Will Fyffe

Will Fyffe, born in Dundee in 1885, was a major star in the 1930s and 40s, encompassing stage, screen and vinyl. He was famous in Glasgow for his performances at the city’s many music halls, becoming renowned for his witty songs and engaging style. One of his most popular characters, Daft Sandy, was viewed by critics as “a masterpiece of tragic-comedy”. He appeared throughout Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK, starred in 23 major films (both Hollywood and British), and in 1937, topped the bill of the Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium.

His role in To The Victor (Owd Bob), was described in the New York Times as fitting

snugly into the mental dossier we have been compiling under the heading great performances.

His most lasting legacy must surely be one of Glasgow’s most famously enduring songs, ‘I Belong to Glasgow’. It was with this that he became a world-wide star. It is said that Fyffe found the song’s inspiration after meeting a drunken man at Glasgow’s Central Station. After espousing, with equal enthusiasm on Karl Marx and John Barleycom, Fyffe asked if the man ‘belonged to Glasgow’. The reply: “At the moment, at the moment, Glasgow belongs to me.” The song was subsequently covered by artists as diverse as Danny Kaye, Gracie Fields and Kirk Douglas.

In 1947, after an operation on his right ear, Fyffe stayed in his hotel in St. Andrews. He died after falling from his suite’s window, and was buried in Glasgow, his adopted home-town.