Variety entertainer, singer, comedian, producer.
The cousin of British actors Arthur Chesney and Edmund Gwenn, Alec Kellaway was one of six siblings who carved out careers in the entertainment profession. During the mid-to-late 1920s, Alec and Jack Kellaway were largely associated with Nat Phillips's revusical troupes Stiffy and Mo and Stiffy and 'Erb, with Jack briefly replacing Roy Rene's 'Mo' with the character 'Erb (ca. 1926).
While little is yet known of the Kellaway brothers' early years, it appears that Alex, along with Cecil, was born in South Africa, where it is believed the family resided for some years. Jack and Leon (a dancer who came to Australia with Anna Pavlova's ballet company) are thought to have been born in England. It is likely that their parents were involved in the theatre, as it has been said that the Kellaways were South Africa's equivalent of the Barrymores. Jack and Cecil followed Leon to Australia around 1920/1921, with Alec arriving in 1923. The most successful member of the family was Cecil, who spent more than two decades in the British and Australian film industries (seventeen years in Australia) as an actor, writer, and director before moving to Hollywood. In 1948, he garnered an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for The Luck of the Irish. One of the last films he appeared in was Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) as Monsignor Mike Ryan.
During the mid-to-late 1920s, Alec worked fairly extensively for Fullers' Theatres Ltd, appearing as a specialist singer on their Australian and New Zealand circuits. In 1924, for example, he co-starred alongside Edgely and Dawe in The Midnight Frolics (Palace Theatre, Melbourne; beginning 20 December), and made regular appearances at the Bijou Theatre (Melbourne) between 1925 and 1926. In 1929, Alec joined Jack in Nat Phillips's Whirligig troupe, following the disbanding of the Stiffy and Mo company. Alec's engagement saw him temporarily replace Dan M. Dunbar, while the eminent vaudevillian was struck down by a lengthy illness. During the 1930s, he was engaged for such productions as The Merry Malones (Apollo Theatre, Melbourne; 23 June) and alongside Roy Rene in Ernest C. Rolls's Rhapsodies of 1935 (Apollo Theatre, Melbourne; 2 February). Kellaway also garnered much praise for his comedic role in the 1938 Ken G. Hall film The Broken Melody.
In the early 1940s, Alec Kellaway worked largely under Tivoli Theatres Australia general manager Wallace Parnell, helping to produce a number of revues and other entertainment spectaculars. When the company was bought out by a group headed by David N. Martin in 1944, Wallace Parnell resigned in protest at his demotion to resident producer. Kellaway subsequently took over the position, producing the new regime's premiere production, It's Foolish - But it's Fun (Melbourne; 9 October 1944).
