Actor, theatrical entrepreneur, producer, director.
Reg Wykeham's versatility and professionalism saw him carve out a career in Australian entertainment that, while not spectacular, was nevertheless consistent and influential. His association with some of the leading theatrical identities of the early twentieth century, including Hugh J. Ward and J. C. Williamson's, led him to undertake his own entrepreneurial activities in both dramatic and variety theatre. During his long career, however, he retained his association with the stage as an actor. This in turn led to opportunities to appear in some of Australia's early motion pictures.
Wykeham's early professional career as an actor saw him engaged by George Willoughby and Hugh J. Ward's dramatic company around 1906/1907. In 1909, he toured as a leading member of Ward's 'Clever Company of London Comedians,' starring in such productions as A Bachelor's Honeymoon, The Man From Mexico, Vivian's Papas, and The Fencing Master. When he took over the direction of the company in 1909, touring it as Reginald Wykeham's Company of Comedians, its engagements were still produced under the auspices of Hugh J. Ward. Among the works presented during the Queensland tour, for example, were Seven Days, The Girl From the Rectors, and A Bachelor's Honeymoon. The company's principal actors at that time included Wykeham, Robert Grieg, H. H. Wallace, Celia Ghiloni, Pressy Preston and Maud Chetwynd.
Wykeham's role as Gilder in J. C. Williamson's 1913 production of Within the Law was described as having been played with 'studious care and success ... redeeming the hardness of the character without exaggeration' (Sydney Morning Herald 22 September 1913, p.4). His revival of the role in Melbourne the following year was similarly acclaimed. Sometime around late 1914/early 1915, Wykeham formed a vaudeville partnership with Pressy Preston. The pair toured Queensland in 1915 under the direction of Birch, Carroll and Coyle, followed later in the year by an engagement at the Fullers' Bijou Theatre, Melbourne. One of the sketches staged during April at Brisbane's Theatre Royal, 'Not in These', while described as 'clever' by the Theatre Magazine's variety critic, was nevertheless viewed as being from the outset 'near the knuckle... with the climax worse than course' (May 1915, p.44). Two other original sketches from this period were 'Many a Good Time' and 'Two of a Kind.'
The Sydney Hippodrome was leased by Wykeham in 1922 for a season of vaudeville and revusical staged under the name the Arrivals of 1922. While his career from 1917 to September that year has not been established, Wykeham's ability to engage London revue director Spencer Barry to oversee the productions suggests that his move into management had been ongoing for some time. The Arrivals troupe, which featured in excess of two dozen variety performers, along with chorus girls and an orchestra, featured several high-profile Australian artists, notably Arthur Morley, Sadie Gale, Bert Desmond and Mattie Jansen, Will and Dora Gilbert, Syd Garti, and George Whitehead.
Although no details regarding Wykeham's career have been located for the period 1923-1924, a Melbourne Tivoli bill for 8 August 192 advertises Reg Wykeham and Co (including Pressy Preston) as presenting a farce called The Bachelor. The advertisement also records that Wykeham had lately been with Dion Boucicault Jnr's company (which toured Australia between 1923 and 1925). The continuing association between Wykeham and Preston would also appear to indicate that they not only continued working together but were also most likely husband and wife.
December 1926 saw Wykeham at King's Theatre, Melbourne, supporting Renee Kelly in J. C. Williamson's production of The Naughty Wife. His association with Williamson's is believed to have continued through until at least 1929, when he was engaged for three of the Firm's productions that year: The Perfect Alibi (Criterion Theatre, Sydney; 6 July), Journey's End (Theatre Royal, Melbourne; 10 August), and Miss Nell O' New Orleans (Theatre Royal, Sydney; 15 December).
Wykeham's first-known film appearance was in The Digger Earl, produced by Beaumont Smith (q.v.) in 1924. Wykeham was cast in the role of a Brigadier-General. The other two film roles are as W.O. Pay Corps in the 1933 Pat Hanna / Raymond Longford comedy Diggers in Blighty and as Dr Moore in the 1949 Ealing Studios production of Eureka Stockade, which features Chips Rafferty.
