Bert Lee

Bert Lee, born William Herbert Lee on 11 June 1880 in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England, was an English songwriter who worked extensively in music hall, musical theatre, film, and radio. He died on 23 January 1946 in Llandudno, north Wales, at the age of 65. His Broadway credits include the revue Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924 and the musical Tell Her the Truth, for which he served as composer and book writer.

Lee's early musical life began at his local chapel, where he played organ as a child. He subsequently worked as a piano tuner in Manchester before joining a travelling concert party as a pianist. His first notable songwriting success came in 1910 with "Joshu-ah!", co-written with George Arthurs and performed by Clarice Mayne. Three years later, he co-wrote "Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend?" with Worton David and performer Harry Fragson, which brought him further recognition.

The most consequential professional relationship of Lee's career began in 1915, when music publisher David Day of Francis, Day and Hunter introduced him to R. P. Weston. Their partnership produced approximately 3,000 songs and monologues, 75 stage shows and musicals, and 17 films over the following two decades, in addition to work for pantomimes and radio. Among their early collaborative successes were "Lloyd George's Beer Song" in 1915, "Good-bye-ee!" in 1917, made popular by Florrie Forde, and "Paddy McGinty's Goat" in 1917, which was later revived by Val Doonican in 1964. The two men conducted their work from Weston's house in Twickenham, keeping regular office hours and aiming to produce at least one song per day. Lee described the division of their creative labor by saying that Weston supplied the brains while he supplied the laughs.

During the 1920s, Weston and Lee adapted numerous American productions for the British stage and contributed to many original theatre productions. Beginning in 1926, they collaborated with theatre producers Jack Waller and Joe Tunbridge on a series of musical comedies, several of which featured comedian Bobby Howes. They also wrote material for Gracie Fields and the Crazy Gang, as well as sketches for Fred Karno, Robb Wilton, and Wee Georgie Wood. Their monologue "My Word, You Do Look Queer," first recorded by Ernest Hastings in 1922, was later popularized by Stanley Holloway, for whom Weston and Lee wrote several additional monologues in the 1930s. In 1934, Lee co-wrote "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" with R. P. Weston and Weston's son Harris Weston, a monologue performed by Holloway about the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London.

Lee and Weston also wrote for film throughout the 1930s, contributing to productions including Squibs in 1935, for which Holloway was a noted performer, and Splinters in the Air in 1937, written for comedian Sydney Howard. In 1938, Lee co-wrote "Knees Up Mother Brown" with Harris Weston, a song that became durably associated with Cockney culture. That same year, Lee and Harris Weston co-wrote the stage revue These Foolish Things, which starred the Crazy Gang and the Sherman Fisher Girls, and Lee also contributed to the musical The Fleet's Lit Up.

In 1939, Lee and his wife traveled to Llandudno in north Wales for a holiday. When the Second World War broke out, they chose to remain in the town permanently. Lee died there in January 1946.