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A plaster figure of 'Mo' and a ceramic figure of 'The Dog on…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
22-Feb-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A plaster figure of 'Mo' and a ceramic figure of 'The Dog on the Tucker Box', the figure of 'Mo' 24 cm. Note: Roy (Mo) Rene (1891-1954), comedian, was born on 15 February 1891, at Hindley Street, Adelaide, fourth of seven children. In July 1916 Rene ('Mo') teamed up with comedian Nat Phillips ('Stiffy'), and the duo became the famous—or infamous—'Stiffy' and 'Mo', renowned for their bawdy, 'blue' comedy. Although unknown overseas, 'Mo' was hailed by visiting celebrities such as Dame Sybil Thorndike and Jack Benny as a comic genius in the company of Chaplin. Lecherous, leering and ribald, he epitomized the Australian 'lair', always trying to 'make a quid' or to 'knock off a sheila'; yet some of his funniest moments were when he was being 'posh', as in his outrageous parody of Noël Coward's Private Lives with Sadie., 'Mo's' greatest asset was his superb timing, which enabled him to 'get away with' the suggestive double entendre—he never did say anything technically obscene. Able to make his audience laugh or cry, he was a master of the physical nuance; his facial expression, gesture, stance and movement were welded within the black and white caricature of a Jewish comedian, with Australian mannerisms, delivering local vernacular with a Semitic lisp. His departure from the Tivoli in 1945 marked the end of an era in Australian theatre.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified