E. I. Cole

Edward Irham Cole (1857–1942) was an Australian film director and theatrical entrepreneur who specialised in Wild West Shows.

Biography

Cole arrived in Australia as a young man and worked for a time in Adelaide before moving to Wilcannia. He started in showbusiness as a lecturer, calling himself "the Bohemian" and giving presentations on various topics.^[1] He later joined the company of Texas Jack, an American showman in the Buffalo Bill mould. He established the Bohemian Dramatic Company, which toured the country performing shows. At its height, the company included over 60 performers and 20 horses, and was transported in its own train.

In 1910 and 1911 Cole made a series of films adapted from his shows. They were sometimes screened accompanied by lectures and songs.^[2] Cole toured Tasmania in 1911 and 1912.

By 1926 the company was down to a size of 24 and touring mostly only country areas.^[3] Cole's company was still touring in the 1930s as 'Cole's Varieties', run by his son-in-law, Bill Ayr. Cole and his wife ran a small factory at Marrickville in Sydney which manufactured cowboy outfits for small children.^[4]

Personal life

Cole married his leading lady, Vene Linden. They had a daughter, Mabel, who married Cole's leading man, Bill Ayr. In later years, a third generation, Millie and Ned Ayr, would be actors for the company while Tom Ayr handled most of the managerial duties of Cole's Varieties.^[5][6]

Filmography

• Bushranger's Ransom, or A Ride for Life (1911)
• The Squatter's Son (1911)
• The Five of Hearts (1911)
• Sentenced for Life (1911)
• The Sundowner (1911)
• The Squatter and the Clown^[7]

Select Theatre credits

• The Indian Hero
• Who is the Woman?
• The Anarchist
• East Lynne
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Captain Moonlite
• The Gaol Bird
• Cast Aside
• With the Colours
• Hand's Up (1900)^[8] – story of Ned Kelly
• Prairie Scout (1903)^[9] – performed in the open opposite Redfern Train Station
• Buffalo Bill (1904)^[10]
• The King of the Road (1904)^[11] – bushranger drama about Ben Hall
• Sentenced for Life (1904)^[12]
• The Mining Partner (1904)^[13]
• Jo the Girl Miner (1905)^[14]
• The White Slave (1905) – Haymarket Hippodrome, Sydney
• With the Colours – Haymarket Hippodrome, Sydney – drama set during the Second Boer War^[15]
• A Priest's Silence (1905)
• Golden Heart (1906)
• Kia Ora (1906) – Haymarket – a four-act Maori drama^[16]
• For King and Empire (1906) by E.I. Cole – about a European War of the near future^[17]
• The King of the Roads (1906) – Haymarket
• The Coal Strike (1906) – Haymarket – saga of labour and management^[18]
• Hands Up: Or Ned Kelly and His Gang (1907) – Haymarket
• Whirlwind, the Bushranger (1907) – Haymarket^[19]
• Thunderbolt, the Bushranger (1908) – Haymarket – about Captain Thunderbolt^[20]
• Buffalo Bill and Dick Turpin (1910)^[21]
• The King of the Roads"/"Under Two Flags/The Hand of Justice (1911) – series of plays performed at Launceston^[22]
• The British Spy (1911–12) – Hobart – play set during the Second Boer War^[23]
• Golden Heart (1912) – a Spanish-Mexican drama
• It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1912) – Hobart^[24]- play based on the convict era novel
• A Convict's Sweetheart (1912)^[25]
• Arrah-Na-Pogue (1912)^[2] – Irish drama
• Postmistress of the Czar (1912) – Kings Theatre, Hobart – Anglo-Russian military story^[26]
• The Heart of the Bush (1912) – Kings Theatre, Hobart – Australian bush story^[26]
• A Woman's Honour (1913)^[27]
• Dick Turpin (1914) – Hippodrome
• Captain Starlight, or Robbery Under Arms (1914) – Hippodrome^[28]
• The Covenant's Trust (1915)^[29]
• Buffalo Bill (1919)^[30]
• Meg of Golden Heart/The Octoroon (1919)^[31]
• The Ruby Ring (1919)
• The Kelly Gang (1920)

References

External links

• E.I. Cole at IMDB
• E.I. Cole at National Film and Sound Archive
• Papers of E.I. Cole at State Library of New South Wales