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John Norman "Jack" Hulbert (24 April 1892 – 25 March 1978) was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife Cicely Courtneidge

Biography

Born in

He made his film debut in Elstree Calling (1930); appearing opposite his wife and frequent stage and screen co-star Cicely Courtneidge, whom he had married in 1916. His career went through a successful period during the 1930s when he appeared in several films, including The Ghost Train (1931), Love on Wheels (1932) and Bulldog Jack (1935), a tongue-in-cheek homage to the popular Bulldog Drummond films in which Jack was supported by his brother Claude.^[1]

In 1931 Courtneidge and Hulbert suffered a serious setback when they discovered that their financial manager had been speculating with their money, suffering heavy losses and putting their business into liquidation.^[4] Hulbert accepted responsibility for all the business's debts and undertook to repay every creditor.^[5]

He had a hit record in 1932 "The Flies Crawled Up the Window", which was originally sung in the film Jack's the Boy. In 1934 he was voted the most popular male British star at the box office.^[6]

In 1936 exhibitors voted him the third most popular British film star.^[7]

Hulbert's popularity waned as the 1930s came to an end, and after the war he and his wife continued to entertain chiefly on stage. In 1962 he appeared in the BBC radio sitcom Discord in Three Flats, along with Courtneidge and Vic Oliver.

Autobiography

In 1975, Hulbert published his autobiography, The Little Woman's Always Right. His marriage to Cicely Courtneidge lasted for 62 years until his death. Their relationship is mentioned in the British television series

training film to spend time with his wife.

Hulbert died, at the age of 85, at his home in Westminster, London on 25 March 1978.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1930	Elstree Calling		His film debut
1931	The Ghost Train	Teddy Deakin
	Sunshine Susie	Herr Hasel	Released as The Office Girl in USA
1932	Jack's the Boy	Jack Brown	Released as Night and Day in USA
	Happy Ever After	Willie	Released as A Blonde Dream in USA
	Love on Wheels	Fred Hopkins
1933	Falling for You	Jack Hazeldon
1934	Jack Ahoy	Jack Ponsonby
	The Camels Are Coming	Jack Campbell
1935	Bulldog Jack	Jack Pennington	Released as Alias Bulldog Drummond in USA
1936	Jack of All Trades	Jack Warrender	Alternative title: The Two of Us
1937	Take My Tip	Lord George Pilkington
	Paradise for Two	Rene Martin	Released as Gaiety Girls in USA
1938	Kate Plus Ten	Inspector Mike Pemberton	Released as Queen of Crime in USA
1940	Under Your Hat	Jack Millett
1950	Into the Blue	John Fergusson	Released as Man in the Dinghy in USA
1951	The Magic Box	1st Holborn Policeman
1955	Miss Tulip Stays the Night	Constable Feathers	Released as Dead by Midnight in USA
1960	The Spider's Web	Sir Rowland Delahaye
1973	Not Now Darling	Commander Frencham
1974	The Cherry Picker	Sir Hugh Fawcett

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Golden Year	John Radlett	Musical play for BBC TV
1961	Kraft Mystery Theater – "The Spider's Web"		TV Episode
1962	Compact	Smith	TV Series
1970	Party Games		(TV) - Waiter

Theatre

Year	Title	Theatre	Notes
1913	The Pearl Girl	Shaftesbury Theatre	with Cicely Courtneidge
1921	Pot Luck!	Vaudeville Theatre, London	[8][9][10]
	Ring Up	Vaudeville Theatre, London
1924	Second Little Revue Starts at Nine	Little Theatre
1925	By The Way	Apollo Theatre and Shaftesbury Theatre	Revue
1926	By The Way	Gaiety Theatre, London	with Cicely Courtneidge
1926-27	Lido Lady	Gaiety Theatre, London
1927-29	Clowns in Clover[11]	Adelphi Theatre and Strand Theatre	with Cicely Courtneidge
1930	Follow A Star	Liverpool Empire	with Sophie Tucker
1960	The Bride Comes Back	Vaudeville Theatre, London	Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert
1973	The Hollow	Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham	with Cicely Courtneidge
1974	Breath of Spring	Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham	with Cicely Courtneidge
1976	Once More With Music	Theatre Royal Brighton	with Cicely Courtneidge

References

1. ^ ^{a b} D. Pepys-Whiteley, ‘Hulbert, John Norman (Jack) (1892–1978)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
2. ^ "Hulbert, Jack (1892-1978)". screenonline.org.uk. BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
3. ^ Hartley, 2013, A Historical Dictionary of British Women. p. 120
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference dnb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "Film World". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 1 February 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
7. ^ "Pictures and Personalities". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 10 April 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
8. ^ "Performance Details for Pot Luck! (revue)". bris.ac.uk. University of Bristol, Theatre Collection. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
9. ^ Wearing (2014). London Stage 1920-1929. p. 137. The show's success depended upon the exceptional talents of Beatrice Lillie and Jack Hulbert (Times)
10. ^ Green, 2009, Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, p. 201
11. ^ "Clowns in Clover". Cadbury Research Library Special Collections. University of Birmingham. Retrieved 27 August 2015.

Bibliography

• Green, Stanley. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre. Da Capo Press
• Wearing, J. P.. (2014). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performances and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield Education (2nd edition)
• Landy, Marcia. (2014). British Genres: Cinema and Society, 1930-1960. Princeton University Press
• Hartley, Cathy. (2013). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Routledge

External links

• Jack Hulbert at
  IMDb
• Jack Hulbert & Cicely Courtneidge archive, Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
• Jack Hulbert at Find a Grave
• Jack Hulbert Britmovie | Home of British Films
• Jack Hulbert BFI
• Jack Hulbert BFI Screenonline