Bobby Howes

Biography

Charles Robert William Howes (4 August 1895 – 27 April 1972) was a British entertainer who was a leading musical comedy performer in London's West End theatres in the 1930s and 1940s. An actor, singer and dancer with a charming, disarming style, Howes was apprenticed to be an electrical engineer before realising his ambition to go on to the stage. While in his teens he performed at music halls and with concert parties, before spending three years in the Army during World War I. After the war he had difficulty getting work, but he made his West End debut in 1923 in The Little Revue Starts At 9, and from then on, for the next 25 years, his inimitable comic style allied to an appealing way of putting over a song and dance ensured that he stayed at the top in the British musical theatre. Among the shows and revues he appeared in were The Second Little Revue (1924), The Punch Bowl, The Blue Kitten, Vaudeville Vanities, The Blue Train, The Yellow Mask, Mr. Cinders — the first of three in which he starred with Binnie Hale ('I'm A One-Man Girl' and 'Ev'ry Little Moment'), Sons O' Guns, Song Of The Drum, For The Love Of Mike ('Who Do You Love?' and 'Got A Date With An Angel'), Tell Her The Truth, He Wanted Adventure, Yes Madam?, Please, Teacher, Big Business, Hide And Seek ('She's My Lovely'), Bobby Get Your Gun, All Clear, Shephard's Pie, Lady Behave, Let's Face It, Here Come The Boys, Four, Five, Six!, Roundabout, and Finian's Rainbow (New York replacement 1960). In 1953 he starred with his daughter, Sally Ann Howes (b. 20 July 1930, London, England) in Paint Your Wagon. She had made her first appearance on the London musical stage two years earlier in Fancy Free, and subsequently developed into an elegant and charming leading lady. Her principal appearances in musicals have included Bet Your Life (1952), Romance In Candlelight, Summer Song, My Fair Lady (1958 Broadway replacement), Kwamina, Brigadoon and Wonderful Town (both New York City Centre revivals), What Makes Sammy Run? (introducing 'A Room Without Windows'), The King And I (1973 London replacement), The Sound Of Music (US regional production 1973/4), and Robert And Elizabeth (1976 UK regional revival), and Hans Andersen (with Tommy Steele, London Palladium 1977). She has toured consistently in shows throughout the world, both musicals and straight theatre, and has appeared extensively on television, especially in America. She was married for a time to the US composer Richard Adler. Like her father, Sally Ann Howes has made a number of films, including the musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In the early 90s, her cabaret act was receiving enthusiastic reviews in London and New York.