at the theatre organ
When, at the age of two-and-a-half, John Bee sat down at the piano and played the National Anthem, there could have been little doubt as to what career he would follow. At the age of twelve he received an appointment as church organist, and gave his first pianoforte recital just a year later. At fifteen he was organist at the Lincoln Methodist Church, which seats over a thousand people.
Bee served through the last war, and afterwards resumed his organist's work, giving recitals in the northern and eastern counties. At this time he also ran a dance orchestra. He joined the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation in 1930.