| Collection | David Drummond Pantomime Collection |
| Admin history | Born Leslie Legge Frye on 22nd February 1897 at Denman Villa, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey, he was the son of the portrait painter William Rawstorne-Frye and Mary Sarony. He was one of six siblings, and the youngest son. From an early age, he was involved in the entertainment industry, first appearing in talent shows at the age of twelve. He adopted his mother's maiden name at the age of fourteen, officially taking the name Leslie Sarony, and became a professional entertainer with Park's Eton Boys and Girton Girls, as well as other juvenile acts.
Lying about his age and joined the London Scottish regiment during the First World War, as well as within the Royal Army Medical Corps. Sarony saw action on the Somme at Vimy Ridge, as well as at Salonika and Macedonia. For his service he received the Silver War Badge. Whilst in service, he contracted dysentery and malaria, and recuperated in Malta. During his time in Malta, he wrote his first lyric based on the popular song Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days. He adopted the song to reflect the realities of the First World War, with his version reflecting the surfeit of cheese that troops were served.
Following his time in service, Sarony took up his career in musical comedy, variety, revue, and pantomime. In 1962, he played the lead role of Frank in the Drury Lane Theatre production of Show Boat. Other productions that he starred in during the 1920s included The Whirl of the World, Dover Street to Dixie, Brighter London, and The Peep Show. The 1920s also saw Sarony commence his career in songwriting and recording, and he worked for every recording company in the United Kingdom between 1926 and 1939. Several of Sarony's recordings were done with Jack Hylton and his band. Overall, Sarony made 350 records under his own name, as well as several others under assumed names.
Popular songs by Sarony include 'I lift up my finger and I say tweet tweet', 'Jollity Farm', and 'Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead', as well as 'The Old Sow'. Some of his songs continued to reflect his military life, such as 'When the Guards are On Parade'. Other songs also had a nostalgic element and recalled the England of the 1930s, including 'Tune in', 'Teas, light refreshments, and minerals', 'I like riding on a choo choo choo', and 'Mucking about in the garden', the latter which was written under the pseudonym Q. Kumber. A fuller list of Sarony's songs is:
Don't Be Cruel to a Vegetable (1928)
Don't Do That to the Poor Puss Cat (1928)
Forty-Seven Ginger-Headed Sailors (1928, featured in Jeeves and Wooster)
I Lift Up My Finger (and I Say 'Tweet Tweet') (1929, featured in Jeeves and Wooster and in Mother Riley Meets the Vampire)
Jollity Farm (1929)
Mucking About the Garden (1929)
The Alpine Milkman (1930)
Gorgonzola (1930)
Icicle Joe the Eskimo (1931)
Rhymes (1931)
Jolly Good Company (A-side Eclipse record No. 122, copyright Campbell, Connelly & Co)
Let's Sing the Song Father Used to Sing (B-side Eclipse record No. 122, copyright Campbell, Connelly & Co)
Ain't It Grand to Be Bloomin' Well Dead (1932)
Wheezy Anna (1933)
Coom Pretty One (1934)
I Took My Harp to a Party (Carter-Gay) A-side Rex 8063 A (B-side "Why Build a Wall 'Round a Graveyard?") (Sarony) (1934)
The Old Sow (Susannah's a Funniful Man) (1935)
We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line (1939)
The Flirtation Waltz (1952)
Sarony also wrote songs with Fred Godfrey
As well as perform on his own, Sarony also performed as from 1935 with Leslie Holmes, creating the variety act the Two Leslies. They appeared together for eleven years on radio and topping variety bills across the United Kingdom, even appearing in the royal variety performance in 1938 and later in 1983. Whilst Holmes retired in 1946, Sarony continued the act with Michael Cole until 1949. The later 1940s also saw Sarony becoming a solo variety act. Sarony also experiened success during the 1970s as an actor, starring in Samuel Beckett's Endgame and As You Like It, as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1968, Yanks in 1979, and Moty Python's The Meaning of Life in 1983. He also starred on television in the programmes I Didn't Know You Cared, the Harry Worth Show, Crossroads, Z-Cars, The Good Old Days, and The Liberace Show, as well as the sitcom Nearest and Dearest. During the 1970s, Sarony also starred in the police drama The Seeney, appearing during the first episode as a police informant known as 'Soldier'.
Sarony married Anita Eaton on 3rd April 1939, with whom he had three sons. They divorced in 1953. Off the stage, Sarony was a keen golfer and was involved in societies dedicated to the entertainment industry, such as the Grand Order of Water Rats, becoming a members during the 1980s, and the Concert Artistes' Association, which he was President of. The Songwriters' Guild of Great Britain also presented him with the gold badge of merit. Sarony died of cancer aged 88 in St. George's Hospital, Tooting, London on 12th February 1985. |
| Related Person | Frye, Leslie Legge (1897–1985), otherwise known as Leslie Saronyy |