Lynn, Ralph

Lynn, Ralph (1882–1962), English actor, who specialized in ‘silly ass’ parts, with monocle, protruding teeth, a winning smile, and sweet though asinine reasonableness in the most trying circumstances. He made his first appearance on the stage in 1900, and after many years in the provinces and a visit to New York in 1913 achieved his first outstanding success in London in 1922, playing Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington in Will Evans's farce Tons of Money. First seen at the Shaftesbury Theatre, this was transferred to the Aldwych, where Lynn was to remain for nearly 10 years, starring with Robertson Hare and Tom Walls in the so-called ‘Aldwych farces’ by Ben Travers. After leaving the Aldwych, Lynn appeared in the long-running farcical comedy Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1944) by E. Vivian Tidmarsh, followed by two more farces by Travers, in which Lynn again teamed up with Robertson Hare—Outrageous Fortune (1947) and Wild Horses (1952). He made his last appearance in London in 1958, but continued to tour in some of his old successes until shortly before his death.