Archie Onri.

Archie Onri was a well known and respected American juggler who toured Australia briefly in 1917.

Archie aka Archibald O Brien, Archie O Brien or Archie Hanley was the son of Rosa Lee . Rosa was an equestrienne juggler who toured Australia with her family in Chiranis circus in 1880. After Australia the circus travelled to India.  Whilst there, Rosa’s mother died of the plague and her father, Henry, died shortly afterwards in a hunting accident in Australia.

Archie Onri’s death certificate gives a date of birth of 1874, but it seems more likely that he was born in 1882. Rosa was in India in the early 1880s after the Australian tour, and Archibald O Brien, Archie’s father, performed in Australia in 1881. A baptismal certificate says that Archie was born in September 1882 in  Calcutta.  

Rosa continued working with the circus after being orphaned and in the late 1880s formed a theatrical double act called the ‘Sisters Onri’  with Adele Purvis Onri .The two women juggled objects between themselves whilst balancing on large spherical balls. It was a popular music hall turn.

Although billed as sisters, the pair were not blood related. Adele, born Carolina Adele Brown, was the daughter of a legendary British circus man, Henry Brown who died in 1902. Rosa was the daughter of another legendary British circus man Henry C Lee. Both women were born around 1862, and as relationships in circus were often adoptive, irregular or convenient, it is possible they grew up together. Regardless, their partnership as the Onri Sisters, juggling on globes, lasted at least 3 years.

 After the Sisters Onri broke up, Adele pursued  a solo career as a juggler and dancer on a globe and for a short time was tremendously popular.  Rosa also continued to perform, sometimes with other members of her family.

Young Archie probably spent much of his childhood either in the circus or the theatre. As he grew older he became part of the act. His circus background ensured that he had versatile skills, he could juggle, tumble, balance and  paint. Soon he was part of the Onri Troupe, a juggling group who passed various objects whilst balancing on globes.  In 1904 he appeared in the trades as a juggler of devil sticks. 

By 1906, the Onri Troupe, consisting of Rosa, her husband John or Jack Hanley, her brother, Robert Lee, 16 year old Leland, five year old Bessie, Archie and Archie’s partner, Dolly, was a regular attraction on the US vaudeville scene. They maintained a solid but not spectacular career touring the circuit. 

The family suffered the usual vicissitudes of vaudeville at the time, including unscrupulous employers. In 1907 Archie wrote a letter to Variety condemning the practices of a Cuban theatre manager who overcharged the family for their return fare, refused to pay them in the promised gold and cut their contract short. Archie accused the manager of ‘ ‘Contracting artists for from twelve to sixteen weeks he, discovering late that too many acts are on his hands will find fault…to unheard of extremes and try to cut the artist’s salary or close him on the instant’ Archie wrote the letter on behalf of his family and their fellow performers, the Kichi troupe, and it was published in December. The letter indicated that the young man was a confident and eloquent defender of his family business.  

Archie had already met his wife Gertrude (Dolly) Jenkins who accompanied him to Cuba.  Gertrude was an English dancer and instrumentalist, and the pair met while performing in pantomime, probably in England. In 1910 they had their first child, a daughter. The birth was announced in Variety Magazine. 

Shortly after returning from Cuba, Archie and Dolly developed their own act which involved scene painting, tumbling, banjo playing, juggling and devil sticking. They were regularly employed and reasonably popular. This was the act they brought to Australia five years later.

In 1917, Archie and Dolly travelled to Australia under engagement to the Tivoli Circuit. At the time Archie was 34 years old, standing 5 foot 6 inches with brown eyes and dark brown hair. The couple left San Francisco in April with plans for a six month tour. 

The Onris were following the path of many American entertainers who came to Australia during World War 1, but their journey was perilous. The United States entered the war in April 1917, just as the couple departed, and the threat of German u boats was a real danger. 

However, they arrived safely and Archie Onri billed, as  ‘The Wonder Boy’, debuted at the Sydney Tivoli in May 1917. He opened the act with lightning oil painting, then proceeded to juggle and tumble on stage. The highlight of the act was a comedy turn with devil sticks.

A Sydney reviewer raved.

Archie Onri juggles with various things, plates, paints, pieces of furniture, billiard cues and sundry other articles. I doubt there is anything he could not do a turn with. When he started out to juggle the paints, I thought it was going to be a beautiful sunset… but it turned out to be a Devonshire landscape. Then he did some turns with three humorous pieces of wood  …The wonder boy is attended by Miss Dolly..(who) wears petticoats and lace.

One reviewer, however, had some criticism. They admitted that the audience liked the turn, but claimed it was ‘too diffuse’. Archie, they said, should stick to juggling and omit the painting.

After some weeks in Sydney, Archie and Dolly travelled to Melbourne in June.

Melbourne reviewers called the act ‘a very clever and attractive exhibition of novel juggling’. Charles Waller who saw Archie in Melbourne said, ‘this young American gave a potpourri of magic, sketching and juggling. He was good.’

It seems that Archie spoke more to the press in Melbourne, than he did in Sydney. He claimed that he had taught painting and drawing for two years in New York, before the lure of vaudeville became too strong. This claim was somewhat dubious. However, he was undoubtedly a talented visual artist and several of his drawings appeared in trade magazines during his career. Including the one below in 1920.

Archie also revealed that his grandfather died in Sydney, and that his father  was ‘a noted rider.’ He added that his mother had just retired after 48 years in vaudeville.  Archie also asserted that he was the originator of the ‘comedy devil sticks'. 

In Melbourne Archie and Dolly attended a party for a famous jockey called ‘Treen.’ In early August they attended another party with the racing community. At the latter they were thanked for their support of the industry and Archie gave a speech on behalf of himself and other American performers.

In early August the couple returned for a brief time to the Tivoli in Sydney. Later that month they were advertised to appear in Brisbane but social and political upheaval disrupted their schedule.

 On August 2 1917, a large number of railway and tramway workers walked off their jobs, this soon spread to a general strike across the east coast of Australia. The stressors of war, increasing inflation and political division due to conscription debates led to a widespread walkout by working people across several industries.

This impacted  the theatres too. Joe Willard who was also on the Tivoli bill described the conditions in a letter to American Variety in 1917. Transport was at a standstill, food was scarce and some theatres had closed. The Tivoli was open, but acts were being paid half their salary. 

Archie and Gertrude were engaged to perform in Brisbane. They were advertised as appearing there. However, there was little coverage of their performance. It seems that due to the strike and cut in pay, either they, or Tivoli management decided to cut the tour short.  By September they were in Hawaii, on their way back to the US, where they began performing almost immediately. Their six month contract was not fulfilled.

Archie and Dolly continued to perform and remained active members of the International juggling and vaudeville communities. Various members of the ‘Onri’ family performed with them or as solo acts and the name ‘Onri’ became common in vaudeville circles.  In 1921 Archie proposed an International Juggling Association. The proposal was supported by many jugglers including Rosa Onri, and Adele Purvis Onri.  (more about that in David Cain's excellent article)

Archie Onri was a significant member and leader of the International juggling community for most of his life. He passed away in New York in 1944.