Joff Ellen

Raymond Charles Ellen (20 May 1915 at Myrtleford24 December 1999 at Leongatha), who performed as Joff Ellen, was an Australian entertainer, TV pioneer, actor and comedian. As a children's TV entertainer, he portrayed "Joffa Boy" on Tarax Show (1957–1969), greeting the audience with his catch-cry, "Howdy-doody, boys and girls and mums and dads and bald-headed babies". He was nicknamed "Joff" by his uncle in honour of French World War 1 general, Joseph Joffre. By June 1945 the trio were working on Melbourne radio station 3XY (later known as Magic 1278). Throughout World War II Ellen's trio also performed vaudeville acts for the troops and after the war he continued with comedy shows on 3XY and on stage. In September 1946 Ellen married Bernadette Moyna Shaw in Melbourne. Shaw was a ballet member of Ellen's revue, Sky High, which was managed by his future father-in-law, Gordon Shaw. The couple honeymooned in Tasmania. It is one of only a handful of films made in Melbourne in that decade, where he appeared with the artist and actor Valma Howell, to whom he had been briefly engaged.

From the introduction of television in Victoria, he appeared on various children's shows as the character "Joffa Boy", particularly Tarax Show (1957–1969), wearing a Carlton Football Club jumper and "Bombay Bloomers",

Ellen would greet the audience with "Howdy Doody, boys and girls!", which would respond "Howdy Doody, Joffa Boy!". He expanded the greeting which became his catch-cry, "Howdy-doody, boys and girls and mums and dads and bald-headed babies". He also portrayed the naughty schoolboy, "Conkers" in the slapstick series Take That (1957-59) for Crawford Productions, which was reputed to be Australia's first TV sitcom.

He was nationally famous for appearances with Graham Kennedy on the latter's television shows In Melbourne Tonight (IMT) and later The Graham Kennedy Show spanning from 1958 to 1974 by employing a variety of song-and-dance, comedy sketches and other vaudevillian skills.