Sutton was born in Clifton, Bristol. He made his first stage appearance in a concert at Burnham-on-Sea in 1905,[1] and was so well received that he left his job with a printing company to start a performing career.[2] He made his Bristol stage debut in 1910, and his London debut in 1915.[3] He rapidly became popular as a singer and entertainer, touring around the country, and always performed in top hat and tails, with a combination of "charm and cheekiness".[4]
Sutton was a prolific recording artist during the late 1920s and 1930s, and many of his records are of a suggestively humorous nature.[4] Among his recordings were "Jolly Good Company" (1931) and "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" (1932).[2] While his best-known song (though first performed by Fred Barnes)[5] was "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep", this was never recorded commercially, but private recordings were made and subsequently released on commercial compilations,[6] including one recorded as late as January 1969, shortly before his death.
He appeared regularly in BBC radio broadcasts from 1932, billed as "Britain's Premier Light Comedian".[7] He was also a star and producer of pantomime, and one of the modern era's earliest male principal boys.[5][8] As part of Don Ross's show Thanks For the Memory, he appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in 1948.[9] He continued to appear in radio and television broadcasts such as The Good Old Days,[7] and in 1966 made a guest appearance as himself in Coronation Street.[10]
He made his final stage appearance at the City Hall Theatre in St Albans, Hertfordshire on 26 February 1969 and died two days later.[11] He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 5 March and his ashes placed in the Garden of Remembrance. A memorial plaque has been erected on the east wall of the West Memorial Court there, as well as a green plaque outside his Bristol birthplace.[10]
