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Photo courtesy of Fryer Library from Green Room (April 1918)

George Edwards George Edwards i(A42235 works by) (birth name: Harold (Hal) Parks)
Born: Established: 11 Mar 1886 Kent Town, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters area, Adelaide - North / North East, Adelaide, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: 28 Aug 1953 Petersham, Marrickville - Camperdown area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Actor, sketch artist, comedian, writer, songwriter, film actor.

OVERVIEW

Regarded during his long and successful Australian radio career as the 'Man with a Thousand Voices,' George Edwards started out in amateur theatricals in Adelaide and Melbourne before travelling to England, where he eventually worked under British theatrical impresario George Edwardes (after whom he later named himself). He returned to Australia in 1904 to appear in musical comedy for J. C. Williamson's Ltd, and later worked closely with George Willoughby. Throughout the 1910s and early 1920s, however, he was best known through the variety sketch acts he performed with his first wife, Rosie Parkes (aka Margaret Rose Wilson). During their career together, the pair secured engagements with most of the leading Australian-based variety organisations, including Edward Branscombe's Dandies, Harry Rickards' Tivoli Theatres Ltd (including several big-budget musical comedies), Fullers Theatres, Harry Clay, Holland and St John, Dix-Baker, and John N. McCallum. Edwards also appeared in Phillip Lytton's 1915 Sydney production of The Waybacks. In addition to his onstage work, Edwards also wrote much of his and Parke's material, as well as a small number of revues and musical comedies (which he also invariably directed).

In 1920, Edwards and Parkes toured their act overseas, first in America, followed by the United Kingdom, Europe, and South Africa. Shortly after returning to Australia in 1921, however, they ended both their stage partnership and marriage, with Edwards soon afterwards putting together his own vaudeville sketch troupe, which toured throughout the Fullers' circuit. In 1925, he married actress/comedian Mollie Hughes, but she is believed to have died tragically within a year or two. Edwards continued to work the Australian variety stage as one the country's senior practitioners through until the late 1920s, at one stage starring alongside veteran comedian Will Gilbert in Robert Roberts's Bon-Bon Revue Company (ca. 1928-1928).

Edwards switched to radio in the 1930s, following the decline in vaudeville opportunities, finding success with Nell Stirling (1909-1951) as a multi-voiced character actor and producer. He and Stirling married in 1934 and went on to establish themselves as national radio stars through such serials as Inspector Scott, Westward Ho, The Laughing Cavalier, and his greatest success, Dad and Dave (which ran for well over a thousand episodes). Other popular shows included Darby and Joan (morning show) and David and Dawn (children's show). In most of these, Edwards took on multiple parts, utilising the skills he had developed as an actor and vaudevillian to create countless characters, many of whom became household names. Stirling and Edwards divorced in 1948, with Stirling later buying his interests in their company. Edwards continued to produce and act in radio plays until his death in August 1953. He was survived by his fourth wife (of six months), Coral Lansbury.

Among Edwards' career credits were several films: Satan in Sydney (1918), The Dingo (1922), and Townies and Hayseeds (1923). He is also believed to have appeared in F. W. Thring's 1931 comedy The Haunted Barn, alongside fellow variety comedian Phil Smith.

DETAILED BIOGRAPHY

[The following biography deals largely with Edwards's pre-radio career. See the related links and publications (below) for more comprehensive insights into his activities post-1930.]

1886-1913: The eldest son of Lewis Arthur Parks and Sarah Jane (nee Turbill), George Edwards attended North Norwood Public School until the age of eleven. He initially followed his father into the grocery business, starting out as an office boy with wholesale grocers and importers D. and J. Fowler and later with Wood, Son and Company. (Lewis Parks eventually rose to the position of manager with Adelaide merchants Crawford and Company.) During his mid-teens, Edwards, then still known as Hal Parks, became a member of the Appendrena Dramatic Players, and it was with this club that he began performing comedy sketches with his younger brother Albert Lewis (Lew). His infatuation with the theatre from such a young age may well have been due to the discovery that performing in front of people helped relieve his stuttering. It was during this period, too, that he first began to develop his talent for mimicry. Known in his later life as the 'Man with a Thousand Voices,' Edwards's ability to mimic other people, according to one anecdote, saw him once adopt his father's voice in order to convince an angry neighbour to return a ball (Australian Old Time Radio, n. pag).

By the age of eighteen, Edwards had appeared in numerous amateur plays. A 1915 Theatre Magazine article indicates that he spent some time as an amateur thespian in Melbourne (January 1915, p.14) before travelling to the United Kingdom in 1904. He worked for some three years as a professional actor, with part of this time spent in London under the direction of British impresario George Edwardes and alongside such celebrities as Marie Studholme. He also toured the provinces and made appearances in music halls. His success as a variety performer (specialising in song and dance routines) eventually saw him embrace that area of the profession over serious theatre. It has also been reported that he worked for a period of time as a dance instructor (Australian Old Time Radio, n. pag).

Edwards returned to Australia in 1907 after being offered a contract by J. C. Williamson's to appear in a season of musical comedy, the most notable production being The Blue Moon, in which he played Private Charlie Taylor. Other roles included Hoggenheimer in The Girl from Kays and Con Kidder in The Red Mill. On 6 August that same year, he married Margaret Rose Wilson of Melbourne. She would later become well known on the Australian and New Zealand variety stages as Edwards's sketch partner, Rosie Parkes. According to a journalist writing for the Theatre Magazine in 1919, the two 'artistes' met a luncheon, became mutually infatuated during the first course, and held hands during the main course. By dessert, Edwards had proposed, and 'a friendly cabman drove them to the registry office immediately' (August 1919, p.7). Although the veracity of this story may be somewhat doubtful and little else is known of their early years together, it has been established that they had one child, a daughter named Chandra, who was born ca. 1910 (Green Room April 1920, p.7).

Following the Williamson's engagement, he toured with George Willoughby as the lead juvenile in a company that included Beatrice Day. His known roles were Mr Preedy in Mr Preedy and the Countess, Crosbie in The Night of the Party, and Ebenezer in What Happened to Jones. He later returned to variety theatre under contract to Hugh D. McIntosh (Harry Rickards' Tivoli Theatres Ltd), presenting a series of character studies on the Tivoli circuit. His feature act at this time is said to have been a 'Dago' sketch (Theatre Magazine January 1915, pp.14-15). It was during this engagement (ca. 1912/1913) that he caught the attention of Edward Branscombe, who had recently established a circuit of open-air theatres around Australia to house his refined English-style costume comedy companies known as The Dandies (each troupe was identified by a different colour). Branscombe offered Edwards a principal comedian role with the Pink Dandies and suggested that he change his name from Harold Parks to something that better suited the organisation's upmarket image. Parks chose to name himself George Edwards in deference to his celebrated former employer.

1914-1919: In reporting on the Pink Dandies season at the northern Sydney seaside suburb of Manly, the Theatre Magazine's vaudeville critic wrote of Edwards's contribution to the programme: [First half] 'Entry very good. Voice has no quality whatsoever. Almost a patter voice. Good actor. Gestures splendid. Every one of his movements has a meaning. Has sacrificed his voice to patter. If he had a better voice would be a sort of man diseuse. Clear enunciation of tongue tanglers. Encore item (sketch) very good. For his second encore, clever parody of Bret Harte's story... [Second half] In his make-up as Dago would not know him. Splendid. In his second number his business in turning round at end of each verse very good. Second encore clever item - dancing. Other character imitations not so successful. In all of them little bit of Dago' (January 1915, pp.14-15).

After Edwards left Branscombe's organisation sometime in early 1915, he decided to put together an act with his wife, perhaps due to the need to keep his family with him during the constant touring required of a variety artist. Although Rosie Parkes had never previously worked on the professional stage, the pair quickly established an on-stage rapport, establishing a popular reputation through engagements with such leading entrepreneurs as Dix-Baker (Newcastle/Hunter Valley, NSW) and Holland and St John (Empire Theatre, Brisbane). Presenting a sketch and singing act, with both performers contributing to the writing of the material, they soon caught the attention of the Fullers' Theatres management for whom they toured both Australia and New Zealand. Prior to joining the Fullers, however, Edwards accepted a brief engagement with Philip Lytton to play the role of Rube in the Palace Theatre (Sydney) season of The Waybacks.

Australian Variety records in 1916 that Edwards had secured the performing rights from C. J. Dennis to perform ten of the poet's 'Ginger Mick' poems, a move that played an important part in establishing his reputation on both sides of the serious/popular theatre divide.

He and Parkes also undertook a successful season at the Empire Theatre around the middle of 1916 for the Fullers, who had recently begun managing the theatre following the deaths of Ted Holland (1914) and Percy St John (1915). In the same article, it is reported that while Edwards and Parkes had been on the Fullers's circuit for almost a year by that stage, governing director Ben Fuller had not yet managed to see them. The night he finally caught their act, Fuller signed them for another year on the spot (5 July 1916, p.12).

Following the conclusion of their Fullers' engagement in August 1917, Edwards and Parkes accepted an offer from John N. McCallum to join his newly formed Courtiers Costume Comedy Company at the Cremorne Theatre. Their contract lasted until around November. Some particularly popular items presented by the pair included Edwards's monologue in which he described the life of a leper and his release (Brisbane Courier 18 August. 1917, p.15) and a 'dago' song and dance turn (2-8 Nov.), along with the sketches 'The Ragtime Jockey' (16-22 Nov.) and 'The Dinkum School' (23-29 Nov.). They also occasionally appeared in musical farces. One such production was Fun in a Music Shop (2-8 Nov.).

In December 1917, Edwards and Parkes moved temporarily to Ocean Grove, Bonnie Vale in Victoria, reportedly so that Edwards could take over the management of one of his father-in-law's large estates (ctd. Australian Variety 21 December 1917, p.17). They did not stay long, however, as Edwards was enticed by Sydney-based vaudeville manager Harry Clay to write and direct a show for the 1917/18 holiday season. That production, Toyland, premiered at the Bridge Theatre, Newtown, in December and played all over Clay's circuit, which at that stage also included the major towns on the South-West NSW rail line, stretching from Katoomba down to Wagga Wagga and Albury. Clay then contracted Edwards to write and stage a number of revusicals on the circuit during the early months of 1918. Among his known productions were Mixed Goods, Nosey Parker Nose, The Cave Dwellers, and Grubb's Night Out.

Edwards and Parkes were by this time very much in demand within the variety industry. Indeed, they graced the front cover of Australian Variety on several occasions during the period. For its Christmas 1917 edition, the magazine went so far as to say that 'we could not have selected a more consistently successful Australian act to have had the honour of adorning our big Xmas issue if we had tried for a month of Sundays... Edwards is a clever performer... one of the finest elocutionists the Australian stage has given us' (21 December 1917, p.17). The 'Ginger Mick' recitals were given particular praise by the magazine's critic.

Edwards and Parkes secured engagements with a number of leading organisations during the remainder of 1918. One of Edwards's more sensational roles that year, however, was as Will Wayburn in Beaumont Smith's film Satan in Sydney. The controversial subject matter and perceived lack of morality drew much criticism from critics and the church but, not surprisingly, also drew good audiences to its screenings, helping cement Edwards's national profile. Their most notable stage appearances that year, however, were as principals in several musical comedies, follies, and revues produced by both Hugh D. McIntosh's Tivoli organisation and J. C. Williamson's Ltd. For the Tivoli, they were cast in the revue The Million Dollar Girl (Sydney), while Edwards scored the role of film producer Keith McDonald in the Williamson's production of the Montague Glass musical comedy Business Before Pleasure (Theatre Royal, Melbourne). The latter company also included veteran actress Maggie Moore.

Edwards and Parkes consolidated their reputations around Australia throughout 1919, when J.C. Williamson's 'Business Before Pleasure' company toured the firm's extensive national circuit. Returning to vaudeville towards the end of the year, they continued touring. Their eight-week season at the Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, was claimed by Australian Variety to be the longest run by a single act at that theatre (23 October 1919, p.12). In late 1919, the pair played another Brisbane season at Brisbane's Empire Theatre, appearing in the first-part vaudeville programme of a bill headlined by the Al Bruce Revue Company. The Brisbane Courier critic wrote that they performed one sketch, 'Charmed,' in a 'thoroughly natural way, though the situations are ludicrous' (8 December 1919, p.8). They drew further praise in the next week's review for their 'delightfully amusing... "Off for their Holidays"' (15 December 1919, p.9).

1920-1929: The Empire Theatre season lasted into January 1920. Upon his return to Sydney, Edwards went into rehearsal at the Alhambra Theatre, directing two new works for the theatre's lessee/producer/manager C. F. Pugliese. The first production, Edwards's own reworking of John F. Sheriden's The New Barmaid, saw him take on the lead role of Bert White. His co-stars included Jack Kearns, Ruby Esdaile (the new barmaid), and Vera Walton (the outgoing barmaid). Two weeks later, he presented his own original musical comedy, The Gumleaf Girls. Set in several popular local resorts, the story concerns the Doolittle family of Gumleaf selection, Emu Flat, who have journeyed to Sydney. The romantic angle surrounds the two sons and Billie Bong and Meadow Fields, two 'gumleaf girls' they meet on the holiday. Directed by Edwards, the cast included Tom Haverley and Alice and Vera Walton.

Sometime around March/April 1920, Edwards and Parkes travelled overseas, accompanied by their daughter Chandra (ctd. Green Room April 1920, p.7). Following a short tour of New Zealand for the Fullers, they played engagements in New York, where it is said they were earning around £100 a week. The American tour was not a long one, however, due, according to Edwards, to bitterness directed towards British artists by the American agencies (Green Room May 1921, p.15). Edwards and Parkes spent the remainder of 1920 and much of 1921 in England, playing seasons in London and touring the English provinces. They returned to Australia via South Africa (which included a brief engagement) in April 1922. Following a season in Brisbane with Harry Borrodale's Sparklers (ca. April-May), the couple accepted a contract with Harry G. Musgrove to appear on his Tivoli circuit.

Shortly after he arrived back in Australia, Edwards appeared in The Dingo, a motion picture produced by British-Australasian Photoplays. The following year, he played the role of Pa Townie in the Beaumont Smith film Townies and Hayseeds. During the remainder of the 1920s, however, he largely continued to work the variety stage, although by 1923, this was without Parkes. While no information has yet surfaced on why the couple no longer performed together, Edwards' marriage with variety performer Molly Hughes in 1925 suggests that he and Parkes may have separated shortly after their arrival back in Australia. Their last known whereabouts together is in July 1922, while performing at the Melbourne Tivoli.

Sometime either in 1923 or 1924, Edwards began touring his own variety company on Fullers' circuit. Billed as George Edwards and Co, the troupe presented comedy sketches and variety acts as a first-half vaudeville entertainment. Popular skits, as performed by Edwards and Hughes at Melbourne's Bijou Theatre over the summer of 1924 - 1925, included 'Off on their Holidays' (20-26 December 1924) and 'An Indian Night' (3-9 January 1925). Among the other members of the troupe were well-known ventriloquist Carleton Max and actress Elsie Sylvaney (aka Elsie May Wilcox), who later married filmmaker Charles Chauvel. Little information regarding Edwards's movements within the vaudeville industry after 1925 has been uncovered to date. He toured briefly on the Fuller's circuit with Robert Roberts' Bon-bon Revue Company (see, for example, Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, ca. September 1927) and appeared regularly on the Tivoli circuit during the late 1920s. He was also engaged as a feature entertainer on the Sydney Show Boat during the latter years of the decade. This period of his career, however, was effectively a low point, due not only to the decreasing engagement opportunities available to variety performers but also as a result of his second wife's untimely death. Sometime around 1928-1929, Edwards began to work on stage with young actress Nell Stirling (aka Helen Dorothy Malmgron), who was the daughter of New Zealand-born stockbroker Henry James Malmgron (and associated with Tivoli Theatre's general manager Jack Musgrove). According to Coral Lansbury, Edwards also attempted to operate a theatrical agency in association with his brother, but eventually moved into radio through the encouragement of Lew (Australian Dictionary of Biography, p.416). It was to be a career transition that eventually saw Edwards become not only an Australian radio star but also a radio pioneer.

1930 -1953: Edwards began presenting radio comedy sketches for the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1931. Among his earliest shows were those featuring the ABC Light Opera Company. Broadcast on Saturday nights between October and December 1931, Edwards performed his sketches opposite a number of other performers, including his daughter Chandra and Nell Stirling. All three were involved in Edwards's breakthrough radio play, The Ghost Train, which was offered to him by Sydney radio station 2UE in 1932. Edwards not only produced it, but also took on multiple characters in a live-to-air radio broadcast. His decision to play the additional roles is said to have been forced on him because the budget of only 70 pounds was not enough to procure the twelve necessary actors ('Nell Stirling' entry, Australian Dictionary of Biography). Believing that the public would see his involvement as merely a stunt to save money, Edwards is said to have initially resisted the suggestion he play the multiple roles, but these reservations were put to rest when he garnered much positive audience feedback following the broadcast. The Ghost Train also marked the beginning of Edwards's pivotal relationship with scriptwriter Maurice Francis.

In 1933, Edwards formed the George Edwards Players, and the following year moved from 2UE to radio station 2GB. During his time with 2GB, Edwards and his team of actors and writers were responsible for up to twenty-four live productions a week, including such shows as Darby and Joan (morning programme hosted by Edwards and Stirling), David and Dawn (a children's show also hosted by Edwards and Stirling), and serial dramas such as Westward Ho, Inspector Scott, and The Laughing Cavalier. In these, Edwards would typically take on up to six characters at a time (and often in the same scene). 1934 also saw Edwards and Stirling become husband and wife, with their marriage celebrated at St David's Presbyterian Chuch in Haberfield, Sydney, on 29 March.

While with 2GB in the mid-1930s, he signed a recording contract with EMI Columbia, which led to a number of record releases. In 1936, Edwards moved to 2UW, remaining with that radio station until his death in 1953. It was with 2UW that he produced arguably his most popular radio series, Dad and Dave of Snake Gully (first broadcast in May 1937). In the series, Edwards played Dad (along with several other characters), with Stirling taking on the part of Mabel.

Edwards's popularity with the Australian public saw him continue producing his own shows throughout the 1940s, although he gradually reduced his involvement as an actor. By the late 1940s, he was appearing only in Dad and Dave episodes. Through his George Edwards Players, he provided employment opportunities for many local actors, including a young John Meillon. (Among the more prominent writers to be associated with him were Maurice Francis, Lorna Bingham, Sumner Locke Elliot, and Eric Scott). However, according to Martha Rutledge, Edwards and Stirling were known to their actors as 'Scrooge Edwards' and 'Nell Pound Stirling,' due to the low wages they paid. In contrast, Edwards and Stirling became members of the upper Sydney social circle. By the late 1930s, they had purchased a house in the exclusive suburb of Point Piper, and while Edwards satiated his love of horseracing by establishing his own stable, Stirling opened her own nightclub. An excellent golfer, who played off a handicap of four, Edwards also indulged in another passion, rifle shooting (Sydney Morning Herald 29 August 1953, p.4). The couple had one child, a daughter named Caroline, who was born in 1941. By the mid-1940s, however, Edwards' and Stirling's extra-curricular ventures were struggling, a situation that led to Edwards drinking more heavily and eventually to a separation.

Following their divorce in 1948, Stirling married Alexander George Atwill, an accountant she had earlier brought in to help manage her aging father's business. Together, she and Atwill bought out Edwards, effectively making Stirling her ex-husband's employer. This situation lasted only a few years, as Stirling died in 1951 after accidentally overdosing on carbitral capsules. She left behind her husband and their only child (also a daughter). In February 1953, six months before his death, Edwards (then aged 67) married 23-year-old actress Coral Lansbury. His last radio series was Ralph Rashleigh, broadcast that same year.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • 1. GEORGE EDWARDS: THE VARIETY PERFORMER AND STAGE ACTOR:

    Regarded as one of Australia's leading vaudeville sketch actors during the late 1910s and throughout the 1920s, Edwards initially established his reputation doing character sketches (or studies). One of his early specialties was the 'dago.'

    Between 1915 and ca. 1922, his act invariably involved Rosie Parkes, and although reviews from that period provide little insight into their on-stage dynamics and performance styles, it appears that they specialised in comedic social sketches of around 15-20 minutes duration. These often included one or several musical numbers. Much of their material, including songs, is believed to have been written or adapted by the pair to suit their own particular style of delivery.

    Some critical reviews from that period include:

    • 'Those every item [on the Courtier's programme] had a distinct attractiveness, the one which probably was most popular was a one act farce enacted by Miss Rosie Parkes, Mr George Edwards and Mr Harry Borradale, which created great merriment... [Edwards later described] the life of a leper and his release, and this was greeted with rounds of applause' (Brisbane Courier 18 August 1917, p.15).
    • 'Nosey Parker Nose, written by George Edwards proved to be one of the finest and biggest laugh getters seen at this theatre [Bridge Theatre, Newtown, Sydney] for some time. It gave ample opportunity for all artists and each took every advantage and made a success of their parts' (Australian Variety 1 March 1918, n. pag.).
    • 'George Edwards and Rosie Parkes finished a highly successful eight weeks' season at the Majestic [Adelaide] last week. This is probably the longest run an act has yet done at this theatre' (Australian Variety 23 October 1919, n. pag.).
    • 'Special interest will attach to the appearance at Fullers' Empire Theatre this week of Edwards and Parkes, the two popular Australian sketch artistes, who have just returned from a highly successful American and South African tour. It is doubtful if there is a better elocutionist on the Australian stage today than Mr Edwards in pieces of the robust-type... for who that has heard Mr Edwards recite "Dangerous Dan McGrew" does not remember it with pleasure? In light or "dude" comedy roles he is equally successful and is well supported by his charming and accomplished wife, Miss Rosie Parkes' (Brisbane Courier 17 September 1921, p.13).
    • 'Edwards and Parkes caused merriment by their little war, and those who applauded "her" version of "him" were equally delighted to hear "his" version of "her." The verdict on points seemed to be a draw' (Brisbane Courier 3 October 1921, p.4).
    • 'Edwards and Parkes filled in half and hour with bright "patter" and witty repartee' (Brisbane Courier 10 October 1921, p.8).

  • It appears that towards the end of their partnership, Edwards and Parkes attempted to move beyond the familiar vaudeville comedy routines and experimented with material that probed a little deeper into social mores and human behaviour. One such sketch, 'Honeymoon Confessions,' presented at the Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, during May 1922, drew the ire of one Theatre Magazine critic. Under the caption 'Misapplied Ability' the review records, 'Those fine sketch artists, Rosie Parkes and George Edwards appear in what is, for professionals of their standing, a very ugly interlude. Better work than these two have done has not been seen on the Australian stage. Therefore the greater the pity it is to find them lowering their flag. Miss Parke's voice is remindful of the voices of Tien Hogue and Beryl Bryant. 'Tis a joy to listen to it. Mr Edwards's experienced craft adorns all that he touches. But it will soon be craft of another - and infinitely baser - meaning if he surrounds himself and his intellectual stage-partner with the atmosphere of grossness sensed in "Honeymoon Confessions"' (June 1922, p.17).

    • It is unclear if this sketch is the same one staged by Edwards and Parkes in January 1920 (identified only as 'Confessions') and which the Brisbane Courier vaudeville critic described as 'delightful' (5 January 1920, n. pag.).

  • 2. HISTORICAL NOTES AND CORRECTIONS:

    2.1 It appears that the claims regarding Edwards's 'unsuccessful' pre-radio career originate with a Bulletin article written by Summner Locke Elliott in 1980 ('Man with 1,000 Voices'). Although Locke Elliott provides a significant insight into Edwards's radio performances and relationship with Nell Stirling, there are a number of historical and chronological errors in the piece. Not only has his recall of events that took place between thirty-two to forty-six years previously remained unchallenged in the intervening years (he was first engaged by Edwards as a thirteen-year-old in 1934), but the structure of his article also invites concern. Edwards' career between 1913 and ca. 1929 is collapsed into one sentence (which also contains errors regarding his stage name and performance specialty), while his late 1920s career (undertaken at a time when virtually the entire Australian variety industry was near the point of collapse) is given extended coverage. In this section, Edwards (described as a 'sad fat litttle man with looks gone into jowls and thinning sandy grey hair') is presented as a failed vaudevillian who was one step away from rock bottom, rather a performer who typified the state of Australian vaudeville at that time. Although Locke Elliott clearly undertook no research into Edwards' pre-radio career, his twelve years' association with George Edwards Productions has allowed his version of events to become the accepted account. Edwards's non-inclusion in major reference sources devoted to Australian theatre, such as the Companion to Theatre in Australia and Entertaining Australia, publications in which his name should have by rights appeared, have also contributed to the myth, because a lack of evidence is seen to imply a career that lacked success. A similar situation has also occurred with the pre-1930s Australian variety industry in general (see Clay Djubal, What Oh Tonight, Chapter One).

    References to Edwards's supposed 'failed' career published after 1980 include:

    (i) 'Hal became an acrobatic dancer and patter artist in vaudeville and costume farce. He toured Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and, during World War I, South Africa but never achieved major success' (Coral Lansbury ABD; vol 8 1981, p.416).

    - NB: The South African tour, as with the USA, was undertaken in the early 1920s and not during World War I. Edwards was also best known throughout his career as a vaudeville sketch actor. Like most other Australian variety theatre performers, he was forced to be versatile in order to continue working, and in this respect he could be called on to sing, dance, present comedy and patter routines, and do whatever else may have been required of him. No reviews or advertised engagement billings, however, have identifed him as being an acrobatic dancer (a highly skilled specialty act).

    (ii) 'Calling herself Nell Stirling, she was engaged by Harold Parks (an unsuccessful actor known as George Edwards) as his assistant in variety acts' (Martha Rutledge ABD; vol 16 2002, p.311).

    - NB: Stirling was Edwards's stage partner in sketches not an assistant.

  • (iii) 'The years went by without many memorable moment. [Edwards] worked without particular distinction in practically every branch of theatre - comedy and drama, mucial comedy and vaudeville, and he learned to dance. But there were no high points.... When a 13 year-old Neva Carr Glynn gained her first professional engagement - in the chorus line of a pantomime for Fullers, at the Majestic Theatre, Newtown, in 1924 - George Edwards was in the company; but he still hadn't made star billing. In 1931 he considered his position and the future looked bleak' (Richard Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama, p.31).

    - NB: As the above biography demonstrates, Edwards and Parkes were regarded as feature acts on both the Fullers and Tivoli circuits at least as early as 1916. Their photographs appeared on the front cover of Australian Variety on at least two occasions: 5 July 1916 (with the caption 'Re-engaged [by the Fullers] for another 12 months') and the prestigious end-of-year issue for 21 December 1917. Their record-breaking eight-week season at the Fullers Majestic Theatre in Adelaide in 1919 indicates that the act was still considered a major drawcard (see Australian Variety 23 October 1919, p.12.). In the same issue (which promotes Edwards's Mixed Goods revusical on the front cover), another critic wrote, 'Edwards and Parkes vie with the best for headline honours. Here is an act that is to be commended for its originality and ability. Miss Parkes, one of the best-lookers in vaudeville, is also a highly capable actress and is an excellent feeder to hubby George (without doubt one of Australia's most versatile performers)' (p.9). Other published reviews and articles demonstrating their industry status include 'Music and Drama,' Brisbane Courier 17 September 1921, p.13 and Green Room June 1922, p.22.

    2.2 Variations in the spelling of the names Harold Parks (commonly Harold Parkes) and George Edwards (often George Edwardes) occur frequently throughout Edwards's career and in the years since his death. The confusion over Parks/Parkes may have stemmed from the spelling of his first wife's stage name: Rosie Parkes. His name is certainly spelled 'Parks' on the 1925 marriage certificate he signed with Mollie Hughes (NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages - ref no: 7109/1925). The additional 'e' in Edwards appears to have been more common during his early career ca. 1913 to the mid-1920s. It is not clear if this was originally Edwards's preferred spelling or simply a common mistake made by others. The Australian Dictionary of Biography entry on Edwards is somewhat misleading in that it implies that Parks decided to change his name to George Edwards in 1931, 'not bothering to dispel popular confusion with the celebrated George Edwards [sic], London theatrical entrepreneur' (n. pag.). As this entry demonstrates, however, Parks began using the stage name George Edwards from 1913 onwards. The ADB entry confuses his decision in the early 1930s to finally have his name legally changed by deed poll.

  • Alternative versions of Nell Stirling's birth name appear in various publications, including George Edwards's ABD entry (Malmgrom), The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama (Malgrom), and Billy Moloney's Memoirs of An Abominable Showman (Malgram). This entry cites her name as spelled in the marriage certificate she and Edwards signed in 1934 (ctd. New South Wales Birth Deaths and Marriage Index; registration number - 5887/1934).

    For further details on Nell Stirling, see Martha Rutledge's entry in ABD online or in the print publication (vol 16, 2002, pp.311-312).

    2.3 All of Edwards's early radio shows were broadcast live. In later years (ca. 1937 onwards), the serials were pre-recorded by Columbia Records and sold to radio networks throughout Australia and New Zealand.

    2.4 Although little is yet known of Edwards's brother Lew Parks, an Australian Variety and Show World article (23 October 1919, n. pag.) suggests that he was well known both in the theatrical industry and by the general public. The article records that 'It is gratifying to note the success of [Edwards and Parkes], as George Edwards is a native of [Adelaide], being born in a suburb called St Peters (near where the "big oranges grow," and where other celebrities like Lew Parks, Beaumont Smith and the writer! first saw light).'

    2.5. Billy Moloney recalls the start of the Edwards and Stirling partnership in his book, Memoirs of an Abominable Showman:

    I was only a minor light myself, but can at least claim credit for starting one of the greatest Australian radio teams on the road to fame. Away back in the days of the old Tivoli in Sydney we had a fairly regular act presented by George Edwards, who usually teamed up with an attractive young actress in the presentation of one-act plays of about fifteen minutes duration which fitted into the usual variety programme. George lost a succession of partners through death and misfortune, and like all other artists fell on evil days when the talkies started to boom. He couldn't find a partner and couldn't find a job. The Tivoli General Manager, Jack Musgrove, had a soft spot for Edwards, and in my capacity as booking manager of the theatre, I was often reminded to see if I could find the partner and the job for the actor. Neither of us had much luck until I thought of a young girl, the daughter of Musgrove's stock-broker who had been trying to get on the stage in one - any one - of J.C.W. Ltd's several theatres in the city. "How about Nell Malgram?" [sic] I asked Musgrove.... "Great idea!" [he said]. "See what George Edwards thinks of it." George was delighted. Nell joined him in one act vaudeville playlets. Then they tried their luck putting on a radio show in a Sydney suburban store, the Hub, Newtown, and made a big hit. If his plays could be a hit on stage, why not in regular radio series? George and Nell who changed her name to Sterling, progressed from triumph to triumph and George developed his ability to present a dozen different voices (pp.138-139).

  • The reference to Jack Musgrove indicates that Edwards and Stirling must have begun their partnership no later than 1929. According to Frank Van Straton, Musgrove remained with the Tivoli circuit after his cousin Harry G. Musgrove went bankrupt and was subsequently forced to sell his interests in the organisation to J. C. Williamson's Ltd. Jack Musgrove was persuaded by Williamson's chairman George Tallis to take over as general manager of the firm's newly formed theatrical arm, J. C. Williamson's Vaudeville Pty Ltd (which traded as Tivoli Celebrity Vaudeville). He remained with the company until it was forced to close down its vaudeville operations in 1929.

    Several issues within Moloney's account of Edwards's career require clarifications. These are:

    (i) His statement that the Hub in Newtown was a store is erroneous. Previously known as the Bridge Theatre, it was built by Harry Clay in 1912 and used exclusively as either a live theatre or cinema up until the 1980s.

    (ii) The claim that Edwards lost a succession of partners is misleading, because it should refer only to his two principal partners, Rosie Parkes and Molly Hughes (also his wives). All other on-stage partners (ca. 1927-1930) would have very likely been temporary associations anyway.

  • 3. ARCHIVES AND ON-LINE RESOURCES:

    3.1 Australian Old Time Radio Shows Group. This website contains an incomplete, but nevertheless extensive, listing of Edwards's radio productions from 1931 to 1953, including his roles as an actor.

    3.2. Calloway Centre Archive, The University of Western Australia. See below for sound recording holdings.

    3.3 Library of Congress. See below for sound recording holdings.

  • 4. RECORDINGS:

    The following recordings are available commercially and/or through various Australian libraries]. All dates indicate first year of broadcast only.

    Compilations (compact disks):

      • Stars of the Australian Stage and Radio: Volume 1. Larrikin, CD, LRH 429. [Series: Warren Faye Presents Yesterday's Australia] ('Snake Gully Home of Mine').
      • Stars of the Australian Stage and Radio: Volume 2. Larrikin, CD, LRH 430. [Series: Warren Faye Presents Yesterday's Australia] ('Gorblimey').

    Original radio recordings (vinyl):

    Callaway Centre Archive, The University of Western Australia: The centre holds sound discs produced by Edwards and the George Edwards Players, including:

      • Allan Armadale (1949) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Bleak House (1944) Episodes 3 and 4.
      • Courtship and Marriage (1947) Episodes 873 and 874.
      • Dad and Dave from Snake Gully (1937) Episodes 7, 8, 1022, 1023, 1330, 1331, 1332, 1333.
      • Flower of Darkness, The (n. yr.) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Keys on the Case (1952) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • January's Daughter (n. yr.) Episodes 3 and 4.
      • Jezebel's Daughter (1941) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Lady, The (1943) Episodes 37 and 38.
      • Man in the Dark (1943) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Martin's Corner (n. yr.) Series 3, episodes 7, 8, 113, 114, 153, 154.
      • Pace that Kills, The (1946) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Racing Harcourts, The (1945) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Search for the Golden Boomerang, The (1940) Episodes 1262, 1263, 1440, 1441, 1442, 1443.
      • These Men Tell Tales (1947) 'Joe MacFadden,' Part 1 and 'The Little Black Book,' Part 1.
      • Thundering Hooves (1948) Episodes 1 and 2.
      • Two Lives Have I (1947) Episodes 5 and 6.

    The National Film and Sound Archive:

      • Courtship and Marriage (1947) Series 1, Episodes 775-884.
      • Dad and Dave from Snake Gully (1937) Episodes 3-2275 [slightly incomplete].
      • Martin's Corner (1939) Episodes 3-146 [series unknown].
      • Search for the Golden Boomerang, The (1940) Episodes 748-1441.
      • Tradesmen's Entrance (1941).

  • Library of Congress, Washington, DC (USA): The Library's Recorded Sound Centre and Barry Brooks Collection hold sound discs produced by Edwards and the George Edwards Players, including:

      • Adventures of Marco Polo (1940) Episodes 1-36) aka Adventures of Marco Paolo.
      • Afloat with Henry Morgan (1947) Episodes 1-4, 7-16, 27-31, 35-40, 43-46, 51-52.
      • Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (n. yr.) Episodes 1-4.
      • Birth of the British Nation, The (1935) No 1, Parts 1-2: 'Julius Caesar.'
      • Black Arrow, The (1952). Episodes 1-4.
      • Black Lightning (1952) Episodes 1-4.
      • Courtship and Marriage (1947) Episodes 1-2.
      • Corsican Brothers, The (1945) Episodes 51-52.
      • Forrester's Wharf (n. yr.) Episode 1.
      • Great Expectations (n. yr.) Episodes 1-4.
      • Hunchback of Notre Dame (1935) Episodes 25-26.
      • Kidnapped (135) Part 1.
      • Knights of the Round Table, The (1937) Episode 1, Parts 1-4: 'The Coming of King Arthur.'
      • Lord Oakburn's Daughters (1948) Episodes 1-4.
      • Messenger, The (n. yr.) Episodes 1-4.
      • Mystery Club, The (1937) Parts 1-2: 'The Spark of Genius.'
      • Old Goriot (1949) Episodes 1-4.
      • Old Man River (1948) Part 1: 'Orleans by the Loire.'
      • Paul Clifford (1943) Episodes 1-2.
      • Son of Porthos (1950) [possibly the complete series]
      • Story of Charles Peace, The (n. yr.) Part 1.
      • St Ronan's Well (1948) Episodes 1-4.
      • Tales from the Pen of Edgar Allan Poe (1941) Episodes 1-4.
      • Trilby (1949) Episodes 1-4, 7-8, 11-12, 15-18, 21-30.

    Online Resources:

    Several of George Edwards's radio series can accessed via the interent through various commercial or government-sponsored websites. Several sites also offer free mp3 downloads. Series with complete episodes available online include:

      • Afloat with Henry Morgan (1947).
      • Corsican Brothers, The (1945).
      • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1943).
      • Frankenstein (1938).

  • Entries connected with this record have been sourced from on-going historical research into Australian-written music theatre and film being conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.

    Details have also been derived in part from Coral Lansbury's entry on George Edwards in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 8 (1981), pp.416-417; Martha Rutledge's entry on Nell Stirling in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 16 (2002), pp.311-312; and The Australian Old Time Radio Shows Group website.~

Last amended 12 Mar 2015 10:56:51
See Also
George Edwards Production Company
George Edwards Players
Chandra Parkes
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
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