 It is said he briefly retired from acting to become a chicken farmer at the start of the 1930s, but it proved a short-lived venture and he was soon back managing his company, touring the provinces, and outlying London theatres with a repertoire of Victorian melodramas.In 1931 at the New Theatre, London he played Long John Silver in "Treasure Island" during the day and the body snatcher William Hare in "The Crimes Of Burke And Hare" at night.Publicised as "Mr.