Reg Quartly

Reginald Francis Quartly (19 March 1912 – 26 April 1983) was an English born Australian comedian who was well-known to Australian audiences for his work on stage, screen, radio and television over a period of "more than 50 years".

Early life and career Quartly was born in England on 19 March 1912. His parents were Percival Francis and Lydia Elizabeth Quartly. The family emigrated to New Zealand when Reg was aged 10 years old.

He became a professional entertainer and made his first appearance in amateur trials at the Prince Edward Theatre, Auckland at the age of 11, singing "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More", and won the competition prize of 10 shillings. He then appeared for ten weeks in the theatre as a child performer and then made a "successful tour" of New Zealand for two years.

Theatre and film career in Australia When Quartly was around the age of 16 he moved to Sydney and joined the "big touring musical shows of Sir Benjamin Fuller". He appeared at Fuller's Tivoli Theatre, which was Sydney's top variety theater of the period, and at the Empire Theatre in Haymarket, where in 1928 he appeared in the play Top Hole alongside the vaudevillian Fred Bluett.

In 1933 Quartly appeared as a comedian in a series of plays at the Tivoli Theatre in Broken Hill in the far west of New South Wales: Walter George's Sunshine Players, Keep Smilin, Leave It At That and Step Lively.

During the Second World War he, along with Tom Newbury and Bob Dyer, entertained Australian, New Zealand and American troops in the war zones of the South Pacific. staged in several major Sydney theatres, including Love's a Luxury (1951) and Dick Whittington and His Cat (1951) at the Palace Theatre, and Cinderella (1957), where his role was the Baroness de Bluffe, at the Elizabethan Theatre, Newtown. and was compered by Arch McKirdy ("Uncle Mac") "assisted by 'Uncle' Reg Quartly".

Quartly took the lead role when in 1966 The Town of Make Believe was renamed Fun Fair and given a new time slot of 2 pm on Saturday.

He also appeared in the role of Auntie Flo on the ABN-2's Partyland program. In about the same year he co-wrote the words and music of the song "Chins up high" for voice and piano with ukulele chord diagrams for 2UW.

He appeared in the comedy series Archie in Australia broadcast on ABC radio in 1957.

Legacy Among his many activities, Quartly played an important role in the early development of children's television in Australia, with Geoff Allen in the Sydney Morning Herald dubbing him a "Pied Piper".

He died at the age of 71 on 26 April 1983.