Hubert Gregg

Hubert Robert Harry Gregg (19 July 1914 – 29 March 2004) was a British actor, broadcaster, writer, theatre director, and songwriter born in Islington, north London. He trained at St Dunstan's College and the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art before beginning a career that spanned stage, radio, film, and television.

Gregg's early professional work included announcing for the BBC Empire Service in 1934 and 1935, alongside intermittent appearances in repertory theatre. His Broadway credit came in 1937, when he appeared in Terence Rattigan's comedy French Without Tears, which ran from 28 September 1937 through January 1938.

During the Second World War, Gregg enlisted as a private with the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1939 and subsequently became an officer in the 60th Rifles the following year. His fluency in German led to work with the BBC German Service, efforts that were reportedly effective enough for Goebbels to conclude he was a German traitor. He was invalided out of service in 1943. Among the more than 200 songs he composed was the wartime number "I'm Going To Get Lit Up When The Lights Go Up in London," written in 1940 and performed by his first wife, Zoe Gail, in George Black's 1943 production Strike a New Note. The song was broadcast in 1944 as a signal to the Resistance that the invasion of Europe was approaching. Gregg also wrote material for the musicals The Love Racket (1943), Sweet and Low (1944), and Strike It Again (1945). His most enduring composition, "Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner," was written in approximately 20 minutes while he was on leave in 1944, reportedly inspired by the sight of German V1s flying over the city. The song became a hit and a London folk anthem in 1947.

Following the war, Gregg co-starred with Anne Crawford in Western Wind (1949) at the Manchester Opera House and turned his attention to directing for the stage. He directed several Agatha Christie productions, among them The Hollow in 1951 and The Mousetrap for seven years beginning in 1953. He later wrote about this period in his 1980 memoir Agatha Christie and All That Mousetrap.

Gregg maintained a long association with BBC Radio, presenting A Square Deal for seven years and Thanks for the Memory for more than thirty years. He also acted in films and on television and authored light comedies as well as two novels.

Gregg was married three times. His first marriage, in 1943, was to musical comedy star Zoe Gail, with whom he had a daughter, actress and writer Stacey Gregg; that marriage ended in divorce in 1950. In 1956 he married actress and singer Pat Kirkwood, with whom he appeared in Stars in Your Eyes (1956) and the 1958 musical comedy Chrysanthemum; they divorced in 1979. His third marriage, in 1980, was to Carmel Lytton, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Gregg died on 29 March 2004 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, at the age of 89.