{{Short description|American actor (1894–1967)}} {{For|the Australian cartoonist|Will Mahony}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{infobox person | image = Will Mahoney.tif | caption = Mahoney in 1956 | name = Will Mahoney | birth_name = William James Fitzpatrick Mahoney | birth_place = Helena, Montana, U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date|1894|02|05}} | death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|1967|02|09|1894|02|05}} | occupation = Vaudevillian performer, stage actor, theatre manager | spouse = {{marriage|Evie Hayes|1938}} }}
'''William James Fitzpatrick Mahoney''' (February 5, 1894{{spaced ndash}}February 9, 1967) was an American vaudevillian performer, stage actor and theatre manager who later had a successful stage career in Australia.
==Early life== He was born in Helena, Montana, to rancher Michael Fitzpatrick and Mary Moran. His father died when he was two and his mother who had two children, Frank and Mary from a previous marriage, supported the family by holding several jobs.
==Career== After making his first public appearance at the age of eight in Spokane, Washington, Mahoney along with his brother Frank devised an act called the Mahoney Brothers; they toured the United States, Mexico and Australia. Will Mahoney came to New York in about 1921, and as a tap and clog dancer and singer became a frequent performer in vaudeville there from the mid-1920s, displaying "a disarmingly joyous insouciance and gusto."<ref name=slide>Anthony Slide, "Will Mahoney", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, pp.331-332</ref>
In 1930, he first performed his signature act, dancing along an outsize xylophone and playing it with hammers attached to his feet.<ref name=slide/> In 1931, Mahoney was featured in ''The Earl Carroll Vanities''.<ref>Smith, Bill. ''The Vaudevillians''. New York: Macmillan, 1976, p. 110.</ref> He had extensive experience on the vaudeville circuit in the US, becoming the highest paid variety star in the country by the early 1930s, when he arrived in Australia with fellow American star and future wife Evie Hayes. They acted in the film ''Come Up Smiling'' in 1939,<ref name="come">{{cite magazine|date=15 August 2025|access-date=15 August 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-come-up-smiling-ants-in-his-pants/|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Forgotten Australian Films: Come Up Smiling / Ants in His Pants}}</ref> after which he became a theatre manager in Australia of the Cremorne Theatre in Brisbane. The theatre was successful and many of Mahoney's US friends attended including Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Gary Cooper and Artie Shaw, amongst others.<ref name=":0" /> Mahoney was also popular in Britain, and performed there on radio.<ref name=slide/> He also made British films.<ref name="edward">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-ted-black/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 December 2024|access-date=1 December 2024|title=Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black}}</ref>
After the war, Mahoney went back to the USA to revitalize his career, being nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for a revival of ''Finian's Rainbow''<ref>[http://www.playbill.com/person/will-mahoney-vault-0000018015 "Will Mahoney"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015115/http://www.playbill.com/person/will-mahoney-vault-0000018015 |date=15 November 2017 }} ''Playbill''. Retrieved 2017-11-14.</ref> before eventually settling permanently in Australia, in Melbourne in 1958, playing in musicals and revues and teaching a generation of young performers. He died in Melbourne on February 9, 1967.<ref name=":0" />
==Personal life== Mahoney was married three times, he first married at age 21 to Iva Mildred Willis and toured England appearing in films. After his wife's death in 1920 he married Sue Lillian Wilson in 1922, whom he later divorced and then married actress Evie Hayes in 1938 who appeared in his numerous stage show productions. They immigrated to Australia and were featured on the Tivoli Circuit.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Radbourne |first=Jennifer |title=William James (Will) Mahoney (1894–1967) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mahoney-william-james-will-11038/text19635 |access-date=2024-03-06 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |archive-date=4 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304113223/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mahoney-william-james-will-11038/text19635 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Straten |first=F. Van |title=Vina Evelyn (Evie) Hayes (1912–1988) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hayes-vina-evelyn-evie-12610 |access-date=2024-03-06 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |archive-date=22 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222081514/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hayes-vina-evelyn-evie-12610 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mahoney-william-james-will-11038 Will Mahoney] at ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' *[http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Person%3A%22%2FPerson%2Fkey%2F30831-1%22;querytype=;resCount=10 Will Mahoney] at National Film and Sound Archive *[http://www.ausstage.edu.au/indexdrilldown.jsp?xcid=59&f_contrib_id=229840&f_event_id=61937 Australian theatre credits] at AusStage
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoney, Will}} Category:1894 births Category:1967 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American emigrants to Australia Category:Male actors from Montana Category:People from Helena, Montana Category:American vaudeville performers Category:Australian vaudeville performers