Ernest Butcher

{{Short description|British actor (1885–1965)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | image = Actor_Ernest_Butcher.jpg | caption = 1936 [[Spotlight (company)|Spotlight]] photo | imagesize = | name = Ernest Butcher | birth_name = Edward Ernest Butcher | birth_date = {{birth date|1885|04|07|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Burnley]], [[Lancashire]], [[England]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1965|06|08|1885|04|07|df=y}} | death_place = [[London]], [[England]] | occupation = [[Actor]] | yearsactive = | spouse = [[Muriel George]]<br>Edna Brough }}

'''Edward Ernest Butcher''' (7 April 1885 – 8 June 1965) was a British [[actor]], on stage from 1935, and with many film and TV appearances.<ref name=bfi>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/202286|title=Ernest Butcher|publisher=|access-date=2011-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904133138/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/202286|archive-date=2009-09-04|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7vPDQAAQBAJ&q=harry+buss+The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=RA1-PA1785|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|date=16 May 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781526111968|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=59285|title=Ernest Butcher|website=www.aveleyman.com}}</ref>

== Early life and career == Edward Ernest Butcher was born on 7 April 1885 in [[Cliviger]], [[Burnley]], [[Lancashire]], England to teacher father, John Thomas, and shopkeeper mother, Margaret (nee Garlick).<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Mr Ernest Butcher dies at 80 |work=Lancashire Telegraph |pages=7}}</ref> He was educated at Walk Mill School, where his father taught.<ref name=":0" /> Butcher worked as an electrical engineer and auctioneer before studying at the [[Royal Academy of Music]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Ernest Butcher is Dead |work=Western Daily Press}}</ref> He served in the [[World War I|First World War]] with the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Obituary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |pages=18}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Music Hall Star Dies |work=Daily Post}}</ref>

Butcher formed his own company, The Bunch of Keys, with his wife, [[Muriel George]]. The couple sang duets and appeared at the [[Royal Variety Performance]] in 1922. He made his first broadcast in 1924 and his first film in 1934.<ref name=":1" />

He appeared in the original production of [[J.B. Priestley]]'s play ''[[When We Are Married]]'' at [[St. Martin's Theatre]] London, in 1938;<ref>{{cite web |title=Production of When We Are Married - Theatricalia |url=https://theatricalia.com/play/3dk/when-we-are-married/production/7jn |website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> and reprised his performance in the [[When We Are Married (film)|film version, in 1943]].<ref name="bfi" /> During the [[World War II|Second World War]], he played in ''[[Front Line Family]]'', a BBC overseas soap opera, broadcast daily.<ref name=":1" />

Butcher was on the bill when [[Gracie Fields]] made her debut.<ref name=":3" />

== Personal life and death == Butcher was the second husband of the actress [[Muriel George]], and stepfather to her son, the critic [[John Davenport (critic)|John Davenport]].<ref>The New Review, vol. 3, issue 31, 1976, pg 69</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McFarlane |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7vPDQAAQBAJ&q=ernest+butcher+The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=RA4-PA1893 |title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition |date=16 May 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9781526111968 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Butcher and George married in 1921 in [[Fulham]], west London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FreeBMD Entry Info |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=2sNrJxtgwS3WQxWDRYKYIg&scan=1 |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.freebmd.org.uk}}</ref> By 1939, the couple were living in Torrington Park, [[North Finchley]].<ref name=":12">''1939 Register''; Reference: ''RG 101/7706B'' ''1939 England and Wales Register'' Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of TNA, London England. 1939 Register (Series RG101), The National Archives, Kew, London, England.</ref> However, in 1943, the marriage ended in divorce.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 June 1965 |title=Star Of The Music Hall Ernest Butcher Dies, Aged 79 |work=Liverpool Echo |pages=1}}</ref>

In 1948, he married Edna Brough, sister of ventriloquist [[Peter Brough]], in [[Wood Green]], London.<ref name=":2" />

Butcher latterly lived in Friary Road, [[Friern Barnet]]. On 22 May 1965 Butcher was admitted to [[Royal Brompton Hospital|Brompton Hospital]] in [[Kensington]], London with heart and chest trouble.<ref name=":3" /> He died on 8 June 1965, aged 80, in hospital.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Principal Probate Registry. ''Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England''.</ref>

==Selected filmography== * ''[[Key to Harmony]]'' (1935) * ''[[The Small Man]]'' (1936) * ''[[Talking Feet]]'' (1937) * ''[[The Song of the Road]]'' (1937) * ''[[Stepping Toes]]'' (1938) * ''[[Me and My Pal (1939 film)|Me and My Pal]]'' (1939) * ''[[Black Eyes (1939 film)|Black Eyes]]'' (1939) * ''[[Pack Up Your Troubles (1940 film)|Pack Up Your Troubles]]'' (1940) * ''[[Freedom Radio]]'' (1941) * ''[[Old Mother Riley in Business]]'' (1941) * ''[['Pimpernel' Smith]]'' (1941) * ''[[When We Are Married (film)|When We Are Married]]'' (1943) * ''[[Candles at Nine]]'' (1944) * ''[[It's in the Bag (1944 film)|It's in the Bag]]'' (1944) * ''[[Tawny Pipit (film)|Tawny Pipit]]'' (1944) * ''[[It Happened One Sunday]]'' (1944) * ''[[The Years Between (film)|The Years Between]]'' (1946) * ''[[Easy Money (1948 film)|Easy Money]]'' (1948) * ''[[My Brother Jonathan (film)|My Brother Jonathan]]'' (1948) * ''[[My Brother's Keeper (film)|My Brother's Keeper]]'' (1948) * ''[[For Them That Trespass]]'' (1949) * ''[[Diamond City (film)|Diamond City]]'' (1949) * ''[[Meet Simon Cherry]]'' (1949) * ''[[Night and the City]]'' (1950) * ''[[No Trace (1950 film)|No Trace]]'' (1950) * ''[[Blackout (1950 film)|Blackout]]'' (1950) * ''[[Highly Dangerous]]'' (1950) * ''[[The Happy Family (1952 film)|The Happy Family]]'' (1952) * ''[[Time Bomb (1953 film)|Time Bomb]]'' (1953) * ''[[Background (1953 film)|Background]]'' (1953) * ''[[The Desperate Man (film)|The Desperate Man]]'' (1959)

==References== <references/>

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0124680}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Ernest}} [[Category:1885 births]] [[Category:1965 deaths]] [[Category:English male stage actors]] [[Category:English male film actors]] [[Category:English male television actors]] [[Category:Male actors from Burnley]] [[Category:20th-century English male actors]]