From the age of 12 when, an early school leaver, Trinder threw in his
job as an errand boy and went on the stage to make people smile. Touring
South Africa with a revue company in 1921, he appeared as a boy vocalist
at Collins' Music-Hall the following year. The son of a London tram
driver, Tommy always possessed a quick wit. Trinder spent years touring
Britain on variety bills as a stand-up comic before nationwide success
found him. It began to come in 1937 with the revues Tune In and In Town
to-Night, by which time music-hall audiences had become familiar with
the leering smile, the pork-pie hat and the wagging finger. The British
cinema, regaining confidence after its mid-1930s slump, drew him in,
but straitjacketed him into roles that most light comedians could have
played. Sailors Three,
a genuinely funny war comedy that harnessed him with Claude
Hulbert and Michael Wilding as three
friends who capture a German pocket battleship, boosted his standing.
Trinder's robust performance brought him further roles with the film's
makers, Ealing Studios,
with whom he was to do his best film work.
Meanwhile, he had virtually taken up residence at the London Palladium.
Back at Ealing, he successfully played two fairly straight roles laced
with his own engaging brand of humour and native London wit. The
Foreman Went to France was the story of a true wartime exploit,
and The Bells Go
Down a smoke-grimed tribute to die work of London's firemen in the
Blitz. He was, ironically, taken back to Australia by his final Ealing
venture, Bitter Springs,
another salt-of-the-earth role in this story of a family fighting to
make a new life in Aborigine country. With the arrival of independent
television in the London area in 1955, a big variety show was mounted
called Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Trinder was the obvious
choice as compere, and he did his old stamping-ground proud, becoming
the top British TV star of the time. He continued to appear in pantomimes
and cabaret, but further film appearances were only cameos. He celebrated
his 80th birthday shortly before his death from heart problems.
