Ted McNamara

Edward Joseph McNamara, born in Melbourne, Australia, on September 19, 1894, was a vaudevillian and stage performer who built a career across Australia, the United States, and Hollywood before his death in February 1928. He performed under several name variations throughout his career, including Ted McNamara, Teddy McNamara, and Teddie McNamara.

McNamara began performing as a juvenile, touring productions across Australia and New Zealand. In 1905, he joined Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company on an extended tour that took the company through Japan, China, Canada, and the United States, a venture that earned the troupe considerable renown. He remained in North America following that tour, continuing to work as a performer.

While in Canada, McNamara married Australian actress Phyllis Hill in 1913, a fellow member of the Pollard's company, with both parties being underage at the time of the marriage. Hill returned to Australia in 1915 and was granted a divorce in 1926 on grounds of desertion. The marriage produced one child. McNamara had remarried by the time of his death.

His Broadway career spanned the early 1920s, with appearances in the musicals Glory, Battling Buttler, and Up She Goes between 1922 and 1923. He continued performing on Broadway through 1924.

McNamara subsequently transitioned to Hollywood silent films. His screen work began with Shore Leave in 1925. In 1926, director Raoul Walsh paired him with comedian Sammy Cohen in the war film What Price Glory?, establishing a comedy partnership that carried through several subsequent productions, including Colleen, The Gay Retreat, and Why Sailors Go Wrong. His other film credits include The Monkey Talks, Upstream, Rich But Honest, Chain Lightning, The Gateway of the Moon, Mother Machree, and Why Sailors Go Wrong, all released between 1927 and 1928.

McNamara died of pneumonia in early 1928. His funeral was attended by numerous former Pollard's company members who had settled in Hollywood, among them Alf Goulding, Billy Bevan, Snub Pollard, and Daphne Pollard.