Jan Adele
Encyclopedia
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, theatre, film and television entertainer and actor best known for her recurring role of Trixie O'Toole in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96
Number 96 (TV series)
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
.
Trixie, a brassy and raucous nightclub singer, was a recurring comedy character in the popular serial between 1974 and 1977.
Prior to this role Adele had enjoyed a long and varied entertainment career. As a teenager she performed in the circus as an acrobat on the high wire, and as a contortionist. At the age of 19 she began a three-year stint entertaining US troops in Korea and Japan. After this she performed steadily in vaudeville theatre and as a show girl.
In the 1970s she moved into television with guest spots in the Crawford Productions
Crawford Productions
Crawford Productions is an Australian television production company founded by Hector Crawford; the present incarnation of the company, Crawfords Australia, is now a subsidiary of the WIN television corporation.-History:...
police dramas Homicide and Division 4
Division 4
Division 4 was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 300 episodes....
. Subsequent to this she was spotted by Number 96 producer Bill Harmon in a pantomime show and he devised the character of Trixie – a warm and funny stage and nightclub entertainer who has been treading the boards for years – for her. Indeed the character and experiences of Trixie were not far removed from those of her portrayer.
Some of the humour of her Number 96 character was built around Adele's 15 stone figure. When joining the series Adele happily signed the nudity clause present in all cast member's contracts reasoning that she would never be called upon to strip. She was later horrified to learn she would need to appear semi nude for a comedy sequence in the show, however went ahead with the scenes. In the late 1970s she also was frequent comedy performer on The Mike Walsh Show
Mike Walsh (TV host)
Mike Walsh OBE was host of The Mike Walsh Show from 1973 until 1985. Walsh is the only entertainer to be awarded the Sammy Award and Gold Logie award in the same year....
.
Adele subsequently acted in several Australian films. These included High Tide (1987), Daisy and Simon (1988), ...Almost (1990),
Greenkeeping (1992), Fatal Bond
Fatal Bond
Fatal Bond was a 1992 Australian 'B' grade film, directed by Vincent Monton, starring Linda Blair and Jerome Ehlers. It was filmed in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia, including Narrabeen Caravan Park.-External links:*...
(1992) and The Sum of Us
The Sum of Us
The Sum of Us is a play by David Stevens.The plot revolves around the comfortable relationship between widower Harry and his gay son Jeff and their individual searches for the right mate. Harry unconditionally loves his Rugby-playing son, and even takes an active part in Jeff's search for Mr. Right...
(1994). Adele's role in the film High Tide was as another warm and brassy nightclub singer. Yet this was a serious dramatic role which also included singing scenes. Jan was also a frequent guest on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton.
Later television guest appearances included Bony
Bony (TV series)
Bony is an Australian television series made in 1992. The series of 13 episodes followed on from a telemovie made in 1990. The series was criticised for casting a white man as the title character Detective David John Bonaparte , under the tutelage of "Uncle Albert", an elderly Aborigine played by...
(1992) and Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...
(1994).