Close to the this location, at the opposite end of Islington
Green, lies the former Collins's Music Hall. It opened in 1862 but
was rebuilt with the current facade in 1897. At it's height between
92 and 162 acts were put on each evening and performers who starred
there included Charlie Chaplin, George Formby and Gracie Fields
among others. In 1958, a fire in the timber yard behind it,
destroyed much of the building and the music hall closed for
good.The shell of the that building is now the Waterstones bookshop
and a blue memorial plaque to the Music Hall can be seen on the
front wall.. The music hall was owned by Sam Collins, a colourful
character. See more about Sam
here.
It was here in December 1945 that Norman Wisdom got his first
big break and launched his career onto stage, film and
television.
As quoted in the Daily Telegraph Obituary: "His break came
in December 1945 at the Collins Hall, Islington, a venue for new
variety turns. He had followed the manager everywhere for three
weeks asking for a chance. Billed as “The Successful
Failure”, he produced an act that was a synthesis of his
experiences and would never change. Wisdom was life’s victim,
a gormless, game village idiot. Mime and pratfalls were his
stock-in-trade, dance and song mere distractions, as he clowned
with musical instruments that shut on his fingers or was knocked
out by his boxing shadow. It was silly, unsophisticated fun —
and austerity audiences lapped it up. One teenage schoolgirl
laughed so hard that she dislocated her jaw. Within two years
Wisdom was a West End star."
At the height of his career, the Norman Wisdom franchise was
earning more than the James Bond franchise. He went on from here to
appear in 19 films and 32 television sitcoms. A Guardian website
tribute - "A Life in Clips", showing some of his best moments, can
be seen
here
