Will Fyffe Trod Hard Road To Success
WILL FYFFE has probably played more parts and done mor-e things to keep himself alive than any other film star. His road to fame has been no easy one. From the humblest beginnings, his talent has shone through long years of hardship and privation I to bring him where he is now at the top of stage and radio entertainment. Starting' at the age of six in small travelling companies, he went right through the mill of the theatrical profession iu all its branches. The characters be was called on to play in those early days were innumerable. From Polonius, which he played at the age of 16, to Coun in “Sbagbraun” be did the rounds of almost every conceivable stage part. Travelling on foot, sometimes for miles, beside his father’s portable theatre, he would arrive at the place where be was to perform, footsore, hungry and weary. On one occasion be played a negro part in “Black Justice" and three parts in “Hamlet” followed by a clog dance, all In one night. His reward at the end of such weeks of toil was 4/11. And it was not only -on the stage that he had to work at times to get a meal. During the hard times of the early •nineties be peddled picture postcards, applied for a job as a stage baud at a theatre, where he later appeared as a pantomime star, and worked as a barman. And he once joined a travelling boxing booth for a spell, taking on all-comers.
Y’et. through it all lie kept smiling with that unfailing Scottish sense of humour which is the very foundation of bis remarkable success. His grit and determination did not go unrewarded. The big moment in bis career came with a great success at a Royal Command performance before King George V. Since then his reputation as a character comedian has become world-wide. A great student of human nature, Will Fyffe gives his Impersonations with an unforced naturalness that appeals to au audience immediately.
Will Fyffe plays the role of Captain Fergusson, a fiery old skipper of a Scottish ship sunk by a U-boat, in “Neutral Port,” soon to be shown in New Zealand-
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 286, 30 August 1941, Page 5
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374Will Fyffe Trod Hard Road To Success Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 286, 30 August 1941, Page 5
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