Comedian, singer, entrepreneur, and manager.
Overview
J. C. Bain started his career in variety as an amateur comic in Brisbane and went on to work extensively around Australia and overseas - and in later years with his daughter, Verna. He appeared with most of the country's leading variety managements and vaudeville troupes during the 1890s including Harry Rickards, Cogill Brothers, Charles Godfrey Vaudeville Company, the Continental Vaudeville Company and Percy St John. In 1899 he formed Bain's Entertainers in Brisbane, and for the next two decades was largely involved in running his own companies, apart from a four year position as James Brennan's General Manager at the National Amphitheatre, Sydney (ca. 1908-1911) and his four-year partnership on the stage with Verna (ca. 1916-1920) .
BIOGRAPHY
1870-1895: The third and eldest son of Scottish blacksmith James Bain and his wife Elizabeth (nee McPherson McFarlane), J. C. Bain was educated at Ipswich Boys Grammar where he excelled in sports, particularly athletics (as a runner) and as a rugby forward (captaining the school team in his final year). After leaving school he lived briefly in the Toowoomba region, captaining the nearby Aubigny rugby team, followed by a period of time in Barcaldine, where he managed a tobacco and fancy goods business while also operating as a part time bookmaker. During this time he also continued to be involved in athletics, winning several handicap events in Barcaldine and Ipswich. He eventually moved to Brisbane, finding employment initially with George Adams' Tattersalls Sweeps and later with Finney, Isles and Co, a furniture and drapery business located adjacent to the Gaiety Theatre. It was while in the Queensland capital that he began appearing as a comedy singer at various amateur concerts, smoke nights and charity events.
In 1894 Bain travelled to Sydney with a Queensland representative rugby team, and was invited to appear at the Tivoli Theatre on 27 July for a special "footballers night." According to several reports his act was so well received that Harry Rickards immediately offered him a contract. Bain refused the offer, however, indicating that he didn't feel competant at that time to work professionally. He subsequently returned to Brisbane for some 12 months to work on his act. Bain eventually took up Rickard's offer in July 1895, playing two one-week seasons at the entrepreneur's theatres in Sydney and Melbourne during his holidays. After returning to Brisbane he continued to improve on his act by appearing at numerous locally-organised entertainments. He even played the lead role in a one night production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer (Opera House, 21 November)
1896 - 1910: In March 1896 Bain left Brisbane to pursue a career in vaudeville, initially working for Rickards, followed by a tour of New Zealand and Tasmania with the Charles Godfrey Vaudeville Company. In 1903, he began presenting vaudeville in Hobart, and in 1906 opened in Launceston. That same year, he also expanded his operations into regional Victoria, operating initially in Bendigo and Ballarat (Mechanics' Institute) and later at His Majesty's Theatre, Geelong. In 1908, Bain became James Brennan's general manager at the National Amphitheatre
1911-1920: Bain left James Brennan's firm in 1911 to run a small circuit in Sydney, with the principle venues being the Princess Theatre (Railway Square) and the Coliseum, North Sydney. He afterwards operated Bain's Theatrical Agency out of offices in the city (1915-1916). With his daughter Verna, he worked extensively as a comic in Australia and overseas between 1916 and 1920, being associated in Australia with the Fullers, Dix-Baker (Hunter Valley), Birch and Carroll (Qld), Harry Sadler (Tasmania), Harry Clay, and Andy Kerr (Gaiety Theatre, Sydney).
1921-1946: Bain briefly retired from the industry in the early 1920s, spending several years in government employment. He returned to the stage in 1923 and the following year took over the lease of Wirth's Hippodrome (Sydney). He is believed to have retired from full-time theatrical work in the late 1920s and moved back to Brisbane, where he lived out the rest of his life.
