Billy Merson

Billy Merson (born William Henry Thompson; 29 March 1879 – 25 June 1947) was an English music hall performer, comedian and songwriter.

Biography He was born in Nottingham. He began his career while working in a lace-making factory. He performed in the evenings in a duo with Bernard Whiteman, at first as "Whiteman and Thompson - Irish Comedians and Trapeze Performers", and later as "Snakella and Travella". With Whiteman, he toured Ireland and the north of England, and appeared in pantomimes. In 1904, they changed their name to "Keith and Merson". It took some time until he could make a living from his stage work. "For five or six years on the stage, I survived on a salary hardly enough to keep body and soul together", he said. The partnership with Whiteman ended in 1908. He also appeared in three films made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, Billy Merson Sings Desdemona, Billy Merson Sings Scotland's Whiskey (a satire on Sir Harry Lauder), and Billy Merson in a Russian Opera (all 1926-1927).

As a comedian he was often paired with George Formby Senior. He performed in revues, including Hullo America in 1918 with Elsie Janis and also featuring the London debut of Maurice Chevalier, who later wrote of Merson that he "was not only very funny, but he was fast on his feet as well and had a good baritone voice... This man had everything." He also appeared in Whirled into Happiness (1922), the operetta Rose-Marie in 1925, musical comedy, and plays. He was briefly chairman of the music hall at the Players' Theatre in London. In the 1930s he reverted to his old music hall act, dressed in eccentric costume and singing.

He died in Nottingham in 1947, aged 68.

Selected filmography Billy's Spanish Love Spasm (1915) The Man in Possession (1915) The Only Man (1915) Sherlock Blake - The Terrible 'Tec (1916) The Show Goes On (1937) Riding High (1937)