Notes on a Showman

Among the papers preserved by the family of Eve Balfour, New Zealand born silent movie star, (the most beautiful woman in England), is a postcard for the Five O’Clock Follies, which was playing at Princes’ in Piccadilly during 1924: “Dancing, tea and entertainment”; “London’s brightest and best tea-time dance and show” the advertisements boasted.

Further searching revealed that in 1924 the manager of the Five O’Clock Follies was also a New Zealander, a celebrated roller skater named Percy Athos. In his early appearances on the New Zealand stages he was often called “The Skating Tramp”. The newspapers were crowded with articles about him and advertisements for him but a search of New Zealand births, deaths and marriages showed nobody of that name. “Percy Athos” had to be his nom de scene but who was he?

Those who choose stage names usually keep their forenames so I looked for skaters who dressed like a tramp or were called Percy and found that on 2 June 1906 Auckland’s Observer reported on a “Hat and Poster Carnival” at the Olympia Skating Rink and among the characters represented was “Mr. P. McEwen, Tramp”.