Eveline Pauline "Queenie" Paul (30 December 1893 – 31 July 1982) was an Australian performer in vaudeville shows (singer and dancer) and a theatre producer, active from the 1910s until the early 1980s. She was particularly known for her associations with the companies of J.C. Williamson and Sir Benjamin Fuller.
Early life
Eveline Pauline Paul was born in
Sydney, the daughter of Frederick William Paul and Antoinette Schuller Paul. Her father was born in Germany; her mother was French.
[Jennie Lees, "Eveline Pauline (Queenie) Paul" in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18 (MUP 2012).] Her nickname came from being the first girl in the family after four sons; she was "the little queen" from a young age.
[Frank Van Straten, "Queenie Paul OAM 1893-1982" Live Performance Australia Hall of Fame (2007).]
Career
Queenie Paul was on stage with J.C. Williamson as a chorus girl by age 15. In her early 20s she was the
principal boy in a production of a pantomime,
The Bunyip.
["Miss Queenie Paul" Critic (6 June 1917): 11. via Trove ] In 1917 she co-starred with an American actor at the National Theatre; she and Mike Connors were soon wed, and worked in shows together for most of the next twelve years. Their "Con-Paul Theatre" company opened in 1931, with them headlining a variety show. In 1932, she was "ballet mistress and star" at the Sydney Theatre Royal.
[ "In Defense of Chorus Girl: Queenie Paul Speaks" Arrow (12 February 1932): 21. via Trove ] The Connors took a touring company to New Zealand in the mid-1930s. Apart from Connors, who was busy with a new broadcasting career, Paul concentrated on producing shows featuring her chorus line, the "Sun-Kissed Girls".
Honours
Paul's stylish wardrobe was often remarked upon and reported about.
[ "Queenie Paul's Dresses" Sunday Times (4 February 1923): 5. via Trove ][ "Queenie Paul's Rainbow Frock" Sunday Times (18 February 1923): 5. via Trove ] Later in life, she continued performing in variety shows,
[ "Queenie Paul at Royal" Sunday Mail (January 20, 1952): 11. via Trove ] and she was a regular guest on television talk shows. In 1977 she was the guest of honor on an episode of
This Is Your Life. In 1982, she was awarded an Order of Australia medal (OAM).
Personal life
Paul married her co-star Mike Connors in 1917. They had three children, Celestine, Colleen, and Paul; Colleen died in 1933. Paul was widowed when Connors died in 1949.
[ "Show Goes On For Queenie" Daily Mercury (26 November 1949): 7. via Trove ] She married again in 1960, to Walter John Harding, an accountant. Her great-nephews were
Anthony Field of
The Cockroaches and
The Wiggles, and John Field and Paul Field, also of The Cockroaches.
Queenie Paul died in July 1982, just two days after her last performance, at the age of 88 years, in her home in
Dulwich Hill.
Her papers are archived in the Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne.
[ Evelyn "Queenie" Paul, Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.]
External links
