Joff Ellen (born Raymond Charles Ellen; 20 May 191524 December 1999), was an Australian entertainer, actor and comedian.

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he performed

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 ...

acts to the troops and after the war did comedy shows on Melbourne radio station 3XY 1422, now known as Radio Hellas He appeared in various children's television shows as the character ''Joffa Boy'', particularly ''

The Tarax Show ''The Tarax Show'' was an early Australian children's TV program on GTV-9 in Melbourne running from 1957 to 1969. Synopsis Denzil Howson who was then Assistant Program Manager at GTV9, was asked by Norman Spencer to develop a daily children's p ...

'', wearing a

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

jumper and "Bombay Bloomers" with large suspenders that he would manipulate for comic effect. His entrance song (written by resident star

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

Ron Blaskett) was recorded by the show's girls choir along with musical director Margot Sheridan, and went like this:

''Choir: "Who is that peeping round the corner?''
'' It's not Jack Spratt or Little Johnny Horner."''
'' *(Joffa then peers around the corner of the set entrance and sings the next line)*''
'' "I'm the chap who always has a grin"''
'' Choir: "Joffa Boy! Joffa Boy! Please come in."''

He would then greet the audience with ''"Howdy Doody, boys and girls!"'', and they would respond ''"Howdy Doody, Joffa Boy!"''. In addition, he developed a humorous audience greeting which became his catch-cry, "Howdy-doody, boys and girls and mums and dads and bald-headed babies". Ellen also played the naughty schoolboy role of "Conkers" in the slapstick series ''

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

'' for

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...

, which reputedly could have been Australia's first TV

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

. His only known film role was in ''Nightclub'' (1952), one of only a handful of films made 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 ...

in that decade, where he appeared with the artist and actor Valma Howell whom he was briefly engaged to before she died in a car crash. He was nationally famous for his appearances with

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

on the television show ''

In Melbourne Tonight ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's main host and ...

'' and later

The Graham Kennedy Show ''The Graham Kennedy Show'' was an Australian talk show which debuted on 19 September 1972 on the Nine Network. On 23 December 1969, host Graham Kennedy quit as host of ''In Melbourne Tonight'' due to exhaustion and rested for two years. In s ...

from 1958 to 1974 employing a variety mix of song-and-dance, comedy sketches and other vaudevillean skills.

Personal life

He retired in 1976 and lived in

Tarwin Lower, Victoria Tarwin Lower is a small town located south-east of Melbourne, Australia. It rests on the south bank of the Tarwin River and at the , had a population of 115. History The original settlement is believed to have started at an area called Tarwin ...

with his wife, Bernadette. The couple were married for 54 years.

References

1915 births 1999 deaths Australian male comedians Australian male film actors Male actors from Victoria (Australia) 20th-century Australian male actors 20th-century Australian comedians {{Australia-comedian-stub