George Wallace (Australian comedian)

Australian comedian (1895–1960)

George Stephenson "Onkus" Wallace (4 June 1895 – 19 October 1960), was an Australian comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio personality. During the early to mid 20th century, he was one of the most famous and successful Australian comedians on both stage and screen, with screen, song and revue sketch writing amongst his repertoire. Wallace was a small tubby man with goggle eyes, a mobile face and croaky voice who appeared in trademark baggy trousers, checkered shirt and felt hat. His career as one of Australia's most popular comedians spanned four decades from the 1920s to 1960 and encompassed stage, radio and film entertainment. Ken G. Hall, who directed him in two films, wrote in his autobiography that George Wallace was the finest Australian comedian he had known.

George Stephenson Wallace was born in Aberdeen, New South Wales to George Stevenson "Broncho" Wallace, a painter, and Catherine Mary Ann, née Scott. His father toured in minstrel shows, and George junior appeared at age three in a Sydney pantomime. He was in his parents' song and dance act until they divorced. He later busked in Pyrmont, New South Waleswaterfront, worked in his stepfather's ink factory, and was a farm hand and canecutter in North Queensland. He then joined a road show at age sixteen. Wallace married Margarita Edith Emma Nicholas on 3 January 1917 and moved to Sydney in 1918. Wallace worked at Newtown Bridge Theatre for £4 a week. Wallace used his wife in his act. Their two year old son join them in acrobatic poses. His parents separated in 1924. The pair danced and sang, and for someone who looked like a wharfie (with his barrel chest and short legs) Wallace was surprisingly acrobatic and light on his feet, and the public loved him for his slapstick style and everyman appeal. Three of these, His Royal Highness (1932), Harmony Row (1933) and A Ticket in Tatts (1934), were directed by F. W. Thring for Thring's company, Efftee Film Productions. Wallace was under contract to Efftee during this time for an estimated £3000 – £5000 per year, during which he also made stage appearances for the company. He said in 1933 that he turned down an offer from Universal to film in the US. The other two, Let George Do It (1938) and Gone to the Dogs (1939), were directed by Ken G. Hall for Cinesound Productions. In later years, he was seen in supporting roles in two dramatic films, The Rats of Tobruk (Charles Chauvel, 1944, Australia) and Wherever She Goes (Michael Gordon, 1953, USA/Australia).

The five feature films Wallace starred in are among the few surviving examples of his work. As the most sustained series of Australian comedian comedies produced before World War II, these films provide some support for the claim that George Wallace is Australia's equivalent of Charles Chaplin. In his physical presentation as well as his performance style, George Wallace differed from international stars of slapstick comedy. For instance, his clothing and speech allude to an Australian working class type and contrast with Charles Chaplin's mock dapper Tramp persona. The fact that Wallace's performances combine tap dancing with pratfalls makes him unusual among film comedians anywhere. Moreover, Wallace's films prefigure developments in Hollywood comedy. An example is the fictional country of Betonia in His Royal Highness, which predates satirical depictions of fictional nations in such celebrated films as The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup (1933) and Charles Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940). Other aspects of Wallace's films that are relatively unusual for the period are the comedic treatment of haunted houses in Harmony Row and Gone to the Dogs and scientific experimentation in Gone to the Dogs, which emphasize the resourcefulness of Australian filmmaking in the face of Hollywood's international dominance. George Wallace's transition from stage to screen parallels the career progressions of many internationally famous vaudeville performers in a period when movies' popularity was eclipsing live theatre. However, the financially struggling Australian film industry of the 1920s and 1930s provided fewer opportunities than Hollywood did. Although Wallace continued to work after World War II, with a successful career in radio and on stage as well as occasional film roles, his film career never returned to its 1930s peak. This was undoubtedly influenced by factors outside his control, such as F. W. Thring's death in 1936 and Cinesound Productions' decision to cease feature film production in 1940. Indeed, the films that Wallace stars in defy the fact that the Australian film industry was already struggling to survive. These films continue to be a high point of Australian screen comedy.

The films Wallace made with F. W. Thring influenced subsequent Australian comedians who successfully made the transition from stage to television and then film, such as Barry Humphries, Paul Hogan and the Frontline (Australian TV series) team. Unlike many Australian comedies made before World War II, Wallace's films do not celebrate the bush as "the essence of Australianness". Instead, these films are significant for reflecting Australian comedy's movement away from the bush to emphasise urban settings, which would become more prevalent in later Australian comedy. However, the full significance of Wallace's films in relation to later Australian screen comedy is perhaps yet to be understood. His career as one of Australia's most popular comedians spanned four decades from the 1920s to 1960 and encompassed stage, radio and film entertainment. Ken G. Hall, who directed him in two films, wrote in his autobiography that George Wallace was the finest Australian comedian he had known. In recent decades, George Wallace has been the subject of a documentary film, Funny By George: The George Wallace Story and a stage show about his life, Falling On My Left Ear: A Show About George Wallace. Wallace died of chronic bronchitis and emphysema at his home in Kensington, New South Wales.