{{Short description|English comedian and stage actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} [[File:Roy Rolland.jpg|thumb|right|Roy Rolland as Old Mother Riley]] '''Roy Rolland''' (29 June 1921 – 16 August 1997) was an English comedian and stage actor who was the understudy for Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley and who took over the role following the death of Lucan in 1954, playing it until about 1977.<ref name=Obit/>
==Biography== Rolland was born in Oldham in Lancashire in 1921; as a teenager he appeared in a number of concert parties and seaside summer shows in the North of England without much success until he met Lucan in about 1950 and who saw his comedic potential.<ref name=Obit>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-roy-rolland-1247384.html Rolland's Obituary] in ''The Independent'' – 26 August 1997</ref>
Rolland acted as Arthur Lucan's understudy and stand-in for Old Mother Riley both on stage and in film (including in Lucan's last film ''Mother Riley Meets the Vampire'', where he stood in for Lucan in the more physical scenes). Towards the end of Lucan's life, as he was affected more and more by alcoholism, Rolland appeared more frequently in the role.<ref name=Obit/> Following Lucan's death in 1954, Kitty McShane, his on-stage daughter and real-life ex-wife, hired Rolland to appear with her as Old Mother Riley.<ref>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/doubleacts.html Rolland on the 'It's Behind You' website]</ref> After a disagreement with McShane, Rolland renamed the character Old Mother Kelly, but to all intents and purposes the character was the same.<ref name=Obit/>
After McShane's death in 1964, Rolland moved to Rhyl where every Christmas he played the pantomime dame at the Gaiety Theatre. Usually he played the dame as Old Mother Riley, but occasionally he appeared as Old Mother Goose. In 1973, he joined the cast of Jess Yates' ''Junior Showtime'' as Old Mother Riley.<ref name=IMDb/> Following this he appeared with Danny La Rue in his Summer Show at the Blackpool Opera House. For this, Rolland and La Rue played Mother Riley and her daughter Kitty in a recreation of the Lucan and McShane sketch "Bridget's Night Out" from the 1930s.<ref name=Obit/> Rolland appeared as himself in the television documentary ''Danny La Rue: The Ladies I Love''.<ref name=IMDb>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0738336/ Rolland] on the Internet Movie Database</ref><ref>[https://nigelthedame.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/old-mother-riley-arthur-lucan-the-cinema-museum/ Rolland in The Cinema Museum]</ref>
Rolland retired to Rhyl in Denbighshire where he lived with his male partner, a former supermarket manager.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UkkfEiXTb5gC&dq=roy+rolland+supermarket&pg=PA96 Anthony Slide, ''Eccentrics of Comedy'' – Scarecrow Press, Inc. (1998)] – Google Books pg 96</ref> Roy Rolland died there in August 1997, aged 76.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=roy&gsln=rolland&mswpn__ftp=Oldham%2c+Lancashire%2c+England&mswpn=84940&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5271%7c84940%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&msbdy=1921&msddy=1997&msdpn__ftp=Rhyl%2c+Flintshire%2c+Wales&msdpn=1651591&msdpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c5250%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5364%7c1651591%7c0%7c&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=rc8&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=2745320&db=ONSDeath93&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Roy Rolland in the England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140810234601/https://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2bbdfb7aee Rolland] on the British Film Institute website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Roy}} Category:1921 births Category:1997 deaths Category:English male stage actors Category:English male film actors Category:English male television actors Category:Male actors from Oldham Category:Actors from Rhyl Category:English LGBTQ actors Category:20th-century English male actors Category:British LGBTQ male actors Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people Category:English male comedians Category:English LGBTQ comedians Category:Comedians from Lancashire Category:Male actors from Denbighshire