Biography
Born on 22 January 1897 in Surbiton, Surrey, England, Leslie Sarony died on 12 February 1985. A singer, songwriter and versatile performer, he made his professional debut in a music-hall sketch in 1911. He later joined Park’s Eton Boys and took part in the 1913 revue Hello Tango at the London Hippodrome, while also playing the provincial circuits during their most prosperous period. Serving with the London Scottish Regiment in France and Salonika throughout World War I, he spent much of his time performing in military concert parties. After the armistice he appeared in pantomime and then featured in a succession of 1920s revues including The Peep Show, His Girl, Dover Street To Dixie, Brighter London, The Whirl Of The World, Rat-A-Tat and Up With The Lark, plus an English-language version of the French operetta Phi-Phi.
In 1928 he portrayed Frank Schultz opposite Edith Day and Howett Worster in the London staging of Show Boat. Two years afterward he rejoined Day for Rio Rita at the Prince Edward Theatre. The following year his most celebrated number, “I Lift Up My Finger And I Say ‘Tweet Tweet’”, was inserted into the Stanley Lupino vehicle Love Lies. Sarony also supplied “Far Away” for Silver Wings, in which he performed, and contributed “How’re You Getting On?” to the 1935 “musical horse play” Sporting Love. By the early 1930s he concentrated increasingly on variety bills and established himself as a familiar radio presence. In 1935 he formed the Two Leslies with former dance-band drummer Leslie Holmes; the partnership quickly became a hit on stage and airwaves, earning a Royal Command Performance and entertaining Allied troops in North Africa and Italy during World War II. Holmes departed in 1946; Sarony worked briefly with another associate before resuming solo work, relying on a repertoire of monologues, songs, character voices and eccentric sound effects that carried him through shifting musical fashions.
At the height of his popularity he recorded with leading dance orchestras such as Jack Hylton and wrote material that resonated with everyday audiences. Several numbers bore quirky or colloquial titles, among them “Mucking About In The Garden” and “Ain’t It Grand To Be Bloomin’ Well Dead.” Additional songs included “Forty Seven Ginger-Headed Sailors,” “Over The Garden Wall,” “Wheezy Anna,” “Coom Pretty One,” “Rhymes,” “When The Guards Are On Parade” (with Horatio Nicholls) and “When A Soldier’s On Parade.” In 1968 he appeared in the British musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; during the 1970s he took straight theatrical roles ranging from Beckett’s Endgame to Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Returning to musical theatre in 1977, he performed alongside Roy Castle in The History Of Mr Polly and supplied the song “Sweet Fanny Adams.” He also featured in the 1979 British film Yanks and, that same year, delivered a nostalgic concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall, displaying undiminished energy at the age of 82.
In 1928 he portrayed Frank Schultz opposite Edith Day and Howett Worster in the London staging of Show Boat. Two years afterward he rejoined Day for Rio Rita at the Prince Edward Theatre. The following year his most celebrated number, “I Lift Up My Finger And I Say ‘Tweet Tweet’”, was inserted into the Stanley Lupino vehicle Love Lies. Sarony also supplied “Far Away” for Silver Wings, in which he performed, and contributed “How’re You Getting On?” to the 1935 “musical horse play” Sporting Love. By the early 1930s he concentrated increasingly on variety bills and established himself as a familiar radio presence. In 1935 he formed the Two Leslies with former dance-band drummer Leslie Holmes; the partnership quickly became a hit on stage and airwaves, earning a Royal Command Performance and entertaining Allied troops in North Africa and Italy during World War II. Holmes departed in 1946; Sarony worked briefly with another associate before resuming solo work, relying on a repertoire of monologues, songs, character voices and eccentric sound effects that carried him through shifting musical fashions.
At the height of his popularity he recorded with leading dance orchestras such as Jack Hylton and wrote material that resonated with everyday audiences. Several numbers bore quirky or colloquial titles, among them “Mucking About In The Garden” and “Ain’t It Grand To Be Bloomin’ Well Dead.” Additional songs included “Forty Seven Ginger-Headed Sailors,” “Over The Garden Wall,” “Wheezy Anna,” “Coom Pretty One,” “Rhymes,” “When The Guards Are On Parade” (with Horatio Nicholls) and “When A Soldier’s On Parade.” In 1968 he appeared in the British musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; during the 1970s he took straight theatrical roles ranging from Beckett’s Endgame to Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Returning to musical theatre in 1977, he performed alongside Roy Castle in The History Of Mr Polly and supplied the song “Sweet Fanny Adams.” He also featured in the 1979 British film Yanks and, that same year, delivered a nostalgic concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall, displaying undiminished energy at the age of 82.