George Moon Jnr George Moon Jnr i(A109855 works by)
Born: Established: 19 Mar 1909 London,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe, ; Died: Ceased: 17 Dec 1981 London,
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England,
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c
United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

[NB: The following biography acknowledges that some details attributed to George Moon (aka George Moon Jnr) may be linked instead to his father. The confusion occurs because production advertisements and reviews published in the early 1930s do not always indicate whether the performer is George Moon Snr or George Moon Jnr.]

The son of George Moon (of Moon and Morris fame), the first reference to George Moon Jnr's stage career in Australia located to date is his appearance in the J. C. Williamson-produced musical comedy Follow Through, which was staged at the Theatre Royal (Melbourne) beginning 8 February 1930. The production featured Gus Bluett and Cecil Kellaway in the lead roles. Sometime in 1933, Moon joined Jim Gerald's Revue Company, touring Australia and possibly New Zealand on the Tivoli circuit with that troupe through until around May 1934. A little over a month later, he took on a role in the Melbourne production of George M. Cohan's musical comedy The Merry Malones (Apollo Theatre, beginning 23 June). The following year, he appeared in Ernest C. Rolls's revue extravaganza Rhapsodies of 1935 (Apollo Theatre, Melbourne, beginning 2 February 1935). The cast for that production included Roy Rene, Alex Kellaway (see Jack Kellaway), and Chic Arnold (see Charles Norman). The George Moon who appeared in Blue Mountain's Melody (1934), a musical comedy by J. C. Bancks and Charles Zwar, is also thought to have been George Moon Jnr.

After returning to England, George Moon (he had by then dropped the Junior from his name) carved out a successful career in Britain as a film and television actor. Following Lightening Conductor (1938), he appeared in such well-known films as Carry on Admiral (1957), A Matter of Choice (1963), Promise Her Anything (1965), Half a Sixpence (1967), Carry on Camping (1969), Carry on Dick (1974), and Eskimo Nell (1975). His television appearances included Z Cars, Doctor in the House, Copper's End, Doctor at Large, Special Branch, Doctor on the Go, Lord Tramp, Dad's Army, and The Famous Five. One of his last roles was in the television series The Enigma Files (1980).

George Moon Jnr was the father of English film, television, and theatre actor Georgina Moon.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • It has not yet been established which George Moon appeared in What's Yours?, a Tivoli Theatre revue staged in Sydney in October 1933. The cast also featured Mike Connors, Queenie Paul and Lulla Fanning (daughter of Maud Fanning).

  • A comparison of a photograph of George Moon (published in 1919) with stills from Pat Hanna's two films Diggers (1931) and Diggers in Blighty (1933) indicates that George Moon Snr played the character Joe Mulga, and not George Moon Jnr (see Green Room June 1919, p.12). It would appear in this case that a number of sources devoted to cinema, including the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), have inadvertently collapsed the film careers of father and son together, due both to the similarity in names and because they have not been aware of George Moon Senior's career as an internationally renowned vaudeville performer.

    It is likely, too, that George Moon Snr also appeared in A Co-Respondent's Course (1931) and not his son, as the IMDB and other sources currently indicate. Although little is known of that film, it does have the distinction of being the first narrative film to have been released in Australia with sound.

    NB: Richard Fotheringham indicates in his entry on Hanna's Diggers Company in the Companion to Theatre in Australia that George Moon took over the role of Joe Mulga from Joe Valli when Valli decided to develop a new character, Jock McTavish (p.191).

  • Entries connected with this record have been sourced from historical research into Australian-written music theatre and film conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.
Last amended 9 Sep 2014 07:35:46
See Also
Moon and Morris
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