ABSTRACT
Cinema has never been a pure medium and has benefited immensely from its links with other cultural practices. This is particularly the case with popular British film comedy, whose stars have often enjoyed parallel careers in music hall, radio and television. This chapter makes a case for Arthur Askey (1900–1982) to be recognised as a definitive British popular entertainer and argues that Askey made a distinctive contribution to our understanding of both ‘British’ and ‘popular’ culture in the twentieth century. This is not to detract from the importance of other performers such as George Formby or Gracie Fields, who are more frequently acknowledged within British Cinema Studies. These and other entertainers have been the subject of much scholarship, focusing typically on their role as archetypal working-class entertainers. 1 Askey's significance for British cinema, however, remains much less well documented, yet he made several successful films, besides his work on the stage and in radio and television.
