Indelibly associated with the ukulele and fun, nonsense songs, George Formby was
one of the biggest stars and best-paid entertainers of the 1930s and 1940s. He
came from humble beginnings in the north of England to become a king of the
music halls, adopting the stage name Formby from the Lancashire town of the same
name. A tiny figure, he initially planned to be a jockey, riding his first
professional race when he was 10 and weighed under four stone but, after the
death of his father in 1921, he changed course and headed for the music halls. A
natural comedian, Formby is said to ...