Arthur Tolcher born Arthur John Stone-Tolcher in Bloxwich

Bloxwich

Bloxwich is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England, with a population of around 40,000 people.-Early history:Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, when the place name evidence suggests it was a small Mercian settlement named after the...

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, was a virtuoso British harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

 player and child star who started his career in the British Music halls in the 1930s. He appeared at the London Palladium

London Palladium

The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...

 at 15 and was an early friend and colleague of Morecambe and Wise

Morecambe and Wise

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...

. Arthur was managed by his mother, Beatrice ("Beef") who knew Eric Morecambe's mother well. When the double act became successful Eric and Ernie did not forget their friend and he appeared for many years in their TV shows. He would come onstage in evening wear and start to play his harmonica, only to be stopped by Eric and Ernie saying, "Not now, Arthur!" He also played in some longer sketches on their show.

In a BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 programme in August 2007 Arthur's life story was narrated by Stewart Henderson. Although he had applied to work many times for the BBC in the 1950s he was dismissed as being "amateurish". This did not stop him from performing many backing tracks on hit records for singers such as Frank Ifield

Frank Ifield

Francis Edward Ifield is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963....

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Arthur Tolcher, who was a lifelong and devout Roman Catholic, died in March 1987.