Roy Rene

Roy Rene, also known as Henry van der Sluys (b February 13, 1892 d November 22 1954) was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He is an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. He was a Freemason [1].

Henry left school at the age of 14 and commenced his career on the stage, adopting the stage name of Roy Rene. During 1916, he formed a partnership with Nat Phillips, and commenced performing as Mo the clown in the long running stage act Stiffy and Mo. In 1934, he starred in the film Ken G. Hall film Strike Me Lucky, a reference to one of his many catchphrases. This was his only film performance.

In the 1940's, Henry appeared on a number of radio programs, including McCackie Mansion, which aired for three years from 1947. He played the character of Mo McCackie in the program, which was produced in front of a live studio audience.

The memory of Rene lives on in the Mo Awards, presented annually for excellence in live performance. The statuette presented to the recipients is in the form of Rene in his Mo McCackie persona.