- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAlbert Alick Bowlly
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Al Bowlly was born on January 7, 1899 in Delagoa Bay, Portuguese East Africa [now Maputo Bay, Mozambique]. He was an actor, known for Ready Player One (2018), The Jacket (2005) and The Outsider (2018). He was married to Margaret Fairless and Freda Roberts. He died on April 17, 1941 in London, England, UK.
- SpousesMargaret Fairless(December 18, 1934 - April 17, 1941) (his death)Freda Roberts(December 18, 1931 - January 1934) (divorced)
- African-born crooner and lead vocalist with the Ray Noble Orchestra. Killed during a German air raid on London in April 1941.
- In the 1930s, he signed two contracts - one in May 1931 with Roy Fox, singing in his live band for the Monseigneur Restaurant, a stylish restaurant on Piccadilly in London, the other a record contract with bandleader Ray Noble in November 1930.
- The Caretaker, who sampled Bowlly's music for his Everywhere at the End Of Time project, noted the public's opinion that if Bowlly did not die during the war, he would have been "bigger than Bing Crosby," and that "he had a better voice."[.
- After a series of odd jobs in South Africa, including barber and jockey, he sang in a dance band led by Edgar Adeler on a tour of South Africa, Rhodesia, India and the Dutch East Indies during the mid-1920s. His main role was as guitarist. He was fired from the band in Soerabaja, Dutch East Indies.
- On 16 April 1941, Bowlly and Messene had given a performance at the Rex Cinema in Oxford Street, High Wycombe. Both were offered an overnight stay in town, but Bowlly took the last train home to his flat at 32 Duke Street, Duke's Court, St James, London. He was killed by a Luftwaffe parachute mine that detonated outside his flat at ten past three in the morning. His body appeared unmarked. Although the explosion had not disfigured him, it had blown his bedroom door off its hinges, and the impact against his head was fatal. He was buried with other bombing victims in a mass grave at Hanwell Cemetery, Uxbridge Road, Hanwell, where his name is given as Albert Alex Bowlly.
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