# Sam Mayo > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sam_Mayo > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sam_Mayo.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Mayo > Source revision: 1354433461 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English music hall entertainer, pianist and songwriter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | image = Sam_Mayo_comedian.jpg | caption = | name = Sam Mayo | birth_name = Samuel Cowan | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1881|7|30}} | birth_place = [London](/source/London), England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1938|3|31|1881|7|30}} | death_place = London, England | burial_place = [Willesden Jewish Cemetery](/source/Willesden_Jewish_Cemetery) | other_names = The Immobile One | occupation = [Music hall](/source/Music_hall) singer | years_active = }} '''Sam Mayo''' (born '''Samuel Cowan'''; 30 July 1881 – 31 March 1938) was an English [music hall](/source/music_hall) entertainer, [pianist](/source/pianist) and [songwriter](/source/songwriter). ==Life== Born Samuel Cowan in [London](/source/London) on 30 July 1881, he first worked in his father's [second-hand shop](/source/second-hand_shop) while also collecting [bet](/source/Sports_betting)s and singing in [pub](/source/pub)s and clubs with his brothers Ted and Maurice Cowan.{{cite book |title=British Music Hall: An Illustrated History |last=Baker |first=Richard Anthony |year=2011 |publisher=[Pen and Sword Books](/source/Pen_and_Sword_Books) |location=Barnsley, England |isbn=978-1783831180 |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruWwBAAAQBAJ&q=%22SAM+MAYO+%5BSamuel+Cowan%5D&pg=PA244}} He adopted the stage surname "Mayo" to distinguish himself from his brother Ted, who was also a professional entertainer. Mayo married Zillah Flash (performing name: Stella Stanley) in [Brighton](/source/Brighton) on 13 August 1904. His early involvement in [gambling](/source/gambling) stayed with him: heavy gambling caused him to be three times declared [bankrupt](/source/Bankruptcy). ==Career== Mayo developed a unique comic style as a [music hall](/source/music_hall) singer. Dressed in long overcoat or dressing gown, he sang deadpan at the [piano](/source/piano) in a lugubrious voice and with quirky humour. He became [billed as](/source/bill_matter) "The Immobile One". Mayo mostly wrote his own songs, such as "The Old Tin Can", and provided other entertainers, such as [Ernie Mayne](/source/Ernie_Mayne), with material such as the song "Where Do Flies Go in the Winter Time?" He held the record for appearing at the greatest number of music halls in a single evening: nine performances at nine London venues on the evening of 21 January 1905.{{cite web |url=http://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Sam-Mayo.htm |title=Sam Mayo (1875–1938) |date=2017 |work=The Lyrics: A Casquet of Vocal gems from the Golden Age of Music Hall |publisher=monologues.co.uk |accessdate=5 January 2018 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418170219/http://www.monologues.co.uk/musichall/Sam-Mayo.htm |url-status=dead }} ==Death== He died of a [heart attack](/source/Cardiac_arrest) whilst playing snooker at Ascot Club, in Charing Cross, on 31 March 1938,{{Cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19380401/019/0001|title=Death of Sam Mayo. Heart Attack At Snooker|date=1 April 1938|work=Nottingham Journal|access-date=5 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Gossip|first=Variety|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001179/19380407/002/0006|title=Death of Sam Mayo|date=7 April 1938|work=Variety Gossip|access-date=6 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Press|first=Western Daily|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000513/19380401/132/0012|title=Death of Sam Mayo. Famous Comedian's Collapse.|date=1 April 1938|work=Western Daily Press|access-date=6 March 2020}} a week after attending the funeral of his son, who died of [tuberculosis](/source/tuberculosis). He was buried at [Willesden Jewish Cemetery](/source/Willesden_Jewish_Cemetery). The funeral was attended by [Will Fyffe](/source/Will_Fyffe) and a few other notable figures in music hall. ==Trivia== The noted writer [Katherine Mansfield](/source/Katherine_Mansfield) quoted Mayo's lyrics in a letter dated 1 November 1920.{{cite book |title=The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield: Volume IV: 1920–1921 |last=Mansfield |first=Katherine |year=2011 |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0198185321 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WktGcM_UpH8C&q=%22Sam+Mayo+used+to+sing+it.%22&pg=PA94}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *{{IMDb name|7488679|Sam Mayo}} *[http://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Sam-Mayo.htm Text collection of Sam Mayo's lyrics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418170219/http://www.monologues.co.uk/musichall/Sam-Mayo.htm |date=18 April 2018 }} *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBCroDzOBcU Sam Mayo: British Pathé, 1930] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kev5fZAI3Hg Sam Mayo: British Pathé, 1931] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMMmGGm3qvg Sam Mayo: British Pathé, 1932] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO3PLBv8jV0 Sam Mayo: ''Things are Worse in Russia''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1H55jEtu_Y Sam Mayo: ''I'll Prove That I'm Right''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suotRE5bqaA Sam Mayo: ''The Toreador''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o_5FogG2Vk Sam Mayo: ''Bread and Marmalade''] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAPv5Kpmfao Sam Mayo: ''The Trumpeter''] {{div col end}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Sam}} Category:1881 births Category:1938 deaths Category:20th-century English male singers Category:20th-century English singers Category:Burials at Willesden Jewish Cemetery Category:British music hall performers Category:Musicians from London Category:Pioneer recording artists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sam Mayo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Mayo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Mayo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.