Arthur Towle was in show business from when he left school in1900 until
his dying day. He started as an Irish character comedian in British
music halls. Touring Ireland with this act in 1913, he met
Kitty McShane and married her later that year (she was 16, he 28). They gradually evolved the act of "Old
Mother Riley and her Daughter" (Arthur, in drag, playing the former),
which maintained popularity for nearly 40 years, and Arthur adopted the stage
name Lucan to sound more Irish. The fame of Lucan and McShane did not
go much beyond provincial music halls until the first Old Mother Riley
film was released. Cheaply made and highly profitable, 17 films
(1937-1952) starred Lucan in the richly comic role of Mrs. Riley,
making him a Top Ten star in England in 1942. The gangly Mother Riley
was usually a charwoman or laundress, but some entries found her
running a shop or pub with the aid of her daughter, Kitty. Lucan's
comedy came from Mother Riley's absurd predicaments, eccentric ways,
facial and bodily contortions, and malapropism-filled tirades against
all who displeased her, seasoned with "knockabout" slapstick. By 1951,
Lucan and McShane had separated, and Kitty did not appear in Arthur's
last film, though he continued to support her. He was struggling with a
large tax debt in 1954 when he unexpectedly collapsed and died in a
Yorkshire theatre before his stage show.
Old Mother Riley Overseas(1943)
Old Mother Riley Detective(1943)
Old Mother Riley's Circus(1941)
Old Mother Riley's Ghosts(1941)
Vampire Over London(1952)as Mother Riley
Jungle Treasure(1951)as Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley, Headmistress(1950)as Old Mother Riley
Old Mother Riley's New Venture(1949)as Mrs. Riley
Old Mother Riley in Paris(1938)
The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon(2005)as Self - Stage Performer in Victoria Pier Film
Heroes of Comedy(1992)as Old Mother Riley
