W. S. Percy

William Stratford Percy (1872–1946) was an Australian stage comedian and short film actor whose career spanned Australia, the United States, and England. He built his early reputation through productions for J. C. Williamson Ltd., one of Australia's leading theatrical organizations, and appeared alongside Reginald Roberts, Fanny Dango, and George Lauri in Melbourne productions of The Girls of Gottenburg and The Dairymaids.

Percy's work in film began in Australia with the 1912 comedy short Percy Gets a Job, which was among the first Australian comedy short films produced. He also contributed the original story for the 1911 production All for Gold, or Jumping the Claim. At the end of 1913, Percy departed Australia for the United States, arriving in New York in February 1914. There he encountered Millard Johnson, the local representative of Union Theatres, who recommended a visit to the Thanhouser Film Company Studio. The studio proposed that Percy star in a comedy, and a scenario was written in twenty minutes. The resulting short film, Percy's First Holiday, followed a character traveling from Sydney to New York through a series of comic misadventures, including being ejected from a cinema, losing his money to racetrack swindlers, and working his passage home as a ship's steward. Though originally intended for Australian audiences, the film was released internationally and proved highly popular in Australia.

During his 1914 stay in New York, Percy also appeared on Broadway in Maids of Athens. Following his time in the United States, he moved on to England, where his subsequent theatrical credits included A Cold Doucho, Joyland at the London Hippodrome, Hijinks on tour, and Oh, Don't, Dolly at the London Criterion in 1919, as well as The Girl for the Boy and Medore. Percy returned to Australia in the early 1920s to tour, appearing in the 1922 pantomime Babes of the Wood, but he based the remainder of his career in England.

In the late 1930s Percy turned to writing, producing a series of travel books: Strolling Through Scotland in 1934, Strolling Through England in 1935, and Strolling Through Cottage England in 1936.