| Biography | Vic Oliver, born Victor Oliver von Samek, (8 July 1898 15 August 1964) was an actor and radio comedian.
He was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Viktor von Samek, and came to England via America.
He starred in the BBC radio show Hi, Gang! along with Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels; and appeared in many others, including Discord in Three Flats (1962) with Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert. He was a skilled musician and played the violin (deliberately badly in his shows). He had aspirations as a conductor and founded the Vic Oliver Concert Orchestra which gave light classical concerts along the south coast of England. His theme tune was Prelude to the Stars. He was a regular on Henry Hall's Guest Night and Workers' Playtime and, as a music-based comedian, has been considered a precursor of Victor Borge. He was the very first 'castaway' on the long-running radio series Desert Island Discs in 1942. As a Jew, his name was listed on a Nazi blacklist (known as "The Black Book") of people to be arrested (and killed) immediately on a successful German invasion of Britain.
Oliver married Winston Churchill's daughter, Sarah, in 1936. Churchill did not approve of him; there is an anecdote that at a dinner party at which Oliver was present, Churchill was asked whom he most admired. Churchill replied, "Mussolini". When asked why, he replied, "Because he had the good sense to shoot his son-in-law!" He and Sarah divorced in 1945. Oliver married Natalie Frances Conder in 1946 in Westminster, London. |