Wallas Eaton

Early life

Eaton was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. He was educated at the Alderman Newton School, and later would read History and English at Christ's College, Cambridge. Eaton joined the Army in 1940, and served with distinction during World War II, eventually becoming a major in charge of a searchlight battery.

Acting career

His first stage appearance was at the Theatre Royal in his home town of Leicester in 1936. Three years later he made his London debut playing the small part of the Announcer in Auden and Isherwood's The Ascent of F6 at the Old Vic. The following year Eaton played the Second Priest in Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral in 1940 and he followed this with what was his first comedy role, in The Body Was Well Nourished by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder.

In 1944, he appeared in Shaw's Too True To Be Good at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Eaton enjoyed a series of good, if small, roles, including appearing alongside Vivien Leigh at the Phoenix Theatre in 1945 in Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. In films, Eaton had a role in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).

In addition to working on the long-running BBC radio comedy Take It from Here, Eaton appeared in more than twenty-five films and over fifty television productions. His debut for BBC Television was in Arthur Askey's top- rated series "Before Your Very Eyes" in 1952, and he had parts in the Frankie Howerd series "Up Pompeii" and "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes".

Eaton's favourite pastime was sailing, and he made a trip to Australia in 1975 to pursue his interest, after which he settled there permanently. He featured in the Australian soap The Young Doctors in 1979 as Roland Perry, a rich friend of principal character Ada Simmonds. He also made a few appearances in later episodes of the television drama serial "A Country Practice".

Personal life

He died in Australia in November 1995, aged 78.