Will Mahoney

Photo in 1956

William James Fitzgerald Mahoney (February 5, 1894, Helena, Montana, USA – February 9, 1967, Australia), better known as Will Mahoney, was an American-born vaudevillian performer, stage actor and theatre manager best known for his stage success in Australia.

He was born in Helena, Montana, USA to Rancher Michael Fitzgerald and Mary Moran. His father died when he was two and his mother who had two children, Frank and Mary from a previous marriage, supported the family by holding several jobs. Along with his step-brother Frank they devised a vaudeville act billed as The Mahoney Brothers and toured around United States, Mexico and Australia.

Mahoney was married three times, firstly aged 21 to Iva Gibbs and toured England appearing in films. After his wife's death he married Lililan Wilson in 1928, whom he later divorced and then married actress Evie Hayes in 1938 who appeared in his numerous stage show productions. They immigrated to Australia and were featured on the Tivoli Circuit.

He had extensive experience on the vaudeville circuit in the US, becoming the highest paid variety star in the country by the early 1930s, when he arrived in Australia with Hayes. They acted in the film Come Up Smiling (1939), after which he became theatre manager in Australia of the Cremorne theatre in Brisbane.

After the war, Mahoney went back to the USA to revitalize his career, being nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for a revival of Finian's Rainbow[1] before eventually settling permanently in Australia, in Melbourne in 1958, playing in musicals and revues and teaching a generation of young performers.He died on February 9, 1967.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Will Mahoney" Playbill. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  2. ↑ Will Mahoney at Australian Dictionary of Biography



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