Adelaide History Tour - Roy 'Mo' Rene Statue - Hindley Street Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
By ParisLaura on 09-Jan-18. Waypoint GA11548

Visit Roy in Hindley Street

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Rene was the fourth of seven children of a Dutch Jew and an Anglo-Jewish wife. Named Henry van de Sluice (later spelt variously "van der Sluys"), he received a sketchy education at the Dominican Convent, a Christian Brothers school and Grote Street Public School. Aged 10 "Harry" won a singing competition at an Adelaide market and in 1905 appeared professionally in the pantomime, Sinbad the Sailor, at the Theatre Royal and later at the Tivoli, in a black face, singing and dancing act.

Turning to radio in 1946, Rene signed a contract with Colgate-Palmolive Pty Ltd to appear in Calling the Stars with a live audience at the 2GB theatrette in Sydney; his much-acclaimed "McCackie Mansion" segment was a highlight. Living at 13 Coffin Street, 'Mo' was the suburban householder whose life was made miserable by relatives, neighbours and friends. He later appeared in Cavalcade with Jack Davey, and as Professor McCackie in It Pays to be Ignorant.

Rene briefly returned to the stage in 1949 in the revue, McCackie Moments, at the Kings in Melbourne. By the time his radio contract expired in 1950 he was plagued by ill health; he appeared once in McCackie Manor for the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1951 and in 1952 starred in The New Atlantic Show, again capturing a nationwide audience.

Survived by his wife, son and daughter, Rene died of atherosclerotic heart disease at his home at Kensington, Sydney, on 22 November 1954 and was buried in the Jewish section of Rookwood Cemetery.

Although unknown overseas, 'Mo' was hailed by visiting celebrities such as Dame Sybil Thorndike and Jack Benny as a comic genius in the company of Charlie Chaplin. Lecherous, leering and ribald, he epitomized the Australian 'lair', always trying to 'make a quid' or to 'knock off a Sheila'; yet some of his funniest moments were when he was being 'posh', as in his outrageous parody of Noël Coward's Private Lives with Sadie.

Off-stage he was serious, but often quite unconsciously funny and an inveterate practical joker. He delighted in the recognition and adulation of his 'mob', yet sought constant reassurance from friends and colleagues, and other comedians were inevitably viewed as antagonists, regardless of their personal relationship. 'Mo's' greatest asset was his superb timing, which enabled him to 'get away with' the suggestive double entendre — he never did say anything technically obscene. Able to make his audience laugh or cry, he was a master of the physical nuance; his facial expression, gesture, stance and movement were welded within the black and white caricature of a Jewish comedian, with Australian mannerisms, delivering local vernacular with a Semitic lisp. His departure from the Tivoli in 1945 marked the end of an era in Australian theatre.

As Mo, Rene used a number of idiomatic catchphrases including:

* "Strike me lucky!"
* "Don't come the raw prawn"
* "Cop this, young Harry!" (before striking Harry)
* "You beaut!"
* "You little trimmer!"
* "I'm a wake up"
* "One of my mob"
* "Fair suck of the Sav"
* "I don't know whether to kiss him or kick him"
* "You filthy beast!"
* "Yamum!"
* "Get Zoned!"

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