I'm a great fan of British variety acts ,the whole set up has always fascinated me,so whilst discussing Frank Randall with an even older guy than me,he informed me that he'd got a contract for A Randles Scandals show with costumiers called BOWMAN I mentioned my interest in this and he said well surely you know Frank intended to promote wrestling he thought it would replace the halls and he intended to start at a theatre in Accrington that was proving to be a liability and he regretted buying it,he told everyone that he went to school with Billy Riley but this could be nonsense as he claimed he went to school with George formby and every other notable Wiganer even if ages and dates proved otherwise.However fact is he knew jack Atherton and tommy and jack Pye. He also claimed that he'd wrestled as a youth as young McAvoy.
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Off topic but, only discovered Frank Randall since watching TPTV and thought to myself what have i been missing. He made about half dozen films and i had to have them all on dvd. The late comedy actor John Inman was a big fan of Randall and he pays tribute to him on "Youtube." There's also footage Of John Inman playing Frank Randall's character the old hiker from "The Good Old Days" also on youtube, very good too. "I'm 92 you know, i would've been 93 but me dad was shy!"
There's a story that Randall & Formby were on the same bill at Blackpool. Formby's wife wasn't happy that Randall was top of the bill and Formby below him. She thought Frank was crude and common and didn't deserve top billing, she moaned that much to the manager that the billing was changed. Roughly five minutes before Formby was due on stage Randall nailed George's dressing room door shut and beggared off to the pub to get plastered.
just been on phone ordered new book on his life. Whilst ons phone another wrestling connection raised,Frank appeared at the Hulme Hippodrome and fell out yet again with the owner, he got drunk and trashed the dressing room and did damage in the foyer.
Amazingly three weeks later he was trying to buy the place with another investor one bill Benny,the aim was Continental cabaret and wrestling.
«Starting at a theatre in Accrington”?
Where could this have been? There were loads of cinemas in Accrington in the 50’s & 60’s such as:
- The Ritz
- The Odeon earlier known as the Regal
- Palace
- The Prices Theatre
- Hippodrome
- Empire
- Kings Hall
None of these were in anywhere suitable to hold wrestling matches. The only place suitable was the St. Johns Drill Hall, this is where Bob Bannister then started promoting wrestling matches.