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George Windsor Graves (1 January 1876 – 2 April 1949) was an English comic actor. Although he could neither sing nor dance,〔("The Comedy Old Man and His Troubles" ). ''The New York Times'', 3 February 1907〕 he became a leading comedian in musical comedies, adapting the French and Viennese ''opéra-bouffe'' style of light comic relief into a broader comedy popular with English audiences of the period.〔 His comic portrayals did much to ensure the West End success of ''Véronique'' (1904) ''The Little Michus'' (1905; for which he invented the Gazeka), and ''The Merry Widow'' (1907).〔 In addition to musical comedy, operettas and revues, Graves specialised in pantomime and music hall. Later in his career, he was a frequent broadcaster and made several films, always in comic roles, but continued to perform on stage. His last stage success was in ''Me and My Girl'' (1937). ==Early life and career== Graves was born in London and made his stage debut at the age of 19 in an Edwardian musical comedy in Portsmouth. In its obituary notice, ''The Times'' wrote, "from the line then chosen () deviated during the next 40 years only into pantomime and music hall sketches."〔"Obituary, Mr. George Graves", ''The Times'', 5 April 1949, p. 6〕 Although he could neither sing nor dance, he made his career in comic parts in musical pieces.〔 His first success on the London stage was as General Marchmont in ''The School Girl'' in 1903,〔 followed the next year by MacSherry in ''Madame Sherry''〔"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 21 February 1904, p./ 6〕 and Coquenard in Messager's ''Véronique'' (1904).〔"Apollo Theatre", ''The Times'', 19 May 1904, p. 10〕 For the next five years, Graves was cast in comic roles in George Edwardes productions, becoming a leading comedian of his day.〔〔"Dramatis Personae", 11 October 1908, p. 5〕 In 1905 Graves was chosen to play the General in the British premiere of Messager's ''The Little Michus'', but he became ill and had to join the cast later in the run.〔"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 20 August 1905, p. 7〕 He habitually improvised comic dialogue during rehearsals and for this piece he invented a mythical creature called "the Gazeka" which caught the fancy of the London public.〔"Judy's Diary",'' Judy, or The London Serio-Comic Journal'', 22 November 1905, p. 563, and "Playgoer", ''The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times'', 25 November 1905, p. 330〕 After appearing in a revival of ''The Geisha'' (1906), in which his style was criticised as being too broad,〔"Music in London", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 20 June 1906, p. 7〕 he was again prevented by illness from taking the comic lead in a new show; in ''The Merveilleuses'' (1906) he was replaced by W. H. Berry.〔"'The Merveilleuses' – Beautiful New Production at Daly's", ''The Observer'', 28 October 1906, p. 5〕 His greatest success for Edwardes was in the British premiere of ''The Merry Widow'' (1907), in which he played Baron Popoff, a role that he would repeat many times during his career. ''The Observer'' wrote, "a great deal of the fun as provided by that clever comedian was more English than 'Marsovian'."〔"The Merry Widow", ''The Observer'', 9 June 1907, p. 8〕 Graves did not stay in ''The Merry Widow'' for the whole of its long run.〔Between the opening in June 1907 and the end of the run in July 1909 there were many cast changes; the title role was sung by six different performers; Graves was succeed as Popoff by J.F. McArdle. See "'The Merry Widow' – Gala Performance for the Farewell", ''The Observer'', 25 July 1909, p. 8〕 In 1908, he left the Edwardes management, and appeared in ''The Belle of Brittany'', with Ruth Vincent. The other comic lead was Walter Passmore, who was judged less effective than Graves because he stuck to a weak script instead of improvising as Graves did.〔"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 25 October 1908, p. 7, and "New Musical Play", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 26 October 1908, p. 6〕 ''The Times'' wrote of Graves, "Time after time, as in his favourite manner he hugs a lady close and delivers to her a monologue, he introduces so much that is new that when the lady's turn does come she is quite unable to speak for laughter. And the audience never stops laughing."〔"Queen's Theatre", ''The Times'', 16 January 1909, p. 12〕 Pantomime was another prominent part of Graves's theatrical career. He was, in the words of ''The Times'', "a pillar of Drury Lane at Christmas".〔 His roles included Abanazar in ''Aladdin'' (1909),〔"Drury Lane Pantomime – 'Aladdin'", ''The Times'', 28 December 1909, p. 8〕 Jack's mother in ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' (1910),〔"Drury Lane Theatre – 'Jack and the Beanstalk,'" ''The Times'', 27 December 1910, p. 8〕 The King in ''Hop o' my Thumb'' (1911),〔"Drury Lane Theatre – 'Hop o' my Thumb'", ''The Times'', 27 December 1911, p. 6〕 and the Duke of Monte Blanco in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (1912).〔"Drury Lane Theatre – 'The Sleeping Beauty,'" ''The Times'', 27 December 1912, p. 7〕 These and appearances in music hall shows interspersed his career in musical comedy.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Graves (actor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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