Ernest Butcher

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).{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Mr Ernest Butcher dies at 80 |work=Lancashire Telegraph |pages=7}} He was educated at Walk Mill School, where his father taught. Butcher worked as an electrical engineer and auctioneer before studying at the Royal Academy of Music.{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Ernest Butcher is Dead |work=Western Daily Press}} He served in the First World War with the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment.{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Obituary |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=18}}{{Cite news |date=9 June 1965 |title=Music Hall Star Dies |work=Daily Post}}

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.

He appeared in the original production of J.B. Priestley's play When We Are Married at St. Martin's Theatre London, in 1938;{{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}} and reprised his performance in the film version, in 1943. During the Second World War, he played in Front Line Family, a BBC overseas soap opera, broadcast daily.

Butcher was on the bill when Gracie Fields made her debut.

Butcher was the second husband of the actress Muriel George, and stepfather to her son, the critic John Davenport.The New Review, vol. 3, issue 31, 1976, pg 69{{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}} Butcher and George married in 1921 in Fulham, west London.{{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}} By 1939, the couple were living in Torrington Park, North Finchley.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. However, in 1943, the marriage ended in divorce.{{Cite news |date=8 June 1965 |title=Star Of The Music Hall Ernest Butcher Dies, Aged 79 |work=Liverpool Echo |pages=1}}

In 1948, he married Edna Brough, sister of ventriloquist Peter Brough, in Wood Green, London.

Butcher latterly lived in Friary Road, Friern Barnet. On 22 May 1965 Butcher was admitted to Brompton Hospital in Kensington, London with heart and chest trouble. He died on 8 June 1965, aged 80, in hospital.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.

• 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)
• Black Eyes (1939)
• Pack Up Your Troubles (1940)
• Freedom Radio (1941)
• Old Mother Riley in Business (1941)
• 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
• When We Are Married (1943)
• Candles at Nine (1944)
• It's in the Bag (1944)
• Tawny Pipit (1944)
• It Happened One Sunday (1944)
• The Years Between (1946)
• Easy Money (1948)
• My Brother Jonathan (1948)
• My Brother's Keeper (1948)
• For Them That Trespass (1949)
• Diamond City (1949)
• Meet Simon Cherry (1949)
• Night and the City (1950)
• No Trace (1950)
• Blackout (1950)
• Highly Dangerous (1950)
• The Happy Family (1952)
• Time Bomb (1953)
• Background (1953)
• The Desperate Man (1959)

• {{IMDb name|0124680}}

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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

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