped. We are very grateful to Hazel Dormer for her great cartoons of Potter Heigham. R. H. Banger and Audrey Pawson have contributed in a similar way.

Dick Meadows has been a constant source of encouragement and support; in particular writing an article in the Eastern Daily Press about George junior in Norfolk. The Prioress of the Carmelite Nunnery of Up Holland kindly wrote to tell us about Patricia Howson and her legacy. Sue Clayton was most helpful about Myles Hildyard. Daniel Wiles, the television producer, andMartyn Randall, son of the late Alan Randall, who took up the Formby mantle in the 1970s and 1980s and kept Georges name in the public domain, also played their part.

We are grateful for the help of Jack Bamford, Mr and Mrs Edward Evans, David Kenten and Matthew Sutton.

For information about Georges boats we gratefully acknowledge the help of John Crevald, Mrs A. Mackintosh, Eunice Ryan and Kevin Shadbolt.

We were also greatly helped by the staff of the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the booking records of the Argyle Theatre, Birkenhead, are kept, and the archivists in the Norfolk, Lancashire and Tameside Record Offices where we researched Georges boats, the Preston Calendar of Prisoners and the Ashton Reporter respectively. We also consulted the Royal Archive, Windsor, the Great Yarmouth Mercury, the Kings Lynn News, the East Anglian Film Archive, the ITN Archive and the Great Yarmouth Library. We thank Joy Wright at the Eastern Daily Press, Simon Temlett of The Gramophone, Paul Damen Photography, Glen Carr of Jetprint, Erpingham, Norfolk, R. S. Orr Sound Services and Paul Lilley of the EMI Archive for their time and expertise.

Christopher Schofield, and his colleagues at Achievements, Canterbury, provided us with vital evidence. We also acknowledge the help of the Horse Racing Museum, Newmarket, Caroline Jarrold at Jarrolds Archive, Jim Bacon of Weatherquest and The Veteran Car Club of Great Britain.

Our publishers, Melrose Books, Ely, have been both supportive and patient in dealing with last-minute amendments and additions. Our thanks go to them.