Can anyone give me info on "Fred Carno" or "Fred Carnos Army" ...in the 50's this name came up on several occasions, but I never knew who he was or anything other than that he was a stupid person.

Can anyone give me info on "Fred Carno" or "Fred Carnos Army" ...in the 50's this name came up on several occasions, but I never knew who he was or anything other than that he was a stupid person.

http://www.marketingreinforcements.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index_fredkarno.html

Can anyone give me info on "Fred Carno" or "Fred Carnos Army" ...in the 50's this name came up on several occasions, but I never knew who he was or anything other than that he was a stupid person.

I've never heard of the saying Fred Carnos Army but can remember the old saying "It's like Fred Carnos Circus". This was often used when what was supposed to be an organised event didn't exactly run as was it was intended to run.

During the 1920's Fred Karno's Army was a touring troupe. They were very popular and Fred himself was an "A" List celeb. He had a luxury boat made, which was the biggest privately owned boat in Europe at the time. It is now moored on The Thames at the foot of Dave Gilmour's garden, where it is the best recording studio you could ever imagine

http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/english/werfredk.htm

Western trenches, ~ 1916, based on The Church's One Foundation

We are Fred Karno's army*,
The ragtime infantry.
We cannot fight, we cannot shoot,
What bleeding use are we?
And when we get to Berlin
We'll hear the Kaiser say,
Hoch, hoch! Mein Gott, what a bloody rotten lot,
Are the ragtime infantry.

Fred Karno was played by John Thaw in the film Chaplin

The most memorable thing associated with Fred Karno and his touring comedy group was it produced two of the greatest comics of the 20th century,Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.

The most memorable thing associated with Fred Karno and his touring comedy group was it produced two of the greatest comics of the 20th century,Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.

My grandad saw Chaplin when Fred Karno's appeared at the Hippodrome on Cambridge Street.

A clip on You Tube from the film Oh What a Lovely War with the soldiers singing 'We are Fred Karno's army'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8XpsP8NrCk&feature=channel