Roy Rene “Mo” Collection
c1910s–1950s. Consisting of 15 items made up of four pieces of sheet music, one comic booklet, nine theatre programmes and one plaster figurine of “Mo”, sizes range from 28.7 x 11.3cm (folded) to 34.9 x 26.1cm, 23.5 x 9 x 7.5cm (figurine). Old folds, creases, soiling and minor tears, some with missing pages or paper loss. Rene’s portrait appears on all sheet music covers. The comic book, titled Stiffy and Mo, is illustrated by Alex Gurney and printed in 1928. The programmes are from three theatres, dating from the 1930s to 1950s; the Apollo in Melbourne, the Tivoli and the Empire in Sydney. The plaster figurine is captioned “Strike me lucky” in white paint above a vintage box of matches and incised “Mo” at the base. A detailed list is available on request. Born in Adelaide as Henry van der Sluys, Roy “Mo” Rene (1891–1954) was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of the 20th century. Rene was the fourth of seven children of Dutch and English Jewish parents. His first professional performance was in 1905 at age 13, as a singing and dancing extra in the blackface pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Theatre Royal on Hindley Street, Adelaide. During 1905 the family moved to Melbourne and in 1908 Rene got a vaudeville engagement at the Gaiety Theatre. At that time, he adopted the stage name of “Boy Roy” and, later in 1910, “Roy Rene” (after a famous French clown, Rene). His career took off with sold-out shows across Australia during the 1910s and 1930s, including a starring role in the film Strike Me Lucky in 1934. His stage career along with radio segments continued through the 1940s to early 1950s. Some of his popular catchphrases, such as ‘Don’t come the raw prawn with me’ and ‘You little beauty!’, have been “immortalised in Australian slang.” In memory of Rene, the “Mo Award” was established in 1975 to acknowledge excellence in live performance. Ref: Adelaide.history.sa.gov.au; Wiki.
Item #CL202-23
Price (AUD): $3,300.00 other currencies