Stage, Screen and Sandwiches

A stamping ground of the rich and famous during the roaring twenties, Sandy’s sandwich bars pioneered a fast-food service that emulated the American tradition of ‘lunch on the go’. At the height of its success, its clientele – the Sandyites – included Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward, George Bernard Shaw, Rex Harrison and Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald.

Sandy’s was the brainchild of one entrepreneur, Kenelm Foss. But pioneering fast food was only the latest accomplishment for Foss, who was already established in the world of stage and film as a celebrated writer, stage manager, producer, actor and director.

From the early days at the Glasgow Repertory Theatre to later involvement in the ‘talkies’, Foss enjoyed a glittering career, his life a blend of remarkable luck – in terms of his ability to pluck opportunity after opportunity seemingly from thin air – and, undoubtedly, a great deal of talent.

No account of this character’s eventful life could be more personal than that of someone who knew him better than most – his own daughter. Fanny Burney pieces together the vicissitudes of her father’s life using the diaries, scrapbooks and newspaper cuttings left to her by the extraordinary man himself.