William James Fitzpatrick Mahoney (February 5, 1894February 9, 1967) was an American

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer, stage actor and theatre manager of the latter he was best known for carving out a successful stage career in Australia.

Early life

He was born in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

, to rancher Michael Fitzpatrick and Mary Moran. His father died when he was two and his mother who had two children, Frank and Mary from a previous marriage, supported the family by holding several jobs.

Personal life

Mahoney was married three times, he first married at age 21 to Iva Mildred Willis and toured England appearing in films. After his wife's death in 1920 he married Sue Lillian Wilson in 1922, whom he later divorced and then married actress

Evie Hayes Vina Evelyn Hayes (1 June 1912 - 26 December 1988), better known as Evie Hayes, was an American-born actor and singer, best known for her stage success in Australia. She was once described as "the most popular box office attraction in Australi ...

in 1938 who appeared in his numerous stage show productions. They immigrated to Australia and were featured on the Tivoli Circuit.

Career

Mahoney along with his brother Frank devised an act called the Mahoney Brothers, they toured the United States, Mexico and Australia. In 1931, Mahoney was featured in ''

The Earl Carroll Vanities ''The Earl Carroll Vanities'' was a Broadway revue that Earl Carroll presented in the 1920s and early 1930s. Carroll and his show were sometimes controversial. Distinguishing qualities In 1923, the ''Vanities'' joined the ranks of New York� ...

''. He had extensive experience on the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit in the US, becoming the highest paid variety star in the country by the early 1930s, when he arrived in Australia with fellow American star and future wife Evie Hayes. They acted in the film ''

Come Up Smiling ''Come Up Smiling'' (also known as ''Ants in His Pants'') is a 1939 Australian comedy film starring popular American stage comedian Will Mahoney and his wife Evie Hayes. It was the only feature from Cinesound Productions not directed by Ken G. H ...

'' in 1939, after which he became a theatre manager in Australia of the Cremorne theatre in Brisbane. The theatre was successful and many of Mahoney's US friends attended including

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

and

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

, amongst others. After the war, Mahoney went back to the USA to revitalize his career, being nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

in 1956 for a revival of

Finian's Rainbow ''Finian's Rainbow'' is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane, produced by Lee Sabinson. The original 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances, while a film version was re ...

before eventually settling permanently in Australia, in Melbourne in 1958, playing in musicals and revues and teaching a generation of young performers. He died in Melbourne on February 9, 1967.

References

External links

Will Mahoney
at ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

''
Will Mahoney
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Australian theatre credits
at

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

1894 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American male actors American emigrants to Australia Male actors from Montana People from Helena, Montana Vaudeville performers {{Australia-actor-stub