Cinderella in Leeds

Three weeks later they opened at the Leeds Grand with Cinderella. The show ran for four successful weeks playing to packed houses but nearly didn't happen at all because at the beginning of the run George collapsed in his dressing room and an ambulance was called. The manager thought that it was a heart attack but it turned out to be food poisoning and, after resting overnight in his hotel George was back on stage for the matinee performance, a little pale but giving the audience that inimitable Formby magic.

Decca Studios

On 21 January 1950 George entered the Decca Studios, London, and in single takes recorded three of his old favourites, The Window Cleaner, Auntie Maggie's Remedy and Leaning on a Lampost, also a song by Max Miller, Come Hither with your Zither, not George's usual style and Max stayed with him during the whole session.

In Hospital

On 07 March George was taken ill and rushed into Blackpool Victoria Hospital with appendicitis where he nearly died. Whilst in hospital a friend of mine, now in her seventies, who was undergoing a long surgical procedure on one of her legs, wrote a letter from the children's ward to George wishing him well and hoping that he would soon get better. Imagine her surprise when George turned up in the children's ward in pyjamas and a dressing gown a few days later with a full box of chocolate bars (chocolate and sweets were still rationed). All the children in the ward were allowed one bar each per week until the box was empty. A picture of the visit was published in the local newspaper and I was able to borrow the original press copy from this lady and a reproduction can be seen in the society archives. George spent the next four weeks recuperating on the Broads where he spotted a large cottage for sale on the banks of the River Bure at Wroxham. He bought it for £2,000 and was to spend a further £2,000 on it. They enjoyed many summer days there over the next few years with the Lady Beryl on the mooring at the rear of the house. George gave a concert for the Royal family at Windsor Castle and dedicated the request for Lampost to Princess Margaret.

Sweden

At the end of April they flew to Sweden again to give a concert celebrating the fifth anniversary of liberation and whilst there he was offered a film which was promptly turned down by Beryl because she found out that the Swedish director would not have allowed her on the set during filming. In May they travelled to Canada to raise funds for the Winnipeg Flood Disaster Fund. George walked onto the stage at the Maple Leaf Gardens on 26 May, his 46th birthday, with a crowd of twenty thousand singing "Happy Birthday to You". He sang six songs and a total of £30,000 was raised for the fund. The next day George was offered a tour of the United Stated culminating with a concert at Carnegie Hall with a $5,000 fee, but George declined the offer saying that the Yanks wouldn't understand him. However they did arrange a further tour of Canada for later in the year. George spent the summer quietly at home with a few variety engagements. On 04 August George participated in the second Petit Prix, a one mile charity horse race held by the Blackpool theatrical set on the south promenade sands and at the end of the month he switched on Morecambe illuminations.

Canada

In September they left for Canada from Liverpool aboard the Empress of France bound for Montreal on the first leg of the seven weeks' tour which ended on Vancouver Island. He was interviewed on 23rd October on Norm Pringle's Midnight Merry-go-round, radio CKXL, Calgary, Alberta, during the tour. After the Canadian and British tax authorities had taken over 90% of his earnings, he declared war on the taxman. He was good as his word and he didn't work for the next six months barring a charity show in Dublin which gave him the opportunity to look round some of the properties for sale in Ireland. They enjoyed the summer on the broads and were just settling down to the relaxed way of life when, at the age of 47, he received a telephone call from Emile Littler which was to catapult him to fame after over five years in the wilderness of British show-business.

Zip Goes A Million

He was offered the lead role in Zip Goes a Million, a musical based on a story called Brewster's Millions, at a salary of £1,500 per week. With some persuasion from Beryl, George accepted the offer and the show opened at the Coventry Hippodrome on 04 September 1951 and went from there to Palace, Manchester, where it was a great success. An excerpt from the Palace production was broadcast on the Light Programme and a tape recording of this excerpt is in the society archives). After great success at the Palace it went to the West End of London and it became the "in thing" to see George Formby in Zip Goes a Million. Most nights it was standing room only. Once again George's ebullient personality carried the show and it became a great success. George's mother, then 72, was in the first night's audience and there were tears in her eyes when she said, "I should have liked his father to have seen him, he'd have been proud of the way he has kept up his father's name". Many newspaper critics wrote derogatory articles about the show but the Musical Express pointed out that with all the years of stage presentation experience behind him, it didn't matter that he was no great actor or singer. His warm personality carried the show and George had no need to worry about the stiff-necked critics. The standing ovations were all that he needed every night and he laughed all the way to the bank. I still think they should have let him play the uke for Saving up for Sally and Pleasure Cruise, but it was written into his contract that he didn't and the show went on without it (apart from one night at the Manchester Palace when there was a power cut and George kept the proceedings going for twenty minutes with the uke until the power was restored, according to the late Harry and Lottie Stamford who just happened to be there on that night.)

George Suffers an Heart Attack

For six months George worked six days a week with matinees and sometimes drove to Wroxham for a rest until Monday morning. One Sunday morning whilst driving up to Norfolk George suffered a heart attack. He was able to pull the car into the side of the road and Beryl managed to get to a phone to call an ambulance. He was attended by the King's physician, Sir Horace Evans (as always, only the best for George) who recommended six months' rest. His part in the show was taken by Reg Dixon, a comedian who was famous for singing "Confidentially" and whose catchword was "I'm proper poorly", whilst George spent the rest of the summer on the Broads and at home in Blackpool. As he recovered there was another emergency when a fishbone lodged itself in his oesophagus. He was rushed into Blackpool Victoria Hospital where the surgeons were terrified of operating but eventually it had to be done and George made a full recovery. It was recommended that he spent a week in the hospital, but George discharged himself after four days saying that he had a pressing engagement to judge a beauty contest at Morecambe's Open Air Bathing Pool. He was only 48 years old at this time but he decided that he should retire because of the heart problem and in the autumn of 1952 the Formbys found themselves a house in Knocksinna, Foxrock, Eire, for £20,000.

In Ireland

His idea was to breed racehorses away from the British taxman and be able to live like a country squire. Perhaps he would have lived a bit longer if he had stayed in Ireland with the horses, but within months George travelled to Manchester to have a complete medical examination and the doctor told him that he was not 100% fit and that starting a business in Ireland would have been too much of a strain on his heart. I think secretly that he was missing his beloved Lancashire and, to a certain extent, show business. So the house in Ireland was sold and also the house at Granny's Bay and he bought Cintra, a house at Fairhaven from a show business friend, Josef Locke, for £15,000. Mr. Locke said that it was a favour to George for giving him a start in show business in one of his shows years before, but the money did help to pay off some of Mr. Locke's tax arrears and soon he returned to his native Ireland to evade the Inland Revenue's demands. The house was near to St. Annes' pier and was the last house that George and Beryl lived in and spent some of their happiest years together.