OVERVIEW
Variety entertainer, artist, film actor/scriptwriter/director and producer, entrepreneur, inventor, sportsman.
Described by Mimi Colligan in the Australian Dictionary of Biography as 'a man of boundless energy and enthusiasm' who excelled as an artist, actor, writer, and inventor (p.186), Pat Hanna was largely assoicated, throughout his career as an entertainer, with 'digger' roles and entertainment. Eric Reade, writing of Hanna following his death in 1973, notes too that 'his gift, in films as elsewhere, was his ability to provide the public with what it wanted without ever compromising himself into corniness or false sentiment' ('Pat Hanna'). He also excelled as an inventor, being responsible for creating and developing army munitions, a sporting game, a new type of fishing rod, and a fuse for grenades. The latter invention also resulted in a manual for the Australian and New Zealand armies.
To the public, Hanna's name was largely linked to the Famous Diggers, a variety troupe regarded as being among the most popular to tour the Antipodes during the 1920s. Arguably the most popular feature of the company's shows were the military sketches, many of which starred the characters Chic (Hanna) and Bert (Will Crawford). Following Crawford's departure, Chic's off-sider became known as Joe Mulga (Joe Valli). A number of incidents worked on the live stage were worked into screenplays for two of Hanna's best-known films, Diggers (1931) and Diggers in Blighty (1933). His third and final film was Waltzing Matilda (1933).
BIOGRAPHY
The son of Irish hotel keeper Patrick Hanna and his Australian wife Mary Jane (nee Carnie), Pat Hanna was born at Whitianga, New Zealand. His talent for drawing led to his undertaking an apprenticeship as a sign writer. He was later employed as a cartoonist for the Free Lance (Wellington), while also running his own commercial art and sign-writing business. In August 1914, he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, initially serving as a private in the Pacific region with the Samoan Advance Party. In 1916, he was transferred to Europe, where he joined the Otago Regiment; by 1918, he had been commissioned as a lieutenant. 'On November 11, 1918 our New Zealand division of 30,000 men marched into Cologne, Germany,' he recalls. 'We became an army of occupation. As Battalion Bombing Officer I was blithely handing over all the unexploded portion of my iron rations - Mills bombs, grenades etc - when suddenly the General wanted to see me. I reported forthwith and was promptly promoted - or demoted - to O. C. Entertainment and Recreation, New Zealand Division on the Rhine' (qtd. Reade). His orders were to promote all possible entertainment and recreation for the division during its off-duty periods (according to Hanna, this was an attempt to stop soldiers fraternising with the frauleins and Germans in general). It was during this time that he invented the game of Batinton [see Batinton section below].
As part of his brief, Hanna put together the Diggers Concert Party, taking on the multiple roles of actor, writer, and director. The troupe performed at camps in France, England, and North America, before making its way to New Zealand in 1919 and Australia in 1920. The troupe toured New Zealand as The Vice Regals, in order to avoid confusion with another diggers ensemble. Although the initial leg of their Australian tour (as The Famous Digger Pierrots) was produced under the management of J. C. Williamson's Ltd, the troupe later operated largely under Hanna, often in association with circuits run by those such Birch, Carroll and Coyle (Queensland) and Dix-Baker, Newcastle and Adelaide). In the late 1920s, the troupe, by then known as Pat Hanna's Diggers, played at least one season under Williamson's (Adelaide 1927/1928).
The first ensemble to tour the Antipodes had an all-male line-up, including G. Wright, Will Crawford, Sydney Exton, George Long (female impersonator), and Lance Fairfax. The company's leader was invariably billed as G. P. Hanna. Within a short time, however, the troupe began to engage female performers. This was likely in response to the need to both broaden its entertainment value and distinguish itself from a number of all-male 'digger' troupes that specialised in female impersonations. Among the first women to appear with the company were Ethel Hartley and Clarice Norman. From 1922 onwards, the Diggers included Hanna's wife, Jessie (nee Meadows), a Melbourne resident who worked a musical act with her sister Hilda. Equally adept at violin, piano, and singing, the sisters had by then established themselves in Melbourne and Victoria, and at one time took their act to America. Hanna and Meadows married on 8 April 1922 at St Kilda, Melbourne, during the Diggers' extended season at the beachside suburb. A number of other female performers were later engaged as performers in the troupe, including Iza Crossley, Moya Crossley, Rozette Powell, Ivy Ray, and Floe Dean. Among the male members over the years were several performers with established reputations, notably Bert Gilbert, Joe Valli, and Les Coney. Other key performers engaged by the company during the 1920s included Stan Lawson, Clyde Fields, Jock Thompson, Brian Lawrence, Frank Moran, Jim Foran, Roy Binsmead, and Ern Kopke.
Although the troupe was very much an ensemble company, an examination of reviews published over the course of the Diggers' association with Australia suggests that Hanna was the principal performer. In addition to his work in comedy routines and digger character sketches, he regularly presented 'gospel'-style stump speeches and lectures. For his gospel speeches, he dressed as a padre and talked about topical/local events and people. During his early years with the Famous Diggers, he invariably focused his satire on the local newspaper(s). In Marlborough (New Zealand), for example, he would offer the 'Gospel According to the Marborough Express.' In Perth (Western Australia), it became the 'Gospel According to the Daily News and Sunday Times.' In later years, he switched to popular topics such as cricket, fishing, golf, and horseracing. His comic lectures were also often presented under the loose title 'A Few Moments', during which he would don a different disguise.
Hanna also specialised in drawing 'lightning sketches' (cartoons) of prominent people and members of the audience, using materials such as chalk, charcoal, and pen and ink. Such was his popularity by the mid-1920s that it wasn't uncommon for his first appearance on stage to stop the show. A Brisbane Courier critic reports in 1926, for example, that his return to the Queensland capital was met with applause that went on for 'what seemed like several minutes' (29 April 1926, p.9). Further evidence of his popularity can be seen in his special guest appearance at Brisbane's Wintergarden Theatre in 1927. Hanna was invited to perform a solo act in front of the Duke and Duchess of York, flying to the Queensland capital from Melbourne for the one appearance (Truth 10 April 1927, n. pag.).
In 1931, having been encouraged by the continued success of his troupe, and particularly the comedy sketches he had been writing for his shows, Hanna convinced Frank Thring and Efftee Films to finance and produce his film Diggers. Although the film was well received by Australian and New Zealand audiences, an argument between Thring and Hanna resulted in the pair ending their association, and Hanna subsequently went on to form his own production company. The follow-up film, Diggers in Blighty, was released in 1933 and was exhibited widely as a joint screening with George Wallace's Harmony Row. Despite being accorded much support from critics and the public, the film was not a financial success for Hanna, due to the distribution deal he made. 1933 also saw him produce and release another film, Waltzing Matilda. The following year, Hanna travelled to the United States to promote his films, and came to be billed as the 'Down Under Will Rogers'. In addition to his film career during the 1930s, Hanna made a number of gramophone recordings of his comedy monologues, including two particular favourites, 'The Gospel According to Cricket' and 'Mademoiselle from Armentieres'. In 1937, he was also given his own radio show on 3LO.
When the Second World War broke out, Hanna became an honorary bomb instructor. Among his achievements during the war were a bomb-training manual that he devised and an igniter for petrol grenades that he invented. In 1943, a letter from the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce to the Canadian Trade Minister even acknowledged Hanna's development of the fusee (the ignition device for petrol grenades) and asked the minister to express the Canadian government's 'grateful thanks... for his generous action' (ctd. Pat Hanna Collection). He also resumed his development and promotion of the game (Batminton) that he had invented during the previous world war.
Following the end of the war, Hanna spent much of his time and energy introducing Batminton to the Australian and New Zealand public. He also occasionally appeared on radio and in live theatrical productions. Among his known engagements were a role in a sketch by Ralph Peterson that was broadcast on 25 April 1945 by 2FC (Sydney) as part of the station's 'Army Hour' program. The producer was Corporal Sumner Locke-Elliott. In 1947, he began advertising a new type of fishing rod that he had invented. The design was based on the (flat) skein used for winding wool.
In 1951, Hanna took part in The Passing Show, a 3AR broadcast on 24 April that also featured George Wallace. Hanna performed a poem that describes the boredom, the menial work, and the lack of heroism that was all too often part of the ordinary soldier's life during the First World War.
Hanna's ongoing involvement with Batintion meant that he and Jessie were eventually forced to settle in England on a permant basis beginning in 1961. The following year, he opened a factory in Clapham that was devoted to producing all necessary equipment for the sport. Hanna remained in England until his death at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, in 1973. He was survived by his wife and a son and daughter.
