George Wallace is the forgotten comedian of
Australian film. He portrayed working class, jovial and laconic characters
ready to ‘take the mickey’ out of anyone who let them. As a star of film, stage,
radio and vaudeville, for over 40 years he is one of Australia’s biggest stars
and greatest legends – not to mention extremely funny!
He was born George Stevenson Wallace in Aberdeen,
New South Wales on the 4th
of June 1895. As the legend goes, George was said to have been born in a tent
in the middle of winter and only survived freezing to death by the midwife
feeding him hot porridge to keep him warm. His ancestry and nature made him
born for the entertainment industry, with his father and grand-father both
regulars in the local vaudeville scene. As soon as he was able to walk George
was performing, he began – aged 3 – on stage with his family act and a year
later dancing and singing for sailors docked in Sydney. For the next few years
stage roles became scarce and he began working in a number of trades, such as,
dairy farming, cane-cutting, horsemanship, blacksmith and even as a boxer. By
aged 16, George – bored, employed at a sugar mill in North Queensland – was given
his big break as a comic in a traveling show under comedian Harry Salmon.
From there George
worked his way in performing solo and in acts, several as the top billed
performer, in dozens of halls and theatres around the country. He was an ingenious
slapstick artist portraying a ‘blue collar everyman’ to the delight of working
class Australian audiences. His talents didn’t end at comedy he was also an exceptional
dancer (as scene in the clip below), singer, musician and painter. In the 1920’s
he had become famous and renowned among audiences and other performers being
named one of the “Big Three” most popular entertainers – the other two being Jim
Gerard and Roy Rene.
George Wallace showcasing his tap-dancing abilities in "The Dance of the Startled Fowl"
In the early 1930’s (The Australian version of the
Precode era), George, encouraged by the new sound technology and the waning
popularity of vaudeville theatres, took a leap and entered Australia’s film industry.
The once booming sector, which created around 150 films during the early 1900’s
to 1928, was in a sharp decline when George made his first full length movie, ‘His
Royal Highness’, in 1932. It proved to be a success and his style of comedy
attractive to a society still recovering from the loss of World War 1 and
fearing the future of a depression-era Australia. He starred in 4 more films: ‘Harmony
Row’ (1933), ‘A Ticket in Tatts’ (1934), ‘Let George Do It’ (1938) and ‘Gone to
the Dogs’ (1939) and was a supporting role in two others. Although uneducated,
George was instrumental in the creation of the plot and story ideas for many of
his films and was credited as a writer in four of them.
On the eve of World War II in 1940, George’s career
faltered with all movie productions called to a halt by the presiding
government. He continued on with more work on stage and radio even penning the
popular nation boasting anthem ‘A Brown Slouch Hat’. After the war he appeared
in two more films one in 1944 and 1951 before heading for England for an
unsuccessful comedy tour. It seemed Australia’s older brother didn’t understand
or appreciate Wallace’s humour, performance style or heavy accent. He continued
quite successfully on radio until his death in 1960 from emphysema and
bronchitis.
The Many Faces of George Wallace:
