Codrington Ball was born in Donegal, Ireland – the great-great grandson of Henry Lidgebird Ball, who commanded H.M.S. Supply in the First Fleet.
Ball was an actor, scenic artist, and theatre manager in Britain, under the name 'Scott King Alexander'. In Australia, he continued his theatrical career (under the stage name 'Scott Alexander'), managing the Turret Theatre, Sydney, and writing for radio.
Ball's stage plays were usually vehicles for his stage persona: throughout the 1920s, for example, he wrote short one-act plays (usually comedies and farces) for 2FC (later Radio National) under the name 'Codrington Ball' and acted in them under the name 'Scott Alexander'. The plays were invariably two-character pieces, in which Ball repeatedly appeared opposite actress Nellie Ferguson; by late 1925, Nellie Ferguson was touring for the Carroll Brothers with 'a specially selected metropolitan company', and her role in the short plays was taken by a rotating roster of other actresses, primarily Myra Leard.
Among Ball's other radio productions were 'Martin Meeks Topical Comedy Radio Dissertations', written by Ball and performed as Scott Alexander, on such topics as 'The Danger of Telling the Truth'.
Sources:
'Codrington Ball radio scripts, 1925-1929 and miscellaneous papers, 1894-1929', State Library of NSW. (Sighted: 04/05/2017)
Various advertisements (see individual plays for details).
