Davis was born in a single-fronted house in Carlton (Melbourne) in 1907.3 Her
parents, Solomon and Rebecca Davis, were Jewish although Davis was coy about this ancestry in later life.4 The second of three daughters, she received
an ecumenical education, having attended Presbyterian Ladies College5 and
the (then) local Catholic Loreto Convent.6 From a young age Davis showed
extraordinary musical aptitude, a talent she suggested derived from a family connection to German conductor/composer Richard Strauss.7 Trained in
pianoforte8 and opera singing but self-taught on the xylophone, at age six she
performed on the stage of Melbourne’s Princess Theatre with noted Australian fl autist John Amadio.9 Davis also claimed to have performed, aged eight, with
English variety entertainer “Wee Georgie Wood” at the Tivoli10 although that is
unlikely, as he did not tour Australia until 1922, when Davis was 15.11 Although
she did perform later with Wood, this muddying of dates and facts became a familiar practice of Davis over the years as she constructed a preferred life story.
There is no doubt that she had considerable success on the stage as a young teenager. The books of clippings and original programmes from the 1920s that survive are testament to that.12 An early performance was in 1921, 3 Davis was born on 24 November 1907 at 105 Lee Street, Carlton. Her Australian-born
father was 30 years old and listed as an importer. Her mother, Rebecca (formerly Price), was 27 years old and had been born in Newcastle, England. See further, Births, Deaths and Marriages, Victoria, registered birth 7318/1908.
4 Interview with Mary Murphy (Elsa Davis’ theatrical agent), 19 May 2005.
5 In 1918 she was enrolled at the Presbyterian Ladies College, then in East Melbourne.
Email from Jane Dyer (PLC Archivist) to author, 20 June 2007.
6 At the time the convent was in South Melbourne. See National Archives of Australia:
B 160, 131/41, Transcript of oral evidence of Edna Frances Isaacs, given 16 September 1942.
7 Although unconfi rmed, the connection is said to be through Davis’ maternal grandmother.
Interview with (nephew) Alan and Barbara Leary by author, 23 January 2006 and “A XYLOPHONE EXPERT”, The Geraldton Guardian and Express, 4 October 1930.
8 In 1921 she sat Pianoforte Examinations (Practical) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of
Music. She achieved a pass Level VI and honours in Level V. Email of Suzanne Fairbanks (Melbourne University Archives) to author, 15 May 2007. At that period the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music was under the leadership of (later Sir) Bernard Heinze. See “COMPOSER EDNA DAVIS MAY MISS A NEW NOTE”, Truth, 12 October 1935, 3. In later years Heinze would commend her compositional work. See “MUSIC FOR THE ROYAL PROGRAM”, The Jewish News,19 October 1934.
9 “MUSIC FOR THE ROYAL PROGRAM”, The Jewish News,19 October 1934. In his
early career, Amadio performed with JC Williamson’s Italian Opera Companyandas principal fl autist for Dame Nellie Melba on her 1911 Australian tour. Between 1909 and 1920 he taught fl ute at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and it is likely that is where he met Davis. She sat pianoforte and opera singing examinations there. See also Mimi Colligan, “Amadio, John (1883-1964)”, 7 ADB, 1981, 49-50.
10 For example, referred to in “‘King George’s Coronation March’: Elsa Davis’ Latest
Composition Broadcast Through 3AR”, Listener In, 27 February 1937.
11 Frank Van Straten, Tivoli, 2003, 71.
12 This material will be described as the “Elsa Davis Collection” and is held by her nephew,
aged 13, at a “Grand Concert” in aid of the “Ukrainian Jews Relief Fund”. Davis played a solo and was already being billed as “The Wonderful Child Xylophonist”.13 This was also a period when silent movie theatres screened
their fi lms with orchestras and elaborate stage presentations.14 Davis was a
natural for these performances and she would appear at more than one theatre in an evening. Indeed, the family recalls that Davis, most likely with mother and younger sister “Baby Olga”, would travel around Melbourne by taxi in order to meet engagements.15 Venues included the Palais de Danse and Victory
Theatre in St Kilda; the Renown in Elsternwick, the Regent in Thornbury, the New Malvern and Armadale and Hoyt’s theatres in Camberwell and Essendon.16 Accompanying billing, often with a photograph of Davis with her
xylophone, waxed lyrical with leads like “Little Edna Davis: the Celebrated Child Xylophonist”, “Edna Davis: Australia’s youngest Xylophonist” and “Australia’s Champion Xylophonist”.17
By the end of 1922, aged 15, Davis had started touring interstate to rave reviews. In Sydney she did perform with “Wee Georgie Wood” and her performance was described as a “revelation”,18 while further north, the Brisbane
Sun said, “though just entering her teens the remarkable skill of the little artiste is phenomenal”.19 In 1923, back in Victoria, Davis continued “to play her way
into popularity” at Geelong20 and at
the Tivoli, where she was “assisted by baby Olga who sings sweetly, and also plays the xylophone”.21
Olga was six at the time. Later that year Davis performed at the Prince of Wales in Adelaide to “tumultuous applause”22 and then
in Perth, also at a Prince of Wales, where she roused “her audiences to a pitch of wild enthusiasm with her masterful control of the brass cylinders”.23
13 Programme dated 11 July 1921 in the Elsa Davis Collection. 14 Frank Van Straten, Tivoli, 2003, 67.
15 Interview with Alan Leary (nephew) and Barbara Leary by author, 23 January 2006. 16 Ibid.
17 Located in the Elsa Davis Collection.
18 “THICKER THAN WATER: Georgie Wood Scores Again at Tivoli”, Sunday Times, 3
September 1922.
19 1 October 1922.
20 “Geelong Theatre”, Geelong Advertiser,17 January 1923.
21 “THE TIVOLI: A Fine Programme”, Table Talk,undated, in the Elsa Davis Collection. 22 “REMARKABLE DARING: Extraordinary Vaudeville Turn”, The Advertiser, 28 May
1923.
23 “Prince of Wales Theatre, Perth”, Western Worker,12 October 1923.
“Baby” Olga and Edna Davis “Baby” Olga and Edna Davis at
the keyboards. Circa 1923. Courtesy Elsa Davis Collection.
For the next few years Davis earned a good income as she performed in the capital cities on the eastern seaboard24 and locally.25 However, as she moved out
of her teenage years and her draw as a “Child” star naturally faded, dark clouds had formed on the horizon. In late 1928 The Jazz Singer, the fi rst “talkie” had arrived in Australia and was shown in Sydney. As Van Straten noted, the impact on live entertainment was “swift and dramatic”.26 Attendances tumbled.
For Davis this meant the loss of natural venues and audiences and a hold on her performing career. The Jazz Singer also contained irony as it told the story of a Jewish child who broke his mother’s heart by leaving home to become an entertainer.27 However, Davis’ mother had her own problems. Her marriage
had been diffi cult for some time and she fi nally separated from her husband in 1927.28 The convergence of these events opened new horizons for Davis.