Juggler Bert Beaver began as a vaudeville performer and became one of the most influential radio personalities of the early broadcasting age.
Herbert Edward Beaver was born in Broken Hill in outback New
South Wales in 1897 to Ada and Edward. However, his father died when he was
young, and his mother remarried when he was 12. Her second husband, Bert’s
stepfather, was Gilbert Sinclair, a union man who later became secretary of the
State Boilermakers Union. Sinclair, a prominent and vocal member of the labour
movement, later became a member of parliament and a founder of a radio station.
How Bert became involved in juggling is a mystery, but his
first press notices date to the early 1920s when he was appearing with Dix and
Baker in regional Newcastle. He was known as the ‘talking’ or ‘jesting’ juggler
who told humorous anecdotes and made smart remarks while juggling sticks, balls,
and hats. His act also included balancing two billiard balls on a stick.
Bert became quite popular when the Fuller's circuit employed
him between 1922-23. In Queensland he caused ‘considerable laughter’ while
balancing two balls on a cue and in Adelaide he ‘delighted’ the audience. That
year he also toured New Zealand with Fullers.
Meanwhile, he had met juggler George Campbell, an old-time
passing juggler who started juggling in Australia in 1906. The pair joined up
and formed the Campbell – Beaver - (Fred) White Company and toured regional
areas of Australia. This company morphed into the Cockatoo Farm Company which
became a legendary touring group in country Australia. One member of the ensemble
was singer Vera (Peggy) Cornock.
Cockatoo Farm was an early form of vaudeville revue with a simple
humorous story interspersed with specialty turns. The story was stereotypically
country Australian with Dad played by George and his son Willie played by Bert.
The plot revolved around farm shenanigans and corny Australian jokes- it was
tremendously well-received.
The show included a juggling turn from George and Bert which
probably involved club passing, and it can probably be assumed that the pair
exchanged ideas and juggling techniques with George representing an older
generation of jugglers and Bert the new.
In later years Bert claimed that he could juggle three or
four lacrosse balls, hats, cigars or clubs and that he invented the trick of
passing soap bubbles up and down a stick or string. He was also a keen magician
and member of the Australian Society of Magicians and sometimes performed at
their annual soirees in Sydney.
After almost two years with George Campbell and the Cockatoo
Farm Company, Bert left and formed his own touring group. They were well-regarded
but relegated to smaller regional towns. In 1923 he married Vera Cornock , and
in 1924 they had their first child, Shirley.
Bert was increasingly interested in management, and
fortunately in 1925, just as radio and the movies were beginning to encroach on
vaudeville he was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The chance to be on
the ground floor with a radio station.
His stepfather Gilbert Sinclair was one of the founders of the
new station 2KY, which was owned by the labour movement. Gilbert persuaded the
other directors to employ his stepson as the manager, and by 1925, as 2Ky hit the
airwaves, Bert was one of the few permanent staff members.
He became well known in Sydney as Uncle Bert and had a
versatile career that mingled calling boxing matches with children’s stories.
Through the depression years, he maintained his role and mentored young talent
through community concerts and talent quests. It was through one of these that
he encountered young juggler Jimmy Wallace. Jimmy later said that he was lucky
that Bert was a juggler because their shared profession ensured encouragement
and reinforcement for his later career. Presumably, the pair swapped tricks and
ideas, just as George Campbell and Bert had done many years earlier.
Managing the station left Bert with little time to juggle,
but he continued to do so at the community concerts and public radio Xmas
parties. He is recorded as juggling occasionally until the 1940s.
He also took a risk in the mid-1930s when he travelled to
England for radio business and briefly appeared as a juggler in the London
music halls. Upon his return to Australia, he said he just wanted to find out
if he was still capable. On that trip, he also witnessed an early version of
Baird’s television and reported to the Australian press on his experience.
Bert was a pioneer of radio and a mentor for Sydney
jugglers. He provided a bridge from the old generation, such as George
Campbell, to a new generation, such as Jimmy Wallace, who had to adapt the art
of juggling to the demands of new technology.
