Wallas Eaton

Wallas Eaton
Born(1917-02-18)18 February 1917
Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Died3 November 1995(1995-11-03) (aged 78)
Australia
Other names
  • Wallace Eaton
  • Wallis Eaton
OccupationActor

Wallas Eaton (18 February 1917 – 3 November 1995), sometimes credited as Wallace Eaton or Wallis Eaton, was an English film, radio, television and theatre actor.[1] He is perhaps best remembered for his voice roles between 1949 and 1960 in the BBC radio-comedy serial Take It from Here.[2]

Early life

Eaton was born in Leicester, Leicestershire.[2] He was educated at the Alderman Newton School, and later would read History and English at Christ's College, Cambridge. Eaton joined the Army in 1940, and served with distinction during World War II, eventually becoming a major in charge of a searchlight battery.[2]

Career

His first stage appearance was at the Theatre Royal in his home town of Leicester in 1936. Three years later he made his London debut playing the small part of the Announcer in Auden and Isherwood's The Ascent of F6 at the Old Vic.[3] The following year Eaton played the Second Priest in Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral in 1940 and he followed this with what was his first comedy role, in The Body Was Well Nourished by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder.[2][4]

In 1944, he appeared in Shaw's Too True To Be Good at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.[5] Eaton enjoyed a series of good, if small, roles, appearing alongside Vivien Leigh at the Phoenix Theatre in 1945 in Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth.[6] In films, Eaton had a role in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).[2]

In addition to working on the long-running BBC radio comedy Take It from Here, Eaton appeared in more than twenty-five films and over fifty television productions.[7] His debut for BBC Television was in Arthur Askey's top- rated series Before Your Very Eyes in 1952, and he had parts in the Frankie Howerd series Up Pompeii and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes,[8][9] and Michael Palin's and Terry Jones' 1969 The Complete and Utter History of Britain television comedy sketch show.

Eaton's favourite pastime was sailing, and he made a trip to Australia in 1975 to pursue his interest, after which he settled there permanently.[8] He featured in the Australian soap The Young Doctors in 1979 as Roland Perry, a rich friend of principal character Ada Simmonds.[10] He also made a few appearances in later episodes of the television drama serial A Country Practice.[11]

Death

He died in Australia on 3 November 1995, aged 78.[2]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ "Wallas Eaton". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gifford, Denis (9 December 1995). "Obituary: Wallas Eaton". The Independent. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Wallas Eaton | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  4. ^ "XMS38 – Theatre Collection". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Production of Too True to Be Good | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  6. ^ "Production of The Skin of Our Teeth | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Extra – Take It From Here, From 02/04/1958". BBC.
  8. ^ a b "OBITUARY: Wallas Eaton". The Independent. 9 December 1995.
  9. ^ "Wallas Eaton". aveleyman.com.
  10. ^ "Wallas Eaton 1917-1995". IMDb. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  11. ^ Moran, Albert; Keating, Chris (4 August 2009). The A to Z of Australian Radio and Television. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810870222 – via Google Books.