Basil Hallam

Basil Hallam Radford (3 April 1888 – 20 August 1916) was an English actor and singer, known for the character of Gilbert the Filbert in The Passing Show.

He died in action on the Western Front during World War I. Hallam was born on 3 April 1888 at 55 Marine Parade, Brighton, East Sussex, England, the youngest son and child of Walter Thomas Hindmarsh Radford, a ship and insurance broker, (1845–1927) and Ann Louisa Maria Radford (née Wulff) (1847–1924).

He created the character of a privileged young "knut", Gilbert the Filbert, for The Passing Show (1914), the original revue of that title by Herman Finck, which opened at the Palace Theatre, London, on 20 April 1914.

[3] Hallam died on 20 August 1916, aged 28, whilst serving as a Captain with a Kite Balloon Section of the Royal Flying Corps in France at the Battle of the Somme.

To avoid capture, Hallam bailed out of the balloon's basket but he was obstructed from jumping clear, and fell several hundred feet to his death after his emergency parachute failed to deploy.