Jim Gerald

Jim Gerald (1 January 1891 – 2 March 1971) born James Fitzgerald was an Australian comedian, circus clown, acrobat, writer, director and troupe leader and filmmaker. Theatre Historian Frank Van Straten has described Gerald as "the quintessential clown... [with] rubbery face... and the loose-limbed body of an acrobat." He is generally cited as one of the leading post-World War I comedians to work the Australasian variety circuits, the others being Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, and George Wallace.

Biography Born at Darlington, New South Wales, Gerald was the seventh son of Stephen Australia Fitzgerald, a tailor turned actor, and his wife Mary Ann, née Ingram. In his youth Gerald reportedly played truant from school to learn from acrobats practising on the sandhills behind Centennial Park.

While still appearing in the circus industry, in 1907 he and two of his brothers, Lance Vane and Max Clifton, appeared in Charles MacMahon's Robbery Under Arms and in 1910 in another bushranger film The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger, directed by his father, S.A Fitzgerald.

Gerald's move into variety entertainment began in 1912 when he toured with his father's "All Stars" drama and vaudeville company as both comedian and acrobat. Clay Djubal suggests that after years of strenuous circus routines, his physical health may have necessitated the change. Later in 1912 he signed with Fullers' Theatres vaudeville circuit and Djubal suggests his early turns were often "comic routines that utilised his circus skills." He returned to Australia in May 1936. In the later 1930s, he became involved in radio, signing a contract with the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1939. Following a recurrence of malaria he returned to Australia in October 1942 and returned to variety.