Charlene and Charlene- Jugglers

 

Charlene and Charlene, Charles and Lily, a drawing room juggling act visited Australia three times between 1907 and 1918. Charles was an expert juggler and Lily a virtuoso musician. The act was known for its comedy, energy and flamboyance.

Charles was born Charles Mayol Jee in London in 1875. The Jee family was prominent in vaudeville and circus circles, and he performed from a young age. His father James was a circus equestrian.

In 1882 the Jee family, including several children, were performing for Hengler’s circus. In 1883 Charles joined the family act which included his siblings,  Virginia, Amalia and James jnr.  Children at the time were trained early to be circus performers, and in Charles’ case it paid off, because 10 years later he juggled on horseback for Hengler’s circus in England, and was reviewed as’ much smarter than the ordinary performer in this particular line.’ He later discussed his time as a horseback juggler with Variety magazine. ( This could be an early photo of Charles in this article by David Cain, juggling historian)

In 1893, the Jee family consisted of ‘equestrians, jugglers and equilibrists.’ Seven years later Charles branched  out on his own and performed with the Imperial Circus in South Africa as a juggler.  Later, he told Australian reporters that he had been in South Africa during the Boer War.

Charles returned to England in 1901 and changed his name to Charlene. As Charlene ‘ his marvellous manipulation with a lighted cigar and a tall hat elicited continuous applause.’

He continued to juggle as an individual until around 1904, and it was at this time that Fred Priest, later known as Mozetto and Rupert Ingalese, saw his solo act. 

At an early age I had the good fortune to witness an exhibition by Charlene, a really marvellous juggler, who manipulated a great number of balls; did astonishing tricks with hats, cigars, plates and bottles; and concluded by dexterously juggling with lighted torches….the fiery brands about him and around him mingled and intermingled with each other until nothing could be seen of the performer who had gradually disappeared from view. A restless mass of fire circled in his place.

Charles was obviously a skilled juggler but did not become a tremendously popular one until he teamed up with his wife, Lily.

Born in Liverpool in 1879, a date she rarely used, Fannie Lily Jee was the daughter of Henry and Fannie Jee , another branch of the extended Jee family. Her father was Charles’ cousin.

Almost always referred to as Lily, she was part of the famous Musical Jees group. Her father, better known as Harry, led the group for many years. A description of the act in 1889 shows some influence on her later work with Charles.

The curtain rises on a drawing room and after the pantomimic fooling that accompanies the introduction of various musical properties we are treated to…some clever xylophone playing…

Lily spent a large part of her childhood influenced by the troupe and when she was 17 she took ship with her father and accompanied them for a two week tour of the United States.  She was small, just over 5 feet tall, with brown hair and brown eyes.

 Lily and Charles married in Lambeth in 1901. Lily was a talented musician, and they developed a duo act that took them around the world.

In 1904 as Charlene and Charlene they performed a drawing room turn where the expert juggling of Charles was complemented by a musical performance by Lily. Described as ‘remarkable entertainers’, in December that year they were performing specialties in pantomime.

 In 1905 they were a ‘refined and pleasing entertainment’ .Charles juggled plates, champagne bottles, umbrellas and hats, whilst Lily, dressed in a sparkly dress accompanied him on a xylophone. The act had a surprising finale when Charles juggled torches to the sound of Lily’s music in a spectacular crescendo.

Lily Charlene in one of her famous dresses

This was the act they took to Australia two years later. It combined the act that Fred Priest described with musical accompaniment by Lily. 

In 1907 after a tour of Europe, Lily and Charles headed to Australia. They arrived in Adelaide in early January and later that month appeared for Harry Rickards at the Opera House in Melbourne.

Both appeared in evening dress to the backdrop of a drawing room. Charles began by juggling his top hat, coat and an umbrella and then started to juggle other items in the room. He then borrowed a violin from the band, much to the dismay of its owner, juggled it, the bow and a hat and then after catching all three, the hat on his head, played a tune on the violin.

Afterwards Lily played the xylophone. Her dexterity on the instrument was described as brilliant, and her costume, a blue dress sprinkled with sparkling sequins, was a highlight. The finale was Charles juggling torches as Lily accompanied the feat with music. The whole turn was rapturously welcomed by the Melbourne audience.

The pair stayed in Melbourne until March, when they travelled to Sydney. Whilst there they performed the same act, they then travelled to New Zealand, where a photo of Lily adorned a major newspaper.  Lily was very popular with photographers and the local Melbourne photography studio Talma, issued a postcard of her.

They left New Zealand in September and travelled to the United States. Both used the name Charlene on their travel documents. They stayed about two years alternating between the American and British music halls and then returned to Australia in 1910.

By this time, they had changed their act and the critics considered it improved. They toured Sydney and Melbourne and added Adelaide to their agenda.

Firstly, Charles had changed his costume. He no longer dressed in evening clothes and his new motorist costume was ‘loud’ and ‘Yankee’. The turn began when Charles entered the stage accompanied by a chauffeur, a new addition. Charles juggled everyday objects such as plates and eggs and umbrellas whilst the chauffeur reacted with wry commentary. Charles also joked as he juggled. He repeated the act with the violin and added revolvers. Lily played the xylophone and performed a step dance, an addition to her repertoire.  Reviewers were enthusiastic about her  musical skill.

A Postcard of Lily by Talma

The reaction was warm in each city. Lily’s dresses were the subject of much admiration, and she was dubbed the best dressed performer on the stage.

They stayed in Australia from June to October that year. Then travelled back to the Northern Hemisphere where they continued to perform in the US, Europe,  including the Alhambra in Paris, and England.

The First World War did not stop their constant touring. Charles was too old to serve so they continued their grueling pace. They travelled everywhere and before they returned to the southern hemisphere in 1917, they had completed a tour of the US, Mexico and Argentina.

 They began in New Zealand, spending September and October there. In November they arrived in Australia and visited Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, finally landing in Melbourne in December where they joined the cast of Australia’s most popular pantomime, Bunyip.  The act was the same as the one they presented seven years earlier. Their new assistant was a showstopper and amused audiences and reviewers with his antics as Charles juggled. They were a popular couple, labelled ‘travel whales’,  and seemed well regarded by the press and public.

They departed Melbourne in 1918 and returned to America for a short tour. From that time their popularity waned. By 1924 they had retired to South Africa and were the proprietors of a hotel. In 1927, they, with other members of the Jee family, inherited a portion of the estate of Amy Howes the widow of a millionaire who was the owner of the Howes and Cushing circus. The Jees according to several articles at the time, had a habit of using different surnames. Included in the will were the families of the Egberts, Bert Jee of the Burnell’s, Fred Jee of the Maples, Harry Jee of the musical Smithy act, and Charles and Lily Jee known as Charlene and Charlene, jugglers.

The pair remained in South Africa until Charles’ death in February 1948. At his bedside was his friend J V Cooke.  In May that year, 63-year-old Fanny Lily Jee (born Jee as stated on the certificate) married Jesse Vince Cooke. Lily died 12 years later, in 1960, in South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Two Daveys- A Commonwealth combination.

 The two Daveys, Richard and Rose, were well known  jugglers in the United States during the 1920s but one of them, Richard, was an Australian Gallipoli veteran..

Richard Davey was born in South Australia in 1894. He was the second son of Elizabeth (nee O Neil) and William Davey, a carpenter. The family was Catholic and very large. There were eight children, five boys and three girls, and Richard was the second born.

When the boys reached adulthood, they all followed a trade. One was a plumber, another was a bricklayer. Richard worked as a stockman, and this was his profession when he volunteered for army service in World War 1

All the Davey brothers signed up for the war, one, Claude, was killed in action and another, Philip was awarded the Victoria Cross (the highest award for bravery). They fought at Gallipoli and in France and were wounded and redeployed constantly. 

Richard joined up when he was 22. His army papers described him as 5 foot 6 inches tall, weighing 146 pounds and having grey eyes and brown hair. He was almost immediately sent to Gallipoli and remained there for three months before being transferred to France. During his three years of service, he was wounded several times, including twice in the head which left him with a permanent scar. Late in 1918 he was shot in the chest and shoulder, which left him with broken ribs and permanent limitations of movement in his right arm. These injuries resulted in his discharge from the army.

There is no indication that Richard was a juggler before the war, but by 1918 he identified as one. In his discharge papers the doctor wrote;

‘Loss of muscular tissue right upper arm, limitation of movement little finger will interfere with his occupation as a juggler.’

Somehow the vicissitudes of war had turned the South Australian stockman into a juggler.

Richard in uniform.

Richard later said that he had amused his comrades on the front lines by  juggling various objects as they came to hand and that he performed with entertainment troupes whilst in the army. According to the newspapers, even as his comrades rallied to go over the top at Gallipoli, Richard was juggling to the sounds of shellfire and gun shots. Regardless, by the time he came home in 1918, he was a juggler.

His first Australian performance was amateur. In November 1918, a local fair had a talent competition as part of the fun, and Richard won the prize with juggling.

Later that month he made his first recorded professional appearance for Fullers at the Majestic Theatre in Adelaide.

His juggling was ‘clean, quick and full of surprises’ according to reviews. He wore his uniform as a stage costume with a medal on his beret, and was billed as ‘The ANZAC juggler.  Part of the act was a trick where Richard balanced a cannon ball on a billiard cue and then tossed it and caught it on his back. .

This seems to be the only recorded performance of Richard in Australia before he went to the United States. 

In 1920 Richard departed from Liverpool in England to New York and from that date it seems that he  toured the vaudeville halls of America, occasionally gaining work in reputable and disreputable places.

In 1920 he was listed in Variety Magazine as;

A ten minute act where Davey in Summer attire juggles cane, hat. plates Cigarettes, cannon ball and four knives with sharp points, all the while ad libbing with an Australian accent. He was described as ‘a good opener for the smaller halls’ .

However, it was not until he met his future wife Rose Ritchie, that Richard’s juggling fortunes improved.

Rose was Canadian, born in 1902 in Nova Scotia. When she was 19 she left home to travel to the United States. In 1922 she and Richard paired up for a juggling act they called Davey and Ritchie. 

They came to Australia that year under engagement to Fuller's theatres, which was the second most popular vaudeville circuit in Australia. Fullers had extensive theatrical links in New Zealand and in rural towns in Australia. However, Davey and Ritchie played mostly in the major cities.

In February that year they were in Richard’s home town of Adelaide. His juggling was judged as accomplished, but it was his comedic quips  that gained the most attention. They visited Melbourne and performed at the Bijou and in April they were in Brisbane appearing as  ‘comedy jugglers.’

Richard and Rose in 1922

They travelled to New Zealand in July where Richard performed,;

Some delicate work with a cigarette, a top hat and a walking stick… followed by an amusing and successful attempt to balance a feather on his nose, completing his turn with the hazardous feats of juggling with bayonets and an iron cannon ball.

They returned to Adelaide in August where Richard’s

Dexterity of wit …is fully appreciated when he has a solid iron cannon ball balanced on the end of a steel rod which in turn is swaying on his chin.

The couple were variously described as being ‘American’ or ’ English; but eventually Richard was identified as an Australian with a respectable war record and a war hero as a relative.

Davey and Ritchie at Fullers Sydney

They remained in Australia for almost the full year and then returned to North America together,

In 1923 they visited Canada and continued juggling. They performed around North America until 1925 when they returned to Australia and Fullers. This time they carried a new name, The Two Daveys, which celebrated their marriage in the United States that year.

They began in Adelaide where Richard received rave reviews for his juggling prowess and his patter.

One review said ‘He is a wonder.’ His startling feats move one to highest admiration of his skill, and his breezy manner, freshened by a running commentary of really smart, original patter, add much to the attractiveness and merit of the act.’ 

The act as described by the paper was almost the same as the one they presented two years before. It included a series with a stick, billiard balls and an apple, ‘in which the various objects appear bewitched by reason of the perfect muscular adjustment Davey applies to their handling.’

 In March that year the Adelaide newspapers reported that Davey juggled 8 balls as part of the act. This is an early recorded example of an Australian juggling eight balls.

Overall Adelaide provided a warm welcome home for the local lad.  

They proceeded to Melbourne and from there to New Zealand for two months. In no other place did they receive the same rave reviews as they did in Adelaide.

Rose and Richard considered working conditions in Australia far better than those in the United States. They cited the lower working hours in the antipodes and better opportunities for vaudevillians. Work was decreasing in America due to the influx of moving pictures which occupied most of the bill. 

They left Auckland  in July and arrived in San Francisco in August that year. 

Rose in 1929

Between that time and their return to Australia in 1929, the couple continued touring the American circuit with occasional stops in the English halls. In 1926 they received ‘glowing notices’ in Chicago according to Australian reports.

In early 1929 they returned to Melbourne and started a short tour on the Tivoli circuit. Reviewers praised Richard’s comedic work and Rose’s role was described for the first time.

Smooth juggling and comedy at the double and both A grade at that. The lady does little but hand ironmongery and a few swords to her lord, but she does give a liberal display of silk ‘all the way up.’

Obviously, Rose’s role was to provide titillation in a typical roaring ‘20s racy display.

This tour was short, only 2-3 months and limited to Melbourne and Sydney, however, it was with the well paying and prestigious Tivoli circuit, which indicated that they were a highly regarded act. 

Richard and Rose separated shortly after their return to the United States in 1929, and in 1931 Rose remarried.

Richard became a theatrical producer and died in 1937 in the United States, whilst Rose became an American citizen and worked as a housewife until she passed away in the 1970s

 

The incredible juggling life of Catherine Marshall Webb- Mrs Joe Jalvan.

 

This article was inspired by David Cain's article on Joe Jalvan. I wanted to concentrate on the Australian connection, in particular Catherine. Warning for offensive language.

In 1899 American juggler, Joseph O Bryan, known professionally as Jalvan married an Australian woman, Catherine Webb at a small church in Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. They remained married until her death. Catherine supported her husband on stage and off and together they were The Jalvans, a juggling duo who toured England, Australia, and the United States. 

Catherine Webb was born in Victoria, Australia in 1859. She was the eldest daughter of Catherine Webb (nee Smith) and her husband Christopher Charles Webb. Mrs Webb was Irish and Mr Webb was British (Born in Devon around 1825). The pair married in Liverpool England in 1853 and arrived in the Colony of Victoria sometime between then and Catherine’s birth in 1859, during the height of the Gold Rush era. They settled in Melbourne and two years after Catherine’s birth, they had a son, Charles jnr. Catherine’s father, Charles Christopher Webb died in 1874 and his widow remarried George Marshall the same year. The family then moved to the heart of Melbourne.

Little is known of their everyday life until daughter Catherine joined Orpheus McAdoo the famous African American impresario and former Fisk Jubilee singer in the 1890s. Catherine is first mentioned in December 1894, as Miss Marshall Webb, a contralto.

Catherine and Joe are probably both in this picture of McAdoo's touring Australian troupe, but neither are identified. (National Library of Australia)

From that time until her marriage to Jalvan in 1899, Catherine was part of one of the most famous African American entertainment groups in the world.

Orpheus McAdoo was an entrepreneur who began as a member of the famous Fisk Jubilee singers, a group formed from freed slaves in the 1870s. It started as a singing group to raise money for Fisk university, and soon became a world-renowned entertainment troupe that toured the world and performed for royalty and world leaders. McAdoo first toured Australia in the 1880s as part of a Fisk tour, but in the 1890s he decided to form his own group. 

Between 1890 and 1900, the McAdoos (Orpheus married Mattie Allen a member of the troupe) toured South Africa and Australia constantly. In 1894 on a stop in Australia, Catherine Marshall Webb was welcomed as a member of the group.

Catherine was a contralto singer and a good one. Her pure voice rang out through some of the most imposing and important theatres in Australia to great acclaim. One review of 1894 stated:

‘One of the treats of the evening was a contralto solo by Miss

Marshall Webb who sang with much purity of tone and refinement of expression

“the Holy City.” ‘

 She also had a 'narrow escape' from a double encore.

 

Catherine travelled to South Africa with the Jubilee Singers and stayed for several years. Whilst there she witnessed the treatment of the African population but was exempt from curfews and the attendant humiliations

because she, and the troupe were considered ‘honorary whites.’ This did not stop McAdoo from reporting on conditions for newspapers and friends in the United States.

After several years in South Africa, McAdoo broadened the appeal of his group and incorporated vaudeville acts. He travelled to the US in 1897 and returned to Africa with Joseph Jalvan, a juggler. Jalvan was an accomplished performer who specialised in juggling plates and balancing objects on clay pipes. He was popular with South African audiences and remained with McAdoo when the group returned to Australia around

1898.

Joe is on the bottom left and also seen balancing on the upper right hand side. Catherine is probably in this photo but not identified. 

They started in Western Australia in September that year and then moved to Sydney in December. McAdoo rented the Palace Theatre in that city and the group performed daily.

At the Palace in early 1899, ‘Jalvan’s exceedingly clever juggling and balancing feats were in themselves an entertainment worth the admission fee.’ Whilst Miss Marshall Webb was acclaimed as, ‘a charming mezzo soprano,’ who met with a ‘cordial response’ and ‘undeniable encores.’

In January 1899, Joseph and Catherine married in St Matthias Church in Paddington in Sydney. Mr and Mrs McAdoo were witnesses to the event. ( The church still exists)

However, the Jubilee Entertainers rarely stayed in one place for too long. In March, the newly married couple travelled with the rest of the group to New Zealand for three months. The new bride still travelled under her maiden name. They returned to Sydney in late June.

McAdoo was ill, and the troupe fell apart. The Jalvans needed to work and in July, Jalvan, ‘the great juggler and oriental entertainer,’ advertised that he was ‘open for engagements at socials parties etc.’ Joe and Catherine were living at 430 Bourke Street Sydney at the time. Later that month, McAdoo died and was buried at a local cemetery on the cliffs of Sydney Harbour.

Socials and parties were not enough to pay the bills, so by October 1899, Catherine and Joe were in Country Victoria touring with a group called, Chillie and Jalvan’s Jubilee Entertainers and Cake Walkers. Catherine sang

‘Killarney’ and Joe juggled ‘plates, cards, feathers, tops, fans, lamps, and balanced pipes with a pigeon on top. 

The show included an early exhibition of the cake walk and both black and white performers.

However, they lasted only a brief time and primarily toured regional areas in Victoria. It is possible the couple stayed with Catherine’s family during the tour. By January 1900 Chillie and Jalvan’s Entertainers were

no more and the Jalvans were a duo act. One notable appearance that month was at the Australian Natives Association festival ‘celebrating’ foundation day. The ANA restricted membership to native born Australian white men, so it was a strange gig for the Jalvans. 

In April 1900 they caused a sensation at the Geelong Easter Fair. On the last evening, Joe ‘assisted by Madame Jalvan,’ ‘did some astonishing balancing feats which must be seen to be believed.’ They performed in an

‘oriental setting’ in front of a very large and appreciative audience. Catherine also sang some songs from the Jubilee Singers’ repertoire. They were enthusiastically applauded and were obviously the hit of the festival. By this time, it seems that Catherine was assisting her husband with his juggling feats on a regular basis. 

Joe and Catherine performed for various community organisations around Victoria until October 1900 when they got their biggest break in Australia, a contract with the famous Tivoli Theatre Circuit.

They first appeared at the Bijou in Melbourne, and a new person joined the act, Stri Webb Tokey Jarro, a lady dressed in Japanese garb. It was Catherine, now fully incorporated into her husband’s turn. The newspapers

reviewed them favourably.

Jalvan is a very fine conjuror, and the manner in which he

balances a lighted lamp on his head, while he bends down and finally drinks a

glass of water, is exceedingly clever. He receives well merited applause and

looks very fine in his gorgeous clothes and in his Indian boudoir.

The Jalvans on the Sydney Tivoli Programme

After Melbourne they moved to Adelaide and were there when the Australian states federated and became a country on January 1, 1901. By this time Jalvan’s billing as ‘the Oriental wonderworker’ and the Asian setting for

the show was well established.

The critics complimented Jalvan for his skill saying.

Jalvan, a clever juggler, is as popular as ever; he relies on

skill and not magic for his success. Balancing a feather perpendicularly on the

tip of his nose appears to be a second nature for him, and he seemingly

requires no more effort than his assistant does in blandly smiling.

From Adelaide they moved to Sydney for two months where they were tremendously popular. In Sydney, the Bulletin described Joe spinning ‘a top down the edge of a sabre’ and juggling with three blocks to the air of ‘Coming thro the Rye.’

The couple returned to Melbourne. The city was celebrating the arrival of The Duke of York, later George V for the opening of the first Australian parliament. Illuminations lit the streets, holidays were declared,

and fetes. festivals and parades were constant, thousands of people crowded the displays. The Jalvans performed for the Trades and Friendly Societies Council as part of the celebrations and appeared as headliners at the Friendly Society gardens as part of this, once in a lifetime, event.

However, it seems that Australia was too small for the Jalvans, and finally after almost three years it was time to leave. They travelled to England, and by July were advertising their services through newspapers and

interviews.

In October 1901 Joseph popped into the offices of the trade paper The Showman and the editor wrote a front-page account of the visit which included racial stereotypes and slurs common to the time.

 Jalvan, the juggler, called in to have a chat with the

editor. Jalvan is a cull'ed gem'man, just come over from Australia., where he

has been " working." He is a South American really but makes. up as

occa­sion requires, either as a Jap or an Indian. THE SHOWMAN in Australia., he

tells us, is looked upon as the best paper of its kind in the world; and

although they do not get it regularly every Friday, the subscribers appreciate

it as an up-to-date, valuable journal. With his pretty wife-who. by the way is

a. "yaIler gal "---Jalvan has knocked up an act of dexterity and

mystery that he will introduce to London audiences at the Balham Theatre of

Varieties on November 4th. The novelty of Jalvan's act is that it is all

performed while the artistes are either dancing to rag-time music or walking

the "Cake Walk." We shall be there to see the show! 

It is tempting to suggest, as implied by ‘being able to make up as required,’ that Joe and Catherine, by now seasoned professionals, consciously manipulated racial stereotypes to enhance their popularity. Their performances in England included an appearance at the Palladium, one of the top theatres in the country.

Around 1908 the couple arrived in the United States and started a solid career on the vaudeville circuit. In 1910, they filled in the census in Chicago. Both claimed to be Australian.

 In 1914, Catherine’s mother died in Melbourne. The death notice stated that she was the mother of Mrs Jalvan, late of the Jubilee singers. Clearly Catherine’s family were proud of her connections to both the Jubilee singers and to Joe.

Unfortunately, Catherine did not live much longer. In 1919, Billboard Magazine reported that' Katherine', wife of Joe, of the Juggling Jalvans had died in Macomb Mississippi in the United States. She may have been a victim of the flu epidemic. She and Joe were working for the Hagenbeck- Wallace show at the time.

Joe continued performing regularly and passed away in 1955.