Edmund Comber (8 January 1886 – 1 March 1942),[2] known professionally as Bobbie Comber, was a British comedian, singer and actor.[3]
He was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He first appeared on stage in 1904 in Bournemouth,[2] and worked as a civil servant in the War Office before forming his own concert party in 1912.[4] He served in the military in the First World War, and then toured the country in musical revues and the comedy Chu Chin Chow.[4] He first appeared on stage in London at the Adelphi Theatre in a production of The Naughty Princess in 1920.[5]
Comber's first broadcasts were in excerpts from the show Clowns in Clover, and he made more regular appearances as a comedian on BBC radio from 1929, sometimes with Paul England, Claude Hulbert and Eddie Childs (later replaced by Arthur Clay, and subsequently by H. B. Longhurst) as "Those Four Chaps". He also performed in a double act with Hulbert, and recorded light comedy songs, such as a cleaned-up version of "Barnacle Bill".[4] He appeared in films, including Elstree Calling (1930), Lazybones (1935), and Be Careful, Mr. Smith (1935).
The BBC's entertainment programmes were broadcast from north Wales during the Second World War, and Comber died there, in Bangor, in 1942 aged 56.
^England and Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, accessed via Ancestry.co.uk 2 February 2014
^ ab5 March 1942, "Chit Chat", The Stage, p.4, accessed via The Stage Archive 2 February 2014
^"BFI Database". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
^ abcDenis Gifford, The Golden Age of Radio, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, ISBN 0-7134-4235-2, p.55
^"Bobbie Comber in Between Ourselves", V&A Museum. Retrieved 16 March 2021
Edmund Comber (8 January 1886 – 1 March 1942), known professionally as BobbieComber, was a British comedian, singer and actor. He was born in Bury St...
immediately recorded by several leading British acts, including Jack Leon, BobbieComber, Randolph Sutton, Billy Cotton, Jay Wilbur, Jack Hylton, and Leslie...
Evelyn Daventry Sebastian Shaw as Trent Felix Aylmer as Lord Yardleigh BobbieComber as Andrews "BFI | Film & TV Database | The ACE OF SPADES (1935)". Ftvdb...
edition of Radio Pictorial: Sundays: 12:00 noon – Musical Voyage – with BobbieComber and Reginald Purdell and sponsored by Halls Wine. 12:15 pm – Do-Do Broadcasts...
Courtneidge Jack Hulbert Tommy Handley Lily Morris Helen Burnell The Berkoffs BobbieComber Lawrence Green Ivor McLaren Anna May Wong Jameson Thomas John Longden...
Gerrard as George Lattaker Molly Lamont as Stella Elsie Randolph as Mamie BobbieComber as Billy Marshall Clifford Heatherley as Prince Sachsberg Hal Gordon...
London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on October 5. Starring BobbieComber and Thorpe Bates. Good Morning, Dearie, Broadway production opened at...
the same year she played Phyllis in a BBC broadcast of Iolanthe, with BobbieComber as the Lord Chancellor and Derek Oldham as Tolloller. In 1942, she starred...
music by Paul Abraham and Alfred Rode Be Careful, Mr Smith starring BobbieComber The Bird Seller (Der Vogelhändler), starring Maria Andergast, Wolf Albach-Retty...
Joan Gardner, Gus McNaughton Drama Be Careful, Mr. Smith Max Mack BobbieComber, Bertha Belmore, Cecil Ramage Comedy The Big Splash Leslie S. Hiscott...
Singing Cop, starring Keith Falkner, Marta Labarr, Ivy St Helier and BobbieComber Start Cheering, released March 3, starring Jimmy Durante, Gertrude Niesen...
score), opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End, starring BobbieComber. Died: John Storey, 52, Australian politician and Premier of New South...
Pearl Argyle, Sebastian Shaw Be Careful, Mr. Smith Comedy Max Mack BobbieComber, Bertha Belmore, Cecil Ramage Brewster's Millions Musical comedy Thornton...
Golden Moth (Music: Ivor Novello) opens at the Adelphi Theatre, starring BobbieComber and Thorpe Bates. Porte, J. F. Sir Edward Elgar. London: Kegan Paul...
Lauder Songs George Pearson Short Hot Heir W. P. Kellino Charles Austin, BobbieComber Comedy How He Lied to Her Husband Cecil Lewis Edmund Gwenn, Vera Lennox...
Lane, and runs for 243 performances. Be Careful, Mr Smith, starring BobbieComber Brewster's Millions, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Jack Buchanan...
Henry Wenman as Otto Sarteaux Gibb McLaughlin as Advertising Manager BobbieComber as Uncle Oscar Mark Daly as Sunshine An artist is hired by a major soap...
Shiner as Perky Pat Arthur Finn as Madigan Vera Bogetti as Lucille BobbieComber as Bivex Don McCorkindale as Jonny Williams Tommy Farr as Tommy Farr...
Elizabeth Jenns as Mildred Arthur Chesney as Batty Sara Allgood as Rose BobbieComber as Marlowe Mary Mayfren as Mrs Falconer BFI.org Chibnall p.272 Chibnall...
broadcast as one of "Those Four Chaps", together with Claude Hulbert, BobbieComber, and Paul England. By 1933, he worked regularly for BBC radio in London...
Kennedy C. Denier Warren as Bill Johnson Frank Atkinson as Joe Stuggins BobbieComber as Chauffeur Andreas Malandrinos as Mayor Denise Sydney as Muriel Kathleen...
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