{{Short description|British dancer and talent manager (1901–1960)}} {{Infobox person | name = Beryl Ingham | image = Entertaining British Troops in North West Europe, 1944 B7923.jpg | alt = Photograph of Ingham with Formby entertaining the crew of HMS Ambitious, off the Normandy coast in 1944 | caption = Ingham with Formby entertaining the crew of HMS ''Ambitious'', off the [[Normandy]] coast in 1944 | birth_date = {{birth year|1901}} | birth_place = [[Haslingden]], [[Lancashire]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|1960|12|25|1901|df=y}} | death_place = [[Blackpool]], [[Lancashire]], England | known_for = [[Talent manager|Manager]] and wife of George Formby, performer, and [[Clog dancing|clogdancer]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[George Formby]]|1924}} }} '''Beryl Ingham''' (9 September 1901 – 24 December 1960) was the wife and manager of singer/actor [[George Formby]], as well as being a variety performer and champion [[clog dancing|clogdancer]].
She was born in [[Haslingden]], [[Lancashire]], the youngest daughter of John James Ingham and his wife Elizabeth Ann (''[[née]]'' Jackson). At the age of 11 she won the All-England Step Dancing Title. Later she formed a dancing act with her sister May, calling themselves The Two Violets.<ref>[http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/beryl_formby/beryl.html Beryl Formby] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310010803/http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/beryl_formby/beryl.htm |date=2007-03-10}}</ref>
She met George Formby in 1923, while they were appearing in a music hall in [[Yorkshire]]. They married in his hometown of [[Wigan]] the following year.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lancashire Births Marriages & Deaths Indexes|url=http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/|access-date=2021-02-17|website=www.lancashirebmd.org.uk}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=February 2021}} The couple worked together as a variety act until 1932, when she became his full-time manager and mentor.
In 1934, film producer [[John E. Blakeley]], who had admired their double act, engaged them for work on a low-budget comic movie, ''[[Boots! Boots!]]'', where Beryl's domineering manner on the set was noticed for the first time, especially by the teenage [[Betty Driver]], with whom she feuded.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Betty Driver|url=https://www.georgeformby.co.uk/news/betty_driver/bd.html|url-status=live|access-date=17 February 2021|website=www.georgeformby.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224114148/http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/news/betty_driver/bd.html|archive-date=2013-02-24}}</ref> In later films, producer [[Basil Dean]] avoided visiting the studio during filming,<ref>{{cite book|last=Bret|first=David|author-link=David Bret|title=George Formby: A Troubled Genius|year=1999|publisher=Robson Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-86105-239-1|page=49}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Smart|first1=Sue|last2=Bothway Howard|first2=Richard |title=It's Turned Out Nice Again!: The Authorized Biography of the Two George Formbys, Father and Son|year=2011|publisher=Melrose Books|location=Ely, Cambridgeshire|isbn=978-1-907732-59-1|page=108}}</ref> and director [[Monty Banks]] tried to get her banned from the set.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sweet |first=Matthew |year=2006 |title=Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-21298-9 |page=137}}</ref> She made only two minor appearances in the Formby films.
The Formbys went on a tour of [[South Africa]] in 1946; despite threats from the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] leader [[Daniel Malan]], George played to black audiences, and Beryl embraced a three-year-old black girl who had presented her with a box of chocolates. Malan had them thrown out of the country and was reported to have told them to "Never come back here again". Beryl replied "Why don't you piss off, you horrible little man?"<ref>{{Cite news|last=Glancey|first=Jonathan|date=24 Nov 2001|title=Naughty but nice|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/24/biography.art|access-date=17 February 2021}}</ref>
She continued to manage George's career until she developed [[leukemia]]; she died on Christmas Day 1960 in [[Blackpool]]. George Formby died ten weeks after his wife.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McPhee|first=Rod|date=10 June 2016|title=Dark side of George Formby: the marriage from hell, the affairs and drug addiction|work=[[Daily Mirror|The Mirror]]|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dark-side-george-formby-marriage-8160455|access-date=17 February 2021}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== * ''[[Boots! Boots!]]'' (1934)
==Notes== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingham, Beryl}} [[Category:1901 births]] [[Category:1960 deaths]] [[Category:British female dancers]] [[Category:People from Haslingden]] [[Category:Folk dancers]] [[Category:British music hall performers]] [[Category:Talent managers]] [[Category:George Formby]]