George Stephenson "Onkus" Wallace (4 June 1895 – 19 October 1960), was an Australian comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio personality. During the early to mid-20th century, he was one of the most famous and successful Australian comedians on both stage and screen, with screen, song and revue sketch writing amongst his repertoire. Wallace was a small tubby man with goggle eyes, a mobile face and croaky voice who appeared in trademark baggy trousers, checkered shirt and felt hat. His career as one of Australia's most popular comedians spanned four decades from the 1920s to 1960 and encompassed stage, radio and film entertainment. Ken G. Hall, who directed him in two films, wrote in his autobiography that George Wallace was the finest Australian comedian he had known. Early and personal life George Stephenson Wallace was born in Aberdeen, New South Wales to George Stevenson "Broncho" Wallace, a painter, and Catherine Mary Ann, née Scott. His father toured in minstrel shows, and George junior appeared at age three in a Sydney pantomime. He was in his parents' song-and-dance act until they divorced. He later busked in Pyrmont, New South Waleswaterfront, worked in his stepfather's ink factory, and was a farm-hand and canecutter in North Queensland. He then joined a road show at age sixteen. Wallace married Margarita Edith Emma Nicholas on 3 January 1917 and moved to Sydney in 1918. Wallace worked at Newtown Bridge Theatre for £4 a week. Wallace used his wife in his act. Their two-year-old son join them in acrobatic poses. His parents separated in 1924. Professional career In the 1919 he formed a double act with Jack 'Dinks' Patterson as "Dinks and Onkus" (The Two Drunks), created in the style of Stiffy and Mo The pair danced and sang, and for someone who looked like a wharfie (with his barrel chest and short legs) Wallace was surprisingly acrobatic and light on his feet, and the public loved him for his slapstick style and everyman appeal. Turning solo, Wallace was soon snapped up by the Fuller circuit in Sydney and from there he moved to the Tivoli Theatre circuit. At Tivoli, he was teamed up with British actress, Jenny Howard. By the 1920s, he was considered to be one of the "Big Three" most popular performers in Australian comedy. He wrote all of his own scripts and in 1942 penned a song that was to become a World