Actor and comedian, born in London, UK. He made his stage debut at 14 in pantomime, and built a reputation as one of the finest British comics of his time in music hall and radio performances with a laconic comedy routine. In 1966 he appeared as Père Ubu in Jarry's Ubu Roi, and subsequently developed a special affinity for the plays of Samuel Beckett. He also appeared as a solo artist, and presented his own one-man show, Aspects of Max Wall, in 1974.
Max Wall (12 March 1908 - 21 May 1990) was a British comedian, born in Brixton, London, the son of the successful music-hall entertainer Jack (Jock) Lorimer.
He re-emerged when his comic talents and clown face, appearing on television, and having attracted Beckett's attention, he won parts in Waiting for Godot and Krapp's Last Tape. In 1966 he appeared as Père Ubu in Jarry's Ubu Roi. His "straight" acting gained him this review in 1974:
"Max Wall makes Olivier look like an amateur in The Entertainer at Greenwich Theatre..." (The Guardian, 27 November 1974) He also appeared in Crossroads and Coronation Street.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Wall also occasionally performed a one-man stage show, An Evening with Max Wall, in which he recaptured the humour of old-time music-hall theatre.
His last film appearance was in the short (12 minutes) film, A Fear of Silence, a dark tale of a man who drives a stranger to a confession of murder by answering only Yes or No to his questions;
Wall did not own a telephone, always attending his local telephone box at 1pm Monday to Saturday if he was at home to collect incoming calls.
On the afternoon of 20 May 1990, Wall fell at Simpson's restaurant in central London fracturing his skull.
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