Al Read, 1909 – 1987
Former sausage maker from Salford turned comedian was huge on British Radio during the 1950’s and 60’s with his weekly radio series “The Al Read Show” and has since been described as highly influential on British Comedy.
Here we take a look back at his life and career.
Brief Bio
Al Read was born Alfred Read on 3rd March 1909 in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire. On leaving school he worked at the family meat processing firm, E. and H. Read Ltd, initially as a salesman before becoming a director in his early 20’s.
From an early age the young Alfred Read always wanted to perform, indeed on one occasion, aged 18, he performed impressions of Maurice Chevalier in clubs in Bolton before being found by his Father and made to return to work as a meat-products salesman.
After the death of his Father he began running the family business, during this time he would take opportunities to entertain at local dinners and in clubs.
Alfred Read, Business Man
During World War II Al Read became a prosperous and well-respected local businessman, as during this time his company won a lucrative contract with the NAFFI to supply sausages. This enabled him to spend more time in the evenings as an after dinner speaker. He honed his skills with carefully observed characterisations ranging from drunks to know-alls and cheeky children.
Comedy Career Beginnings
After moving to Lytham St Annes he spent time playing golf, where he met many of the show business figures who performed in nearby Blackpool and began active attempts to develop a second career as a comedian.
In 1948 he paid a local theatre producer to let him perform in a show on the Blackpool’s South Pier,. Sadly this early performance was unsuccessful owing to Read’s stage fright and he returned to his business interests.
Comedy Career
In early 1950 Read hosted a dinner for business contacts in Manchester and entertaining them with some of his monologues and dialogues in which he played both voices.
Al Read’s humour was observational and based upon Northern English working class people, often in a domestic situation.
Off He Goes
The response to Read at that dinner was so good that it was overheard by another guest coincidentally staying at the same hotel,. That was regional BBC Radio producer Bowker Andrews, who invited him to perform the routine on his radio show Variety Fanfare. The show was broadcast on 17th February, 1950 from the Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester and launched Read’s comedy career.
Al Read quickly became popular on regional and then national radio shows, such as Variety Bandbox and Workers’ Playtime. It was seen as unusual for the time that his humour reflected everyday life, situations and characters, widely recognisable and only slightly exaggerated for comic effect.
Back To Blackpool
In 1951 he was invited by bandleader Henry Hall to star in the summer season at Blackpool’s Central Pier.
By Royal Appointment
So popular was Read the King invited him to perform at Windsor Castle.
The Al Read Show
He recorded monthly editions of his programme, The Al Read Show, in advance, allowing him to diverge from the usual radio variety show format. It featured guest performers including Jimmy Edwards and Pat Kirkwood.
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The Al Read show became one of the most popular radio comedy shows in the UK during the 1950’s and 60’s., with up to 35 million people tuning in each week.
The introduction to his radio show was usually “Al Read: introducing us to ourselves”; and he himself described his work as “pictures of life”.
Other Appearances
In 1954 he appeared high on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium and in 1959 he appeared with fellow Northern comedian Jimmy Clitheroe in the Royal Northern Variety Performance, in the presence of the Queen Mother, at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
In 1963 Read headed a variety format for ITV called ‘Life and Al Read’ , which was apparently unscripted and was broadcast live.
In 1966 a BBC TV series called Al Read Says What a Life! was broadcast. However Read’s humour did not transfer very well to television, with a critic in The Stage magazine commenting: “I’m only interested in what he has to say – I don’t care what he looks like…”. His final TV series, It’s All In Life, in 1973, was also unsuccessful, and Read returned to radio for a final series in 1976.
Writing for others
The American comedian Bob Newhart came to an arrangement with Read to adapt and perform some of his routines, with the result that some of the material originally written and developed by Read, such as ‘The Driving Instructor’, became associated more with Newhart.
Later Life
Al read retired from performance in the 1970’s while continuing to run his business interests from homes in Yorkshire and Spain.
In 1984 a further series of radio shows, Such Is Life, was broadcast,
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The series drew on privately recorded routines from earlier years since the BBC original recordings had been destroyed. Read published an autobiography, It’s All in the Book, the same year.
Three years later on 9th September 1987, following a series of strokes, Al Read died in hospital in Northallerton, Yorkshire.