Vic Oliver was born on July 8, 1898 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Viktor Oliver Von Samek. He is known for his work on Hotel Imperial (1958), He Found a Star (1941) and Give Us the Moon (1944). He was married to Natalie Conder and Sarah Churchill. He died on August 15, 1964 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sarah Millicent Hermione Churchill, Natalie Frances Conder
Parents
* Baron Viktor von Samek
Star Sign
Cancer
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Fact
1
Was the first ever 'castaway' to appear on the long-running BBC radio series Desert Island Discs. He was introduced as a "comedian, lightning club manipulator, violinist and comedy trick cyclist". The show was recorded in the BBC's bomb-damaged studio in January 1942.
2
After emigrating to the US, he played piano in restaurants, bars, and movie theaters. One day he announced that a charity collection would be taken during the intermission at a theater where he was performing. His English was still poor, and he ended with the words "I shall now come down and go through you all." Laughter and large donations followed, and his career in comedy had inadvertently begun.
3
He studied piano, violin, and conducting at the Vienna Conservatory, and was assistant conductor at the Graz Opera House.
4
Son of Baron Victor von Samek but he relinquished his father's title in 1922
5
When the great female trumpeter Joan Hinde broadcast her famous performance of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto, it was Oliver who introduced her on air, and he may even have conducted the orchestra for the performance.
He was an accomplished violinist and used this musical talent in his comedy act, and was one of the first musical comedians whose style was later taken up by the likes of Victor Borge.