The Australians of Vaudeville

Tivoli Theatre, Sydney

Happy Australia Day, Australia! The American people love you! (In fact, I love you even more now that I have a half -Australian daughter-in-law. And I’ve also learned about some cousins there. In the 1860s two of my great-great-great-great aunts, Louisa Ellis and Alice Swift emigrated from Yorkshire to Castlemaine, Victoria. Louisa never married but Alice moved there with her husband Tom Swift and raised a family. Any Swifts from Castlemaine — this one goes out to you.)

While you could fill an entire book listing just the contemporary Australian stars whom Americans love, we’re a little more old school here on Travalanche. Here is a little recap of the many Australian show business figures who made some impact on America back in the day. Just click on the link for more info.

Above all, we note the large contingent of Australians in classic comedy films, both silent and talking. These include Leon Errol,Billy Bevan, Snub Pollard,Daphne Pollard,Clyde Cook,Mae Busch, Mae (Dahlberg) Laurel, and Alf Goulding. Many of them were from Pollard’s Lilliputian Opera Company. Silent actor/director Rupert Julian was from New Zealand, but he acted for several years in Oz before proceeding to the U.S. Some Australian “dramatic” screen actors of the silent and early sound era include Louise Lovely, Enid Bennett and her siblings,Robert Greig, and Dame Judith Anderson. Writer and director John Farrow was also from Australia. Hollywood must have had quite the expatriate colony even in those years. Most of course had got their start in vaudeville and music hall or on the legit stage. Australian swimming champ Annette Kellerman also became a big star in U.S. vaudeville and films; her rival Beatrice Kerr did the same in British music hall. Former cricketer Sydney Deane trod the boards. Second generation Australian golfer Joe Kirkwood Jr played boxer Joe Palooka.

Better known on the music hall stage than onscreen were Saharet, Billy Williams, Mike Connors and Queenie Paul, Robert Whelan and Albert Whelan “The Australian Entertainer”, who introduced the song “Show Me the Way to Go Home”, which we all know from Jaws.  Magicians included The Great Levante,Jean Hugard, Percy Abbott, and Arthur Wheatley, billed as “Chop Chop”. Clifford Guest was an Australian ventriloquist. Elsie St. Leon was a renowned equestrienne, from an equally renowned family. Herbert Dyce Murphy was both a female impersonator and polar explorer who didn’t play vaudeville, but he did tour the lecture circuit. And comedian George Wallace was very popular. For more along these lines, see the Australian Variety Theatre Archive. 

And we can’t neglect the most famous Australian animal act, kangaroo boxing. Much more on that in a separate post here.

Speaking of showmen, an important man behind the scenes in Australian vaudeville was Harry Rickards, founder of the Tivoli Circuit (see signs in the photo above). Many of the great American vaudevillians made the long voyage to Australia in the early 20th century, including artists like Houdini,W.C. Fields, and Will Rogers. And perhaps most importantly, the Australia vaudeville circuits were still going strong a good quarter century after vaudeville had died in the U.S., providing work to Americans when jobs dried up back in the states.

Some Australian variety artists of the television era include Dame Edna (Barry Humphries) and country singer Chad Morgan. 

My favorite show biz Australian is now officially the late Martin Sharp, who created poster art and murals for Circus Oz and Sydney’s Luna Park.

As for contemporary stuff: I’ve done posts on Baz Luhrman, Helen Reddy and Olivia Newton-John. I would also count myself a huge fan of Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Toni Colette, and Nicole Kidman, and could totally write a gushing mash note to any of them at some point. Not such a fan of Hugh Jackman, believe it or not, as you’ll see here in one my most-read posts. Not a big fan of Mel Gibson either, though I could certainly work up a complicated post about his films, with a particular emphasis on things like Braveheart, The Patriot,The Passion of The Christ. I’ve less to say on the topics but it seems to me that I have also certainly enjoyed Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts, Rose Byrne, Margot Robbie, and Rebel Wilson in things, said the old guy who has at best a vague idea of who they are. I need you to be about 120 years old before I can start to get a real bead on you.

For more on show biz history please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,and for more on early film read  Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.