Jimmy Wallace- The Boy Juggler

 

Jimmy Wallace was born to show business. His father, Jim but known as Professor Wallace, was a children’s entertainer and puppeteer. Unlike many performers, Jim and wife Lil, had a home in Marrickville in Sydney where they raised their three children, George, James and Florence.

The family name was Bell. Jimmy, the middle child was born in 1922 and given the name James Wallace Bell, after his father’s stage name. He had one unusual feature, one grey and one brown eye.

The Bell home in inner city Marrickville in Sydney was not like the other suburban homes. In the early 2000s Florence recalled the family’s trips to the Tivoli Theatre, her father’s late nights and his collection of magic memorabilia. Jimmy senior was a children’s entertainer, a magician, and a well-known character in the small Sydney pre-war theatrical community.

As a young man, Jimmy junior, was sent to somebody, probably Ossie Delroy, to learn to juggle. Ossie lived nearby and was also well known to the local theatrical scene. Young Jimmy liked juggling. He would juggle household items such as apples or cutlery in the family kitchen much to his mother’s dismay.

Jimmy in Pix Magazine 1938

 He began juggling for the public around the age of 12 when he started doing charity shows with his father. He juggled at department stores, including the famous Anthony Hordens, and for a local children’s charity. It seems clear that Jimmy was going to follow in his father’s footsteps, he was sent to the theatrical dentist, and he was given elocution lessons to fix a slight speech impediment. Then when he was 15, he appeared in a two-page photo spread for a local magazine.

 In Pix magazine in 1938, he was described as a young juggler who astonished people when on holidays by juggling knives and forks at the breakfast table. His father was quoted saying that Jimmy was the only boy in the world who could manage 4 balls in the air at the same time and he was pictured juggling axes.

The next year he began juggling professionally and was at the Regent theatre in Adelaide between movie showings. He wore a white satin shirt and navy-blue trousers and juggled balls racquets and hats. The highlight of his turn was juggling three axes, blindfolded.

War was declared in September 1939 and men from Australia enlisted. Jimmy was too young, enlistment age was 21, so he continued with his stage career.

In 1940 he was scaring young women with blind folded axe juggling. He also appeared in another two-page pictorial in Pix Magazine. This time local man Ossie Delroy accompanied him. It is probable that the shoot occurred in the Bell family back yard in Marrickville. The pair juggled hoops, clubs and balls

Jimmy with Ossie Delroy,  Pix Magazine 1940

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From 1941-1942 Jimmy toured the country with various revues on the Tivoli Circuit. He appeared in primarily in Melbourne and Sydney, including an appearance in the revue ‘Applesauce’ with Will Mahoney and Evie Hayes. Also, during this period, he performed on radio, earning the nickname, ‘the radio juggler.’

In 1943 Jimmy enlisted. His friend Ossie had already toured the Middle East with an army entertainment troupe. Jimmy had just turned twenty-one and was now eligible for service. He had been touring the north of Australia with the Waratah entertainment troupe which performed in army camps in Australia, and in 1943 the troupe travelled to New Guinea to entertain there. Jimmy remained on the front lines until he was discharged in 1946.

Jimmy in New Guinea

He continued his juggling career when he returned. In 1947 he played at the Tivoli and performed in Sydney Melbourne and Perth. That year, at the Wingham Diggers Dance (Diggers is Australian for soldiers) he entertained a crowd with ‘the usual’ juggling props and caused much laughter with his humorous quips. The audience applauded him loudly and refused to let him leave the stage. Jimmy was travelling through on his way to Brisbane for a stint at the Cremorne Gardens.

Jimmy spent much of the late 1940s in Brisbane where he became the co-director of the Brisbane Royal with George Wallace jnr (not related), and Laurie Smith. In 1949 he married Joan Ashton, a singer in the show,  in Brisbane. It was a typical day for Jimmy with his wedding squeezed in between business. His routine that day was described as. 3pm- married, 5pm- attended business for the Brisbane Royal, 8.30pm- on stage with juggling act.

Jimmy marries Joan- Newspaper photo

In 1949 Ossie Delroy teamed with Jimmy for a duo juggling act which was well received. However, it seems that the management of the Brisbane Royal was not very profitable. By 1951, Wallace jnr, Jimmy and Joan were on the road in the north of Queensland, and in 1952 Jimmy was back in Sydney producing the ‘Wentworth Cabaret’ in Katoomba. One reason for returning to Sydney was the death of his father that year.

Jimmy’s career was slowing down by then, but he was getting involved in television. Television reached Australian homes in 1956 and it seems Jimmy was one of the early stars of the medium. In 1962 he juggled at a shopping mall in Parramatta (suburban Sydney) and was advertised as a TV star.

Jimmy died in Sydney in 1987 after a lengthy career in vaudeville, radio and TV.