Max Wall

Max Wall

'The incomparable Max... I shall be able to tell my grandchildren that I once saw a master clown in action'.

Michael Billington, Guardian, 4 February 1975


Maxwell Lorrimer, as was Max's given name, was virtually born in a trunk on 12th March 1908, in Brixton, South London. His parents 'Jock' and Stella were big stars of the music halls and within days, in time honoured tradition, Max made his first ever appearance on stage in his fathers arms.
As he grew, he always knew where his future lay, and standing for hours in the wings watching the star turns of the day twice-nightly, he learnt his craft from the very best. The crooners, the jugglers, the dancers, the illusionists, and, of course, the comedians: George Robey, Harry Lauder, Billy Bennett, Little Tich, Charlie Higgins - Max watched them all like a hawk, and dreamt of fame and fortune.

However, his dreams were almost shattered before they had been realised, when on the 3rd September 1916, a nocturnal visitor dropped an unwelcome present on the Lorrimer household in Baytree Road, Brixton. It was a gas bomb from a German Zeppelin. The explosion killed his younger brother and their nanny, but Max and his brother Alec were saved by the metal framed bed in which they slept, which flipped over with the blast and protected them from falling masonry. The house was completely demolished and both lads bore the scars of their narrow escape till the end of their days.

Max in action

Jock and Stella, who were away on tour when the bomb dropped, returned and dropped another - they had decided to separate. The family split up: Max's brother went to live with his father and Max moved with Stella to Malden, to the home of her new boyfriend - Harry Wallace, a song and dance man. Harry was a kind chap who adopted Max as his own son and encourage his talent, teaching him all the dance steps he knew. Slowly, Max grew to trust and to love Harry too and when he landed his first job, he took half of Harry's surname, chopped it in two and added it to half of his own Christian name. Max Wall was born...

In a career which spanned almost seventy years, Max's many and various talents were displayed to the full. In London's West End in the 1920's and 30's his first appearances were as aerobatic dancer and his rave reviews promised a dazzling career. Palladium Billing


''Max Wall danced with Miss Mary Lawson and made every boy in the gallery fiercely jealous".

Daily Express 3 September 1925

"Max Wall showed that dancing can express humour when performed by an expert in that particular direction".

Stage - 29th May 1930



Max hankered for more than merely hoofing and started to introduce patter into his dance act. It took five years before the managements' took him seriously and employed Max soley as a comedian, but once he was established, he became a great favourite with audiences the length and breadth of Britain.

The ProfessorWithout doubt, Max's most famous comic creation was Professor Wallofski, the weird spidery travesty of the old masters of music walks. Dressed in larger-than-life boots, white socks and black tights, the professor spawned a veritable 'chameleon' of impersonators who number among them, John Cleese. (Cleese, in a magazine article, confessed it was after watching Max that the idea for 'The Ministry of Silly Walks' was born).


"Mr Wall is, quite simply, the funniest comedian in the world"
International Herald Tribune, 15 December 1973

Max Wall died, following a fall at Simpson's in the Strand, on the 21st May 1990 and generations mourned the passing of a great clown. His headstone in Highgate Cemetery quotes Noel Coward and in four words explains that certain something that he possessed.
The stone reads simply:

Max Wall 1908 - 1990
'I believe that since my life began, the most I've had is just a talent to amuse'


Episode I of Series III
The Sexton's Tales

'A TALENT TO AMUSE'

Airdate: 28th May 1997