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Will Hay
English comedian, actor, film director & astronomer (1888-1949) · United Kingdom · On the map · Comedians · Died at 60
William Thomson Hay was an English comedian best known for playing authority figures with comic failings in several films, most notably as a schoolmaster. His film Oh, Mr Porter!
Will Hay is read about 83 times a day, in 14 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 9 July 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Close ties
William Beaudine Directed Dandy Dick and Where There's a Will
Michael Balcon Produced The Goose Steps Out and Hey! Hey! USA
Marcel Varnel Directed Old Bones of the River (1938)
Moore Marriott Also in Oh, Mr Porter! and Windbag the Sailor
Marriott Edgar Wrote Old Bones of the River and Convict 99
Val Guest Wrote Oh, Mr Porter! and Good Morning, Boys!
Basil Dearden Directed The Goose Steps Out (1942)
Angus MacPhail Also in The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
Peter Gawthorne Also in Good Morning, Boys! and Convict 99- Charles Hawtrey Will directed The Goose Steps Out (1942)
- Louis Levy Wrote Boys Will Be Boys and Good Morning, Boys
- John Dighton Also in The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
Ronald Shiner Will directed My Learned Friend (1943)
John Mills Will directed The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
Charles Victor Will directed My Learned Friend (1943)
Dennis Wyndham Also in Windbag the Sailor and Oh, Mr. Porter!- Gibb McLaughlin Also in Where There's a Will and Hey! Hey! USA
Davy Burnaby Also in Radio Parade of 1935 (1934)- Leslie Arliss Wrote Windbag the Sailor and Good Morning, Boys!
Peter Ustinov Will directed The Goose Steps Out (1942)
Sidney Gilliat Also in Where There's a Will (1936)
Felix Aylmer Will directed The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
Frank Cellier Also in The Big Blockade (1942)- Henry Hewitt Will directed The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
Also in Deutsch
About this person
(1937), made by Gainsborough Pictures, is often cited as the supreme British-produced film-comedy, and in 1938 he was the third highest-grossing star in the UK. Many comedians have acknowledged him as a major influence. Hay was also a keen amateur astronomer.
