Hugh Donald "Huge Deal" McIntosh (10 September 1876 – 2 February 1942) was an Australian theatrical entrepreneur, sporting promoter and newspaper proprietor

Early life

McIntosh was born on 16 September 1876, to Hugh Fraser McIntosh, a Scottish-born policeman and his Irish-born wife Margaret Benson in Sydney's Surry Hills, at that time a ramshackle suburb with a reputation for crime and vice among the largely Irish immigrant population. His father died when he was four. According to an obituary, he was educated at Marist Brothers College, St Marys, Sydney. but in an interview for ''Triad'' (a show-business periodical) in 1925, he gave a more colourful account, claiming to have run away to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

as a silversmith's assistant at the age of seven, to have worked for

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

at nine, then a variety of occupations culminating in working for a surgeon at twelve. Certainly by seventeen he was a chorus boy in a

Maggie Moore Maggie Moore (April 10, 1851 – March 15, 1926) was an American-Australian actress born as Margaret Virginia Sullivan. She met and married producer J. C. Williamson in the U.S. and became popular as an actress in their production of '' Struc ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

''Sinbad the Sailor'' in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Sports promotion

McIntosh was working as a barman in Sydney in 1897, and began selling pies at sporting venues, by the age of twenty-six he was the owner of a catering company, then in an audacious leap that was to become a trademark, embarked on sports promotion. First it was cycle racing, notably seven-day events, while he was secretary of the League of New South Wales Wheelmen. He also secured a contract with the American World Sprint Champion cyclist

Marshall Taylor Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an African-American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time. He was born and raised ...

that saw him race in Australia between 1903 and 1904. Then came boxing. Hoping to capitalise of the presence of the US "

Great White Fleet The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was t ...

" in August 1908, he hurriedly built the huge open-air

Sydney Stadium The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government ar ...

to stage a boxing match between local champion Bill "Boshter" Squires and World champion Canadian Tommy Burns. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1908 he staged a world championship heavyweight title fight between Burns and Jack Johnson. He made a huge profit from seat sales and a film of the bout, which he took to Britain and America. In 1912 be built an enclosed octagonal roofed stadium at Rushcutters Bay to a design by

Thomas Pollard Sampson Thomas Pollard Sampson (24 June 1875 – 25 June 1961) was a Tasmanian-born Australian architect active in New South Wales during the first forty years of the 20th century. His work encompassed the styles of the Federation Arts and Crafts and ...

. The venue seated up to 12,000 people and at the time McIntosh said that the Stadium was "the largest roofed-in structure in the world". He sold his stadium business to his referee, the famous sportsman Reginald "Snowy" Baker who, with John Wren, went on to develop a chain of stadiums. Author

Peter FitzSimons Peter John Allen FitzSimons (born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former national representative rugby union player and has been the chair of the Australian Republic Movement sinc ...

asserts that McIntosh attempted to sign a US management deal with the Australian boxer, Les Darcy but, when Darcy declined, McIntosh threatened, in retribution, to prevent any fights Darcy might attempt in the USA. FitzSimons suggests that when Darcy made his controversial trip to the US, McIntosh made good his threat and successfully enlisted the assistance of several state governors to ban the Darcy fights. From 1914 to 1917 he sponsored the trophy "Hugh D MacIntosh Shield" for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.

Theatre

McIntosh, by 1917 had moved in to theatre, and headed a consortium that acquired the

Harry Rickards Harry Rickards (4 December 1843 – 13 October 1911), born Henry Benjamin Leete, was an English-born baritone, comedian and theatre owner, most active in vaudeville and stage, first in his native England and then Australia after emigrating in 1 ...

Tivoli theatre chain, but was careful to retain Rickards' style (and company name: Harry Rickards Tivoli Theatres Ltd.), but adding an

Tivoli, then building a Brisbane Tivoli in 1915, designed by Henry White. To compete with the Fuller Brothers and

J. C. Williamson James Cassius Williamson (26 August 1845 – 6 July 1913) was an American actor and later Australia's foremost impresario, founding the J. C. Williamson's theatrical and production company. Born in Pennsylvania, Williamson moved with his fami ...

he imported international stars such as Gene Greene,

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre Management, manager, and Theatrical producer, producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber (vaudevillian), Joe We ...

Ada Reeve Ada Reeve (born Adelaide Mary Reeves, 3 March 1874 – 5 October 1966) was an English actress of both stage and film. Reeve began to perform in pantomime and music hall as a child. She gained fame in Edwardian musical comedies in the 1890s. R ...

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

(then billed as "the world's greatest silent comedian") and George Gee and expanded the Tivoli repertoire to include musical comedy with the vaudeville, pantomime, Lee White - Clay Smith revues and melodramas such as "The Lilac Domino". In 1920 he produced Australia's first musical comedy '' F.F.F.'', written by Mildura-based dried fruit millionaire (and Tivoli shareholder)

Jack De Garis Clement John ("Jack") De Garis (22 November 188417 August 1926) was an Australian entrepreneur and aviator. He worked in the dried fruits industry in the Sunraysia area around Mildura in the early 20th century, and was noted for his vibrant perso ...

with music by

Reginald Stoneham Reginald Alberto Agrati Stoneham (1879 – 11 March 1942) was an Australian composer and publisher of mostly topical songs, and a musical comedy '' F.F.F.'' He was perhaps Australia's leading exponent of jazz and ragtime piano styles in the firs ...

. It failed to attract critical or popular support and may have been a factor in De Garis' eventual suicide. A transport strike caused him to lose money on an expensive production of '' Chu Chin Chow'' and he was forced to sell the lease to Harry Musgrove, though retaining his newspaper interests. The Musgrove venture failed, leaving the way open for

("The Firm") to take over running the chain. In 1927 he took a revival of the 1909

Edward Locke Edward J. Locke (1869–1945) was an American playwright born in England. He became a theatre and vaudeville actor while still in his teens. He wrote some vaudeville sketches and plays, the most successful of which was ''The Climax'', which ha ...

play "The Climax" to London, apparently a good production, starring

Dorothy Brunton Christine Dorothy Brunton (11 October 1890 – 5 June 1977), (some sources have "Christina") generally known as Dorothy Brunton or "Dot" was an Australian singer, dancer and actress prominent in musical comedy from 1915 to the mid 1930s. Biogr ...

, but in an inadequate theatre, and it closed after three weeks.

Publishing

In May 1916 he acquired the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' newspaper, which became the major advertising medium for his theatres. With his purchase of the ''Sydney Sunday Times'', McIntosh acquired the sporting weeklies '' The Arrow'' and '' The Referee''. In 1915 he started advertising his own theatrical weekly The '' Green Room Magazine'', nicknamed "The Tivoli Bible", employing Zora Cross as drama critic. He sold his Sunday Times interests in 1929.

Decline

J. C. Williamson Tivoli Theatres Ltd was losing money by 1929 and ceased rental payments to Harry Rickards Tivoli Theatres. Interest in the "talkies" was waning and McIntosh returned to producing revues for the (Melbourne) Tivoli and Princess, and the (Sydney) Haymarket and St James in a desperate attempt to generate an income. "The Follies of 1930" (with a cast that included Roy "Mo" Rene), "Pot Luck", then "Happy Days" (with a young Robert Helpmann - billed as "Bobby Helpman, burlesque dancer") and "Sparkles", while trying to keep at bay creditors such as heiress Mrs Ben Shashoua (née Joan Norton, daughter of John Norton) as the value of his assets shrank with the advance of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Hopelessly insolvent, Harry Rickards' Tivoli Theatres Ltd folded the following year. Mrs Shashoua's solicitor later admitted to helping engineer McIntosh's bankruptcy. In December 1930, Sydney "Truth", a weekly newspaper founded by John Norton, published an article on the life and loves of McIntosh, calling him an "erstwhile pieman" who had "drained the life-blood" from the Sunday Times. McIntosh successfully sued for libel but was awarded damages of just one

farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) *Farthing (English coi ...

. In the course of proceedings it was revealed that he had transferred £66,703 from the account of Sunday Times Ltd, of which he was managing director, to Harry Rickards Tivoli Ltd of which he was governing director in an attempt to keep the Tivoli chain solvent.

Politics

McIntosh championed NSW Labor Premier (also "bosom friend" and business partner) William Holman in his newspapers. He contributed generously to the party (he was characterised by Jack Lang as "Holman's political fixer") and in 1911 was promised a seat in the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. This he was finally granted in 1917, but though using the honorific "MLC" in all his advertisements, he took little part in debates. In May 1932 McIntosh was forced, as a bankrupt, to relinquish his seat.

Other ventures

*He acted as agent for Teesdale Smith in tendering for major government contracts; *For a time he dabbled in movie projection; one film he promoted was the Italian classic ''Cabiria''. *He managed a guest house "Bon Accord", adjacent to

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...

's home at Springwood in the Blue Mountains after the death of its owner, jeweller businessman Stuart Dawson. *In 1935 he opened the "Black and White Milk Bar" in Fleet Street, London. It proved highly profitable, but when he expanded it into a chain, the enterprise foundered.

Personal life

In 1897 McIntosh married art teacher Marion Backhouse. She was to remain at his side to the end, through financial crises and numerous infidelities, notably with actress

Vera Pearce Annie Vera Pearce (27 May 1895 – 18 January 1966) was an Australian stage and film actress. Her lengthy career was carried out in both her home country and in England. Biography Born in Broken Hill (New South Wales), Pearce spent much of he ...

. He was life governor of many NSW hospitals and charitable institutions; he was a founder of the Australia Day Committee and the Sydney Millions Club and at one stage president of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia and a fellow of the

Royal Empire Society The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting confli ...

. His wife also led an active social life. She travelled several times to the United States with Mrs Holman, was prominent in patriotic organisations the

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Red Cross Society, in hospital fundraisers, sporting circles, notably as longtime president of the New South Wales Ladies' Amateur Swimming Association and its 1932 Olympics Committee. She was also prominent in the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

His last years were spent in England, where he died in a London hospital and was cremated. He could inspire great loyalty among his acquaintances.

Nellie Stewart Nellie Stewart, born Eleanor Stewart Towzey (20 November 1858 – 21 June 1931) was an Australian actress and singer, known as "Our Nell" and "Sweet Nell". Born into a theatrical family, Stewart began acting as a child. As a young woman, she ...

, in her memoirs, wrote "When I hear people talk slightingly of this big man I cannot bear it, for he was the most generous of men, and he was at all times far more likely to suffer from brigandage than to resort to it. He was of little less than medium height, broad in the shoulders, cheery in the eye, hiding under a rattling loquacity the fact that he was shy as a girl, a man all aglow with enthusiasm like a happy boy. He was electric. He had the oddest happy knack of getting out of all his people the best that was in them."

References in popular culture

His 1903 import of the black champion cyclist

Major Taylor Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an African-American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time. He was born and raised ...

for the Sydney Thousand competition was depicted in the 1992 TV mini-series ''

Tracks of Glory ''Tracks of Glory'' is a 1992 Australian mini series set in 1903 about Major Taylor's visit to Australia and his rivalry with Australian cycler Don Walker.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford University Press, 19 ...

'', from the book by Dr Jim Fitzpatrick. Richard Roxburgh played McIntosh.

References

External links

Hugh D. McIntosh
at Live Performance Australia Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcintosh, Hugh D 1876 births 1942 deaths Australian theatre directors Australian boxing promoters Professional wrestling promoters Australian theatre managers and producers Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Scottish descent Businesspeople from Sydney