Roy Rene

Who was Roy Rene?

Roy Rene, born Harry van der Sluys, was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the bawdy character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of the 20th century. Roy Rene was born in Adelaide in 15 February 1892 with the name Harry van der Sluice. He also went by the more common names Roy Rene, Roy Boy, Mo, or Mo McCackie. He was the son of a Jewish Dutch family. His family was opposed to the idea of him pursuing a career in entertainment, even though he showed a large amount of talent at a young age. He made his career debut at the Theatre Royale as a pantomime duck in Sinbad the Sailor, and in his teenage years his boy soprano voice earned him a job with James Brennan's vaudeville at the Gaiety Theatre.

A 1927 recording of Rene and Nat Phillips performing as Stiffy and Mo, called The Sailors, was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.