Claim OwnershipForgotten Australian Actors
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Above: Gil Perkins in a minor role as a policeman with (left) Tyler McVey [1912-2003] and (right) Chuck Courtney [1930-2000] in Teenage Thunder 1957. Author’s Collection. The Five Second version Gil (Gilbert) Perkins must have been amongst the busiest Australians working in Hollywood’s golden era, even if the nature of his work – usually as … Continue reading Gil Perkins (1907-1999) – Hollywood’s Australian stuntman →
Above: screengrab of John Sherman as “Digger” in The Hasty Heart (1949). The role brought him some immediate publicity but no lasting career.[1]Source of screengrab – cinema Trailer for The Hasty Heart, youtube The Five Second VersionWhile a furrier by trade, John Sherman earned his acting chops in Sydney’s New Theatre in the mid 1930s. … Continue reading John Sherman (1910-1966) Actor, writer & furrier →
Above: Lois Green c1939. The photo was taken about the time she appeared in Ken Hall’s Gone to the Dogs. State Library of Victoria Collection. The Five Second VersionLois Green left Australia in 1939 to try her luck on the London stage. Over the previous 10 years she had successfully built a reputation in musical … Continue reading Lois Green (1914-c.2006) – An Australian Nanette →
Eileen Robinson by Hollywood photographer Max Munn Autrey, c1935. The ‘bright reports’ of Eileen’s early US successes came about courtesy of letters she sent home to her father in Sydney in 1921. Photo courtesy Margaret Leask. The Five Second VersionThe only daughter of Sydney publisher Herbert E.C. Robinson (1857-1933) and Augusta Dahlquist (1862-1914), Eileen was … Continue reading Eileen Robinson – Bright reports & close friends from the USA →
Leon Errol at right with (fellow Australian-born) Joe Kirkwood Junior at left. Publicity photo for Monogram Pictures’ Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946). By 1946, both men had long since made the USA their home. Author’s Collection. [*Balmain is a well known inner suburb of Sydney] The Five Second versionSydney born Leon Errol is remembered today for … Continue reading Leon Errol (1881-1951) Vaudeville star from Balmain* →
Above: Billy Bevan without makeup, in 1923.[1]The Blue Book of the Screen, 1924, P19. Via Lantern Digital Media History The 5 second version Born in Orange in New South Wales in 1887, Billy Bevan (William Bevan Harris) is hardly a forgotten Australian actor. He has been credited with over 260 appearances in Hollywood movies made … Continue reading Bevan Harris becomes Billy Bevan (1887-1957) →
Virginia Barton in 1937, from University of Washington’s J.Willis Sayre Collection.[1] J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, JWS17981, University of Washington Special Collections The Five second versionBorn in Western Australia in 1911, part of Finis Barton’s story was not unusual. She was one of a string of young Australian women from middle class backgrounds, … Continue reading Virginia Barton (1911-1979) & the value of elocution →
Above: Tempe Pigott playing a charwoman, in the early technicolor film Becky Sharpe, 1935. She was 68 years old and well and truly typecast. The 5 second version.Florence Edith Tempe Pigott was aged almost 50 when she arrived in the US in mid 1916, an unusually late start in life for an Australian actor interested … Continue reading Tempe Pigott (1867-1962)-the busy Hollywood character actor →
Screen grab of 26 year old Gwen Gaze, with her trademark smile and blonded hair for the film Underground Rustlers (1941). The film can be watched here at the Internet Archive. Note – photos of Gwen Gaze are uncommon, so most of the photos used here are screen grabs or from contemporary newspapers. The Five … Continue reading Gwen Gaze (1915-2010) The girl in the Westerns from Melbourne →
Above: Screen grab of a very young Mavis Villiers in The Bum’s Rush (1927), a Snub Pollard comedy released by the Weiss Brothers. Via Cult Cinema Classics Channel (follow this link to watch the film). The 5 second versionAustralian born Mavis Villiers became an actor of increasing stature on the British stage and screen … Continue reading Mavis Villiers (1909 – 1976) from Katoomba to the West End →
Charles Bennett was born in New Zealand, his wife Dottie Brown (1890-1981) in Australia and their son Mickey Bennett (1915-1950) in Canada. This thoroughly imperial family owed their presence in North America to Pollard’s Opera Company, an Australian theatrical institution of young touring actors. Like many of the Pollards performers, Charles and Dottie had stayed on in the US.
Above: Joan Wetmore photographed c1943. Newspapers reported that her hair had been done in this new style at Elizabeth Arden’s New York salon. J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Special Collections. The Five Second VersionJoan Wetmore was a busy actor on Broadway and in the early days of live TV in … Continue reading Joan Wetmore -The flashing brunette with the charming voice →
Above: Joan Wetmore photographed c1943. Newspapers reported that her hair had been done in this new style at Elizabeth Arden’s New York salon. J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Special Collections. The Five Second VersionJoan Wetmore was a busy actor on Broadway and in the early days of live TV in … Continue reading Joan Wetmore -The flashing brunette with the charming voice →
Above: Warner Bros photo credited to Schuyler Grail. Feb 1938, NBC radio announcer Buddy Twist interviewing Australian actress Mary Maguire. Author’s collection (Enlargement). Above: In the lower section of the same photo, one can see Maguire’s fingers are heavily bandaged – presumably she had just caught them in a car door or similar. No matter … Continue reading Australian Accents from Cinema’s Golden Age →
Dulcie Cooper (1903-1981), Ashley Cooper (1880-1952) Above: Dulcie Cooper, “aged eight, in the part of Eva, St. Clair’s daughter in Uncle Tom’s’ Cabin at the Empress Theater, Vancouver, December 1912″. Enlarged from a public domain photo in the collections of the City of Vancouver Archives (Link to original photo). The 5 second versionDulcie Cooper was born … Continue reading Little Dulcie Cooper & her dad go to America →
“Am I Irish? Well, with a name like mine I suppose I ought to be. But I’m a true-blue Australian really, for I was born in Australia and so were my parents.” (Journalist Leslie Rees – January 1934. See Note 1) The five second versionBorn in 1907 as Nancy Muriel Smith, she was another member of the … Continue reading Nancy O’Neil (1907-1995) →
Joy Nichols at the height of her success in the British radio show Take It From Here, c1950. Fan card in the Author’s collection The Five Second version Born in Sydney on 17 February 1925, singer, impressionist and comedian Joy Nichols became a favourite on stage and radio in wartime Australia from a very young … Continue reading Joy Nichols (1925-1992) – from the Tivoli to the West End →
Above: Margaret Johnston in a widely distributed publicity photo. Source probably Picture Show magazine c 1947. Photographer unknown. Author’s collection. The 5 second version Born in Sydney in 1914, Margaret Johnston enjoyed a long career acting on stage and screen. She appeared in a dozen films, and numerous live and televised plays in a career … Continue reading The very versatile Margaret Johnston (1914-2002) →
Above: Trilby Clark in Franklin Barrett’s Breaking of the Drought, in 1920. Photograph from the collection of the State Library of Victoria , now in the Public Domain. The 5 second version Trilby Clark – such a wonderful name! Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1896, Trilby Clark enjoyed an episodic acting career in Australia, … Continue reading Trilby Clark (1896-1983) goes to Hollywood →
Above: Paul Scardon, aged about 45, photograph used in Charles Fox and Milton Silver’s (eds)(1920) Who’s who on the screen, Ross Publishing, New York. Via the Internet Archive. The 5 second version William James Raper was born in South Melbourne Australia on 6 May 1875. He died in Fontana, California, USA, on 17 January 1954. He … Continue reading Paul Scardon (1875-1954) – pioneer actor & director →
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