George Wallace (Australian comedian)

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George Wallace (1895-1960), was an Australian comedian, vaudevillian and film star. He was born on 4 June 1895 at Aberdeen, New South Wales and died on 19 October 1960 at Kensington, New South Wales.

George Wallace was one of Australia's great comedians. His career spanned four decades from the 1920s to the 1960s and encompassed stage, radio and film. Ken G. Hall who directed him in several of his films called George Wallace the finest Australian comedian he had known. George Wallace began life humbly enough. Born in a tent in the middle of winter in the New England region of New South Wales, the midwife reputedly fed the newborn baby hot porridge to help him survive the freezing temperatures. George turned the resultant damage to his vocal cords to his advantage and his raucous voice soon became part of the trademark for the "Boy From Bullamakanka". In the 1920s he appeared as part of a duo with Dinks Patterson named Dinkus and Onkus. The pair danced and sang and for someone who looked pretty much like a wharfie with his barrel chest and short legs, George Wallace was always surprisingly acrobatic and light on his feet and the public loved him for his slapstick style and everyman appeal.

Turning solo, Wallace was soon snapped up by the Fuller Circuit in Sydney and from there he moved to the Tivoli. By the 1930s he was considered one of the Big Three in comedy. He wrote all of his own scripts and in 1945 even penned a song which was to become a World War 2 standard "A Brown Slouch Hat with The Side Turned Up". The 1930s saw George turn his talents to film. He starred in "His Royal Highness" (1932); "Harmony Row" (1933); "A Ticket in Tatts" (1934); "Let George Do It" (1938); wrote the script for and starred in "Gone to the Dogs" (1939) which were all comedies directed by Ken G Hall and FW Thring; then a drama "Rats of Tubruk" (1944) and "Wherever She Goes" (1953).

George Wallace has been the subject of a recent documentary "Funny By George" and a stage show about his life.

[edit] References and Credits

Bridges Nancye "Curtain Call" Cassell AUstralia. ISBN 0-7269-0465-1
"Funny By George: The George Wallace Story", Director Don Percy, Writing Credits Jim Murphy, Australia 1999.
"Falling On My Left Ear: A Show About George Wallace". Writer/Director Mary-Anne Gifford. 2002.