Background information for this article came from this excellent recount of Torino's career.
In July 1914 Melbourne Punch wrote that a London newspaper
had ranked the top five jugglers in the world. Cinquevalli was number one,
followed by Salerno, Kara, Torino and Hern. Shortly afterwards, number one,
Cinquevalli, and number four, Torino, visited Australia.
It was Torino’s first visit to Australia. His real name was
William Campbell and he was born in Scotland in 1879. His family moved to the
United States when he was young, and it was there that he and his brother
George began their juggling careers. In 1914 he told an Australian newspaper
that as a child he often practised with his mother’s silverware, and that he
spent some of his early career as a club juggler and Indian ball puncher.
After some years working in both the American and English
vaudeville circuits as William Campbell, he made a dramatic announcement to the
theatrical press in 1911. William Campbell had passed away and Torino was replacing
him. Thus it was Mr Torino whose name appeared on the passenger list to
Australia in 1914, finally arriving in Adelaide in September that year.
Australia was at war, and Cinquevalli, the world’s number one juggler, was performing around the country.
The timing was strange. Torino’s contract was with the
Tivoli circuit, the same circuit that employed Cinquevalli. Unlike Cinquevalli,
whose wage was 100 pounds a week, Torino earned 40. The two jugglers toured the
same theatres in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, sometimes within days of each
other. Cinquevalli got the headlines, the pictorials and the page long reviews,
Torino, who was described as ‘Cinquevalli’s rival’ at least once, got passing
mentions. ( a rough comparison of their travels)
Torino’s act was different from that of Cinquevalli. It was
called ‘a Japanese Fete’ and had, as the name implied, a Japanese theme.
The curtains opened to the juggler lying in a hammock
underneath an umbrella from which hung several lanterns. He juggled tennis racquets with balls, threw
a penholder so that it nestled behind his ear and concluded by making a coin ‘waltz’
around the top of the umbrella. According to an Adelaide reviewer ‘ He seems
to have a knack of making everything look remarkably easy and graceful.’
Torino spent about two weeks in Adelaide and received good
reviews. By September 28 he was performing in Melbourne. On September 30, Cinquevalli arrived in Adelaide.
In Melbourne Torino made water remain fast in an upturned
glass and was praised for his ‘picturesque’ Japanese setting whilst his assistant
was described as ‘humorous’.
Meanwhile in Adelaide, a local paper, The Critic, published
a full page pictorial on Cinquevalli ‘at home’ and included an interview with
the master juggler.
I was not until Torino reached Sydney, later in October,
that the press noticed him, and it was in small paragraphs rather than in full
length articles. Cinquevalli was performing in Melbourne at the time and promoting
his final ever retirement performances.
In Sydney, Torino introduced the flying cue stick to his act.
In this trick he triggered a small cannon by foot which propelled a cue stick high
in the air. He then caught it on his forehead. The Sydney newspapers also
reported Torino’s experiences in battle. Apparently he was on a cycling tour
when the United States and Cuba went to war. He joined a regiment and was
commended for his service. Unfortunately for the US military, the pull of
vaudeville was too strong for the juggler to become a professional soldier.
There was one published comparison between Cinquevalli and Torino.
It was an odd comment, Cinquevalli, according to the Brisbane Worker was ‘old
school’ because he wore gymnast’s tights in his act, Torino, in contrast, belonged
to ‘the ultra modern school’, presumably because he did not wear tights.
Torino finished his 1914 tour in Sydney around November 11.
On November 16 Cinquevalli performed his final show. He kissed his cannonball
goodbye and left Australia the next day.
Torino left Australia in early December from
Sydney. So if the two jugglers met it was probably between Torino’s last show
in Sydney on November 11 and Cinquevalli’s last show in Melbourne, on November 16. Did Torino attend this performance? What juggler would miss the opportunity to
see Cinquevalli’s last show? Particularly
as both artists worked for the same employer, and the train journey between
Sydney and Melbourne was not too arduous.
Torino returned to Australia in 1928 when he regularly
mentioned his relationship with Cinquevalli who died in 1918. The extent of that friendship and when and
where they met, was never clarified.
Just a nice way to start a Sunday
I've been looking at some programmes and found these lovely pictures of jugglers who visited Australia during the 1950s-1960s
Rudy Horn
Frank, Lank and Alice was a prominent Australian juggling trio during the First World War. Frank, born David Francis Uren, was the straight man and most skilled juggler, Lank, W .Thompson, was a juggler and comedian, whilst Alice, Alice Johnson, was a contortionist and juggler.
David Francis Uren was born in Victoria in 1894. His father,
Thomas, was a miner, who later bought a pub near Melbourne. The Uren family was
large, and David, whose stage name was ‘Frank Uren,’ had many siblings and
cousins in Victoria.
Frank began his juggling career as a teenager.
His first recorded professional engagement was in 1911 with Jones Moving
Theatre. He was billed as ‘the London Juggler’ and was 17 years old.
Carl Bracken, a strong man and wire walker was also performing with Jones at
that time.
Shortly after this, Carl and Frank teamed up and began
touring Australia with small variety troupes. Carl walked the wire, juggled and
re-enacted Cinquevalli’s cannon ball trick, catching a cannon ball on his
shoulders, whilst Frank juggled clubs, plates and balls.
They were still in Western Australia in October 1912 and
advertised as The Urens. They were ‘Australia’s Comedy Jugglers’, manipulating,
‘balls, plates, racquets, clubs, hats etc with perfect ease' and finishing with
a grand finale of juggling 6 fiery torches. This later became one of Frank’s
specialties.
Frank and Carl parted ways after a year, and by 1913 Frank
was working as a solo act at Her Majesty’s in Geelong, Victoria. He was with
another small variety company, Coles Vaudeville, and advertised as an ‘expert
sensational juggler.’
However, the next year, Frank was again part of a duo. He
had met his future wife, Alice Johnson, a contortionist. They appeared in
October 1914 as Frank and Alice, in Townsville Queensland, between movie
showings. Alice was born in 1899 in Balmain, Sydney, and was thus 15 when she and
Frank teamed up.
Life on the vaudeville circuit in Australia was difficult. Performers
commonly complained about the quality of the food , they were often underpaid or refused
wages, accommodation was basic, and the constant travelling was uncomfortable. It
may have been an exciting adventure for two young performers such as Frank and
Alice, but they were also inexperienced and open to exploitation. A duo was
less vulnerable than a solo performer, and the comfort of a partner would have
helped when dealing with unscrupulous employers.
When war was declared in 1914, many young male performers
immediately enlisted to support ‘Mother England’. This created vacancies and
opportunities in Australia’s larger vaudeville circuits, the Tivoli and
Fullers, for acts that were languishing with smaller troupes.
In 1915, Frank and Alice added another member to their team,
Lank. He was later identified as W (perhaps William) Thompson and was a
comedian. Together they became Frank, Lank and Alice, a combined juggling,
contortionist, comedy trio.
Thompson’s real name was rarely used in descriptions of
their performances. Perhaps he relished the anonymity. A William Thompson occasionally
appeared on the same bill as Frank, Lank and Alice, and it’s possible that this
was Lank, supplementing his pay with another comedic turn.
In Queensland, in 1915, the threesome appeared between
movies in a performance which included acrobatics. Lank was ‘droll and witty’,
and they were described as ‘expert jugglers’
In March that year Lank was being praised for his Chaplin
impression which was part of the act. The newspaper said that ‘In addition to
his makeup- his walk, actions, and impressions are Chaplin to the life.’ In December,
in Broken Hill, Alice also received plaudits, with the local paper noting that
‘Miss Alice contributed some graceful and clever contortionist work’
They had perfected
their 10-minute turn. Frank was the straight man and Lank the clown. Lank
casually walked across the stage as Chaplin and stole Frank’s clubs to much
applause and laughter. Then Alice joined the men for juggling and the trio
juggled up to a ‘dozen’ clubs from one side of the stage
to the other. Frank then juggled lighted torches as a finale.
On the cover of Variety
In February 1916, 17-year-old Alice Johnson married 22-year-old
David Francis Uren in Balmain in Sydney. At that time they were sporadically employed
by the second most important vaudeville company in the country, Fullers. A week
after the wedding, Frank, Lank and Alice were on the cover of Australia’s
Variety Magazine.
The accompanying article described the trio as youthful and
attentive to their work. It said that they had improved greatly over the last
twelve months and the ‘excellence’ of their act meant it was ‘fit to take a
prominent place on any bill.’ It was high praise from an influential
publication.
In August 1916, Frank did a brief solo run in Newcastle for
Smith’s vaudeville. He was advertised as juggling five clubs and as the only juggler
in Australia who could juggle three clubs in one hand.
War was raging overseas, and the population was suffering.
It is likely that Frank was exempted from war service due to ill health and
Lank may also have had an exemption. There was no conscription during
World War 1, but social pressure to enlist was immense. The
previous April had seen the disaster at Gallipoli, and society was tense and
angry with those who did not serve.
Considering the times, it seemed appropriate for Fullers to
present a pantomime to cheer the home crowd and stir up nationalist fervour.
The result was The Bunyip, one of the biggest pantomimes ever staged and Frank,
Lank and Alice were an integral part of the show.
Bunyip concerned the adventures of a Fairy Princess, Wattle
Blossom, her paramour Arthur, the son of a squatter, and the evil gnome king
who turned Wattle into a Bunyip. Included in the show were several sumptuous Australian
themed scenes, including ‘The Corroboree.’ Frank, Lank, and Alice appeared in a
transition scene which led to the corroboree extravaganza. In ‘black disguise,’
presumably black face, they threw boomerangs over the heads of the audience and
caught them as they returned. They also juggled Nulla, Nullas, Aboriginal
throwing sticks, fire sticks (torches) and spears. In preparation for the role,
they were also, according to the press, watching news reels of authentic
Corroborees.
When the pantomime opened in Sydney, Alice was heavily pregnant.
In December 1916, during the run, she gave birth to Virginia Wattle Blossom
Uren.
The panto toured the country and Frank, Lank and Alice and
Virginia toured with it. It was usually
produced at Christmas and Easter in Sydney and Melbourne. Between performances,
the trio appeared in Fuller’s theatres in Australia and New Zealand. In June
1917 they were at the Bijou in Melbourne and had added plate spinning to the
act.
They stayed with Fullers until the end of the war, mixing
pantomime performances with individual shows. By 1919 they were back on the suburban
and country circuit performing between movies.
In 1920 they went to New Zealand for a brief tour. They were
warmly received, and their club spinning was described as ‘highly spectacular’.
The ‘interlude,’ when Frank spun lighted
torches, was also popular.
Later that year they returned to Australia and performed in
Rockhampton Queensland.
‘The vaudeville turn provided by Frank, Lank and Alice is
fully entitled to be labelled delightful. The artists manipulate brightly
ornamented clubs with the ease and grace of born entertainers. Lank walks
unconcernedly across the stage, and off it, with a club or two collected from
Frank’s performance, en passant, so to speak, which is most amusingly clever.
Frank does most of the real work- that with torches being unique- and the lady
appears to be as gracefully clever as the other two altogether. The turn won
unstinted applause.’
This was one of their last performances. Frank was ill with
tuberculosis. In 1921, he, Alice and daughter Virginia were living with his
family at their hotel, the Great Western near Melbourne. In October, Frank’s
cousin, Tommy, was in a prize fight, and Frank went to the event. The next day,
he went out ‘motoring’ returned home, and then, unexpectedly, died in his
sleep. He was 27 years old.
Frank was eulogised as ‘a clean-living husband who was a
credit to the vaudeville profession’ and as ‘Australia’s greatest club
juggler.’ He left Alice a widow with a young daughter.
The Uren family was large and supportive, and Fullers also
provided support for the young woman. She was almost immediately employed as a
ballet mistress with the vaudeville chain and from that experience she created a
ballet school in Melbourne which had a long and distinguished history. Alice
remarried in 1924 but maintained her professional name as Alice Uren. Her
daughter Virginia appeared in a Fullers pantomime as a child and in later life
worked in radio. She had a society marriage in 1939 and had at least one child.
Virginia's wedding in The Age newspaper society pages
W Thompson, Lank, is more difficult to trace. He was
apparently in Queensland when news of Frank’s death broke. He praised Frank as
a good man. Thompson may have continued his career with
Fullers.
Alice died in 1979 after a long and distinguished career as
a contortionist, juggler, ballet and dance teacher.
Frank. Lank and Alice did not become international superstars, but they were part of the backbone of Australian vaudeville during the First World War, when many performers were absent. As such, their short career played a significant role in ensuring the visibility of juggling during a difficult time for vaudeville in Australia.
.Some interesting postcards from the NSW Postcard Collectors Fair yesterday...
Most of the story of Mozetto aka Rupert Ingalese aka Frederick Priest has been written by juggling historians Reg Bacon and Thom Wall. Thanks to them both for their help with this- I've just focused on the Australian bits....You can check out Reg Bacon's website or pick up Thom Wall's edition of Ingalese's book
In 1912 an unusual juggler came to Australian shores. He
travelled under the name F Mozetto and was an extroverted young man with very
strong views about the art of juggling.
Mozetto, who looked more German than his Italian name
suggested, according to a newspaper account, was booked by Tivoli owner Harry
Rickards. Rickards died before Mozetto arrived
in Australia, but the contract was honoured by his successor, Mr Hugh McIntosh.
The juggler had a very long tour and claimed it as a world record.
Mozetto was described as an American juggler in the
Australian Press. In an interview, he claimed that he had been juggling since
he was a child, and that he was inspired by the juggler Charlene. He gave several long interviews. In each one
he emphasised the necessity of practice.
He claimed, ‘before I go on stage for a performance, I put in half an
hour or an hour just doing a few old tricks to get my nerves and muscles under
control.’
Mozetto on the Tivoli Programme
In Australia, Mozetto
was described as the originator of the marvellous coin catching trick. This
trick was the talk of the Australian vaudeville world and featured in all the
reviews of his act.
In the coin trick, Mozetto took seven coins, threw them in
the air and then caught each one individually as they fell. He used pennies. He
claimed that he could catch nine, but he would only catch seven on stage.
He also had an assistant in his act, young Eugene Cottin.
Cottin’s role was to provide the humour and act as a balancing prop. As part of
the act, Mozetto held Cottin in his left hand, juggled two plates with his
right hand, and balanced a billiard cue with a lamp on the end on his forehead.
His balancing tricks were described as ‘very clever’, whilst his coin catching
trick was seen as ‘neat.’
During his tour, Mozetto had one major problem, the
Australian climate. The humidity made juggling difficult. ‘Australia is the worst
for a juggler to show in. By the time I have done two or three tricks my hands
are as slippery as wet eels.’
Despite his complaints, he also complained about the lights,
it seems that Mozetto was quite popular in the country. In Sydney he associated
with a group called the Chasers, who met every Thursday at the harbour. He
created a record for the group by eating nine chops in one sitting.
Mozetto and presumably Eugene Cottin from an Australian newspaper
He also seemed popular with the ladies, and in April 1913
Miss Vera Remee, an actress, confided to an Adelaide newspaper that she was
engaged to Mr F Priest of Priest, Dodd and Co, London, better known as the
world famous, Mozetto the juggler. Miss Remee later starred in an Australian
movie called The Sundowner, but never seems to have become Mrs Priest or Mrs
Mozetto.
Mozetto left Australia in 1913 with his assistant Eugene. He
continued working internationally until around 1920, when he disappeared.
However, he was replaced by another juggler standing 5 foot 7 inches tall, with
fair hair and blue eyes, the well-known juggling ‘sage’, ‘philosopher’ and
author, Rupert Ingalese. Strangely those measurements were similar to those of
Mozetto.
It was Mozetto’s habit of dining on the shores of Sydney
Harbour that led to the discovery by modern jugglers that Mozetto and Ingalese were
the same person, as the article which mentioned the world record chop eating
feat referenced both names
The Chaser's club, a few years before Mozetto joined them
In 1920 Mozetto disappeared from the billboards to be
replaced by Rupert Ingalese. The next year, Ingalese published a book called,
Juggling, or How to be a Juggler. The book detailed how as a young man,
Ingalese had seen a street juggler dressed in tights. Later he encountered the
juggler Charlene and then he had a prophetic dream. In the dream, a young Ingalese was thrilling a
large theatre crowd with his juggling feats. The book advocated lots of
practice saying that practising juggling developed ‘admirable qualities of the
mind, patience and diligence’. The instructional manual approached juggling as
a skill and showed a love of the art shared by all jugglers. According to
Ingalese, ‘no man is born a juggler. It is an acquired Art, - requiring similar
qualities of mind and character to those necessary to enable a man to excel in
any walk of life.’
In 1924, he returned to Australia using the Ingalese name
with his wife, Dorothy, and assistants. Several articles in the Australian
press referred to his ‘real name’ being F R Priest and mentioned that he had
previously toured Australia.
Ingalese arrived in November under contract to JC
Williamson. The announcement of his arrival identified him as Mr F R Priest,
who in ‘1911-12 performed without a break for 45 weeks which he claimed as a
record in Australia in a ‘dumb’ act.’
Rupert Ingalese from an Australian newspaper
The Ingalese turn was completely different from Mozetto’s
show. The act was set in a red drawing room. The curtains opened to Agnes Grey,
(Mrs Priest) playing Moonlight Sonata on a piano, her hair was red. A footman,
in red breeches, entered with a card, and was closely followed by a gentleman
in a cloak, lined in red, Rupert Ingalese, who proceeded to juggle various
objects in the room. The whole was conducted in silence, with the footman
providing the humour and Agnes the piano accompaniment.
Ingalese juggled the candles lining the room, he balanced the
servant in one hand whilst juggling with the other, he played the piano with
one hand and juggled with the other, there was balancing, coin tossing and humour. In Perth he performed a trick that he claimed
had never been performed before, he spun a hoop on one leg, played a musical
instrument on the other, juggled with one hand and balanced a lampshade on his forehead.
The threesome performed all over Australia, sometimes
between short films, sometimes on a vaudeville bill. It was a long exhausting
tour.
Ingalese, wife Dorothy and partner, left Australia and
continued to tour the world. He changed his name twice more, once to Paul Wingrave
and then to Rajputana.
The juggler of many identities died in 1958 and was survived
by Dorothy, in his will he left her 2000 pounds.