Character comedian, singer, dancer, puppeteer.
Fred Davys worked as a comedian/dancer in the USA between 1883 and 1886. During this period he also developed a giant marionette act which he presented under the billing Professor Davys. In 1887 he and comedienne/musician Georgie Devoe toured the UK and Europe before making their Australian debut for Harry Rickards in Adelaide on 28 April 1888. Over the next five years they toured the Antipodes presenting solo turns during the minstrel first part then joining forces to work their marionettes in the olio section.
Davys also wrote a good deal of his own material, and possibly songs and rotuiens for other performers. He even submitted a musical comedy, In a Fog, to Harry Rickards in late 1889/1890. It was subsequently staged by Rickards (in the lead role) and his New English and Irish Comedy Company.
After separating from Devoe in 1893 Davys teamed up with Ida Lewis and in 1894 debuted his own vaudeville tent show at West Wyalong. The pair toured their show around the country until 1899, with this period seeing Davys develop "On the Back of My Daddy O" - an act which involved a quaint Daddy figure walking around the stage smoking a pipe with his young son perched on his back. The lad would then sing, crack jokes and tell yarns. Davys and Lewis set up a permanent tent show in West Wyalong in 1899 and the following year moved into the newly built Ruddick Hall.
Although he had this time settled in West Wyalong, Davys nevertheless still played occasional engagements elsewhere - including Sydney and Northern New South Wales. His commitment to West Wyalong was cemented in 1910, however, when he built his own theatre, the Tivoli, in the town. Davys passed in 1944, five years after his wife. The Bland Shire Council later built a fountain in their honour.
[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]
