Murray and Mooney

Harry Murray (born Harry Church; 1891–1968) and Harry Mooney (born Harry William Goodchild; 8 October 1889–28 September 1972) comprised the English comedy double act of Murray and Mooney.

Signed photograph - Mooney is on the left

They grew up in Richmond, Surrey,[1] and started working together in 1909, with a break for the First World War. After the war, they became established as a classic comedy double act, and performed widely around the country during the 1920s and 1930s.[2] Their bill matter stated that "Even their relatives think they're funny".[3]

They established a format in which Mooney would interrupt Murray, the straight man, and start a joke with the words "I say, I say, I say...", an idiom which they are credited with popularising,[4] though it had been used previously by others.[5] After hearing the punchline, Murray would conclude by saying "I don't wish to know that - kindly leave the stage."[3] The format became well-known and stereotypical, and was often satirised by later performers. While some critics claimed that Murray and Mooney performed "awful jokes delivered at high speed", others have described them as a "classic double act.. [who were] guardians of a tight and restricted format", and in 1935 a critic in The Stage wrote that they "caused so much mirth as to interfere with their business".[6]

The duo appeared at two Royal Variety Performances, in 1934 and 1938.[2] They also appeared regularly in BBC radio broadcasts in the 1930s and during the Second World War.[1]

After Mooney and Murray split up in the mid-1940s, Mooney worked as a double act with Victor King, Mooney and King, continuing into the early 1950s.[2]

References
  1. Murray and Mooney, Search, Radio Times. Retrieved 19 January 2021
  2. Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts, Robson Books, 1998, ISBN 1-86105-206-5, p.130
  3. John Fisher, Funny Way to Be a Hero, Random House, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84809-313-3, p.61
  4. Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Idioms, Wordsworth Editions, 2006, p.131
  5. Roger Wilmut, Kindly Leave the Stage: The Story of Variety 1919-1960, Methuen, 1985, ISBN 0-413-48960-4, pp.56-57
  6. Andrew Roberts, The Double Act: A History of British Comedy Duos, The History Press, 2018, pp.


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