Quote • STANLEY HOLLOWAY • My Fair Lady
Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle My Fair Lady (1957) by Richard Maney-Photo by Friedman-Abeles, NYC [Wikimedia Commons]
Stanley Holloway [1890-1982] appeared on Broadway with Rex Harrison [1908-1990] in My Fair Lady in 1957. Harrison had a reputation for being very abrupt with his fans. One night after a performance of the show, Holloway and Harrison left by the stage door. It was late, cold and pouring with rain and there was an old woman standing alone outside the door. When she saw Harrison, she asked him for his autograph. He told her to “Sod off” and she was so enraged at this that she rolled up her program and hit Harrison with it. Holloway congratulated him on not only making theatre history but for it being the first time in world history that “the fan has hit the shit.”
—Adapted from IMDb
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Rogues & Vagabonds 
Love Stanley Holloway. Especially in Passport to Pimlico when he stops the tube train and asks passengers if they’re carrying hashish; his smile when he does it makes me laugh out loud every time.
Passport to Pimlico – very heaven. Do you remember Philip Stainton who plays the copper? When I was married and lived in a flat in Richmond, his widow, a redoubtable performer, Lilian Stainton, lived in the top flat and was a joy. She had done everything from circus and end-of-the-pier to Benny Hill. I miss her still.
I remember Michael Hordern was the killjoy inspector…I’ll have to go and watch it again now!