TATE

Tate took his stage name from the sugar firm Tate & Lyle, where he worked while appearing as a sketch-based comic in his spare time at smoking-room concerts. His sketches, including Motoring and Fishing, became music hall classics before the war. As the halls began to decline, he transferred to revues and made a memorable appearance as a householder fortifying his home against enemy spies in Razzle-Dazzle at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1916. His catch-phrase 'Good-bye-ee' became the title of a popular wartime song.