William Thomson Hay FRAS (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings.

In the early years of the twentieth century Hay experienced some moderate success as a stand-up comedian and an after-dinner speaker.

[6] In 1914 Hay began working with the impresario Fred Karno who had previously helped Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin achieve success.

Hay toured with the act and appeared in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa (where he added Afrikaans to his languages).

In a 1976 interview, Val Guest, who served as a screenwriter for many of Hay's films, recalled transposing Harbottle from school into other everyday situations.

In the essay he rhetorically asks, "Why does every one of us laugh at seeing somebody else slapped in the face with a large piece of cold custard pie?

[7] Hay worked with Gainsborough Pictures from 1935 to 1940, during which time he developed a partnership with Graham Moffatt, playing an insolent overweight schoolboy, and Moore Marriott as a toothless old man.

was credited by The Times as being "a comic masterpiece of the British cinema",[10] while the writer Jimmy Perry cited the film as an influence on key character development for Dad's Army.

As well as being incompetent, his characters are often immoral; for example, a clergyman involved in horse betting in Dandy Dick, a fraudster who lies about his career as a distinguished sea captain in Windbag the Sailor, and a prison warden, Dr Benjamin Twist, in Convict 99, who obtains his job under false pretences.

[1] He is often compared to W. C. Fields, who typically portrayed characters similar to those of Hay, being misanthropic, self-centered scoundrels who nevertheless remain sympathetic.

[12] Hay had become interested in film making while touring in the United States in the 1920s, although, at the time he doubted he had a future in this field.

Having returned to Britain, Hay started work at Elstree Studios in 1934 where he made three films, Those Were the Days, Radio Parade of 1935 and Dandy Dick.

On three occasions, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten box office stars in an annual poll run by the Motion Picture Herald.

The movie's satire on the public school system was loosely based on the Narkover vein of humour in the work of Daily Express columnist, Beachcomber.

Writing for The Spectator, Graham Greene described the film as "very amusing", and Hay's portrayal of Dr Smart as "competent", though Greene thought Claude Dampier's portrayal of Second Master Finch (Hay's adversary) was the film's "finest performance".

Moffatt played Albert, the overweight, insolent schoolboy reminiscent of Billy Bunter, while Marriott was the toothless old Harbottle.

The trio appeared in six films together between 1936 and 1940, Windbag the Sailor, Oh, Mr Porter!, Convict 99, Old Bones of the River, Ask a Policeman and Where's That Fire?.

[19] The director Marcel Varnel considered the film as among his best work,[20] and it was described in 2006, by The Times in its obituary for writer Val Guest, as "a comic masterpiece of the British cinema".

[21] Jimmy Perry, in his autobiography, wrote that the triumvirate of Captain Mainwaring, Corporal Jones and Private Pike in Dad's Army was inspired by watching Oh, Mr Porter.

[6] Hay left Gainsborough and began working with Ealing Studios in 1940, in an attempt to break up his partnership with Moffatt and Marriott.

John Mills, who had appeared in Hay's first film, Those Were the Days returned to act as his sidekick in The Black Sheep of Whitehall.

[1] During Hay's tenure with Ealing he was credited as a director in three of his films, The Black Sheep of Whitehall, The Goose Steps Out and My Learned Friend.

[25] Also in 1942, he made an appearance in the propaganda film, The Big Blockade among other prolific actors of the time, including Leslie Banks, John Mills and Michael Redgrave.

[12] Hay was scheduled to star in another film for Ealing in 1943, Bob's Your Uncle, but his diagnosis of cancer prevented him from proceeding.

[7] The half-hour weekly Will Hay Programme began in August 1944, and was broadcast live from the BBC Paris Theatre in Lower Regent Street.

[6] Off-screen, Hay was described as being something of an eccentric, and a very serious and private man, and some thought he may have had a dark side due to his demeanour.

[43] Those who were present at Hay's final appearance described him as showing no sign of illness, and said he had discussed his plans for the future.

[46] The humour of Hay's films has been described as subversive and similar to that of fellow English comedian Frank Randle.