This caricature shows Tommy Trinder (1909-1989) in Tune Inn, the variety show starring Larry Adler, at the Oxford New Theatre in April 1937. It was drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad (1904-1976), a rehearsal pianist and orchestral violinist at the Brighton Theatre Royal from 1932 until 1936, and at the Oxford New Theatre from 1936 for over forty years. Sommerlad sketched the stars on stage when he wasn't needed in the orchestra pit, compiling the sketches in a series of albums.

The son of a London tram driver, Tommy Trinder left school at the age of twelve and first went on stage with a revue company in 1921. He was a boy vocalist at Collins' Music Hall and spent years touring Britain on variety bills as a stand-up comic before achieving national success in 1937 with the revues In Tune and In Town Tonight. He was well known for his leering smile and his pork-pie hat, and in the 1930s took film roles, several produced at the Ealing studios. He was a frequent star at the Palladium and was chosen as the compere for television's popular variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium when it was launched in 1955.