Why comedian Roy ‘Mo’ Rene, star of Australian vaudeville, has a statue on Hindley St
THOUSANDS of people walk past it every day. It’s a bronze statue on the CBD’s party strip, standing opposite Maccas. But who was he? And why is his statue on Hindley St?
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STRIKE Me Lucky … It’s Mo!
Thousands of people walk past his bronze statue in Hindley Street every day, yet few would know the real story of the great Roy Rene, comedian, vaudevillian and star of film, theatre and radio.
It all began right there in Hindley St in 1891. Harry van der Sluys was born the fourth child of Dutch Jews and attended school at the Grote Street Public School.
He was just 10 years old when he won his first singing competition and a few years later made his first professional appearance on stage in the pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the (now demolished) Theatre Royal in Hindley St.
Harry adopted the stage name of Roy Rene (after the famous French clown) when he moved with his family to Sydney in 1910, and began working on stage at a suburban vaudeville theatre.
While touring with various theatre groups around NSW he began to develop his unique style and perfected the black and white make-up that became his trademark.
Rene’s Jewish caricatures would no doubt be regarded as racist and unacceptable today, however, back then these were a staple of vaudeville.
By 1916 Rene had teamed with another comedian, Nat Phillips, and the stage duo adopted the names of “Stiffy” (Phillips) and “Mo” (Rene).
They quickly gained a reputation for their somewhat vulgar blue banter, and found themselves playing to packed houses around Australia.
Stiffy was the fast-talking “lad about town” while Mo was the lecherous larrikin who always had the last word and got the last laugh.
Their success continued until 1925 when, after a serious confrontation over money, the acclaimed duo famously split. Rene continued to play the character Mo with another actor as his straight man.
After several years as a “straight” or more serious actor, Rene was persuaded to rejoin Phillips, and Stiffy and Mo once more delighted audiences around the country before falling out again in 1928, this time never to be reunited.
By now, Rene was a box office smash and formed his own company, Mo and the Merrymakers, performing in Sydney and Melbourne.
It was said that as Mo, he could have an audience in stitches just by the way he walked on stage.
The 1930s saw him struggling financially because of the Great Depression but he persevered, finding work by touring smaller suburban theatres and returning to his roots on the vaudeville stage.
In 1934 Rene made his one and only film, Strike Me Lucky, for Ken Hall at Cinesound but it was a box office failure. Critics of the movie suggested he was unable to reproduce his famous comedy on screen without the rapport he had with a live audience.
Rene continued to make a name for himself on the stage throughout the ’30s and ’40s. It was once said that you only ever needed two letters to ensure a full house: Mo.
He turned to radio in 1946, signing a contract with Colgate Palmolive to appear in Calling All Stars in front of a live audience. The program, broadcast by Radio 2GB Sydney was syndicated nationally and Mo’s McCackieMansion turned out to be the most listened to 12 minutes in the history of Australian radio.
“Cop this, Young Harry” — shouted by Mo to actor Harry Griffiths — became part of the Australian language.
The short segment about life in Mo McCackie’s house with son Young Harry, his friends, Spencer the garbo and Mr Lasho the neighbour, began as a filler in the closing comedy spot but was so popular it went on to become a 30-minute program and ran nationally on the wireless for almost six years.
The production continued until 1951, when Rene’s health started to become a problem and the advertising sponsors pulled out.
He was approached by the ABC to continue the series but the pilot program, McCackie Manor, failed to excite the audience and the proposal was cancelled.
In 1952 Rene went into the recording studio to perform some of his old routines but, regrettably, as with his film, he missed the connection with the live audience and the sketches lacked his usual sparkle.
The records received limited airplay and, with the inadequate distribution of a small record label, sales were limited, although I believe they have now become collector’s items.
Later that same year Rene was back on air as the star of The Atlantic Show, a live national program broadcast on Saturday nights. He was as popular as ever but after just a few months suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire.
Rene died on November 22, 1954 and more than a thousand people turned out for his funeral service in Sydney. He is regarded by many who saw him perform on stage or heard him on radio as the best there was.
He was described by visiting celebrities such as British actor Dame Sybil Thorndike and American comedian Jack Benny as a comic genius, in the company of Charlie Chaplin.
As a performer, his timing was impeccable and his quips and catchphrases such as “Strike me lucky”, “Don’t come the raw prawn” and “You little beauty” are still used to this day.
In 1976 the Australian Star Awards were renamed The Mo Awards in honour of Roy “Mo” Rene.
Bob Byrne is author of Adelaide Remember When and Australia Remember When. He posts daily on the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. His new book, The Best of Bob Byrne’s Boomer Columns, will be in bookshops in late November.