Will Evans (comedian)
William Edward Evans (29 May 1866 – 11 April 1931) was an English comedian, music hall performer, and maker of silent films.
He was born in 1866 (though some sources erroneously give different years), the son of pantomime clowns Fred Evans (1842–1909) and Amy Rosalind (1842–1885). His older brother, Fred Evans, was the father of the comedian also named Fred Evans, whose films as "Pimple" were very popular during the First World War.[1]
Will Evans first appeared on stage in pantomimes as a child, toured with his father's company, and was part of a musical trio with his brother Fred. In 1890, he started appearing on the music hall stage in London with his first wife Ada Luxmore, in an "eccentric musical act".[2] After her death in 1897 he continued to perform as a solo comedian, specialising in farcical domestic sketches such as "Building a Chicken House", "Whitewashing the Ceiling", and "Papering a House", often with a straight man, Arthur Conquest.[2][1]
From 1899, he made short silent comic films, such as The Music Eccentric in which he performed acrobatics, tumbling out of and back into the frame. He also made films of his most popular stage sketches. In 1914, he founded the Sunny South and Sealight Film Company in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, and worked with Conquest and designer F. L. Lyndhurst on re-makes of his earlier films as well as new films, including The Showman's Dream (1914) and Tons of Money (1926).[3] He continued to feature in pantomimes in London, as a pantomime dame.[1]
Will Evans died in London in 1931, aged 64.[2]
References
- "About Will Evans", ArthurLloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2020
- Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, British Music Hall: A story in pictures, Studio Vista, 1965, p.119
- Paul Matthew St. Pierre, Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895-1960: On the Halls on the Screen, Associated University Presse, 2009, pp.25-26