Chris Wallace (entertainer)

For the American broadcast journalist and news anchor, see Chris Wallace.

Chris Wallace is an American-Australian television producer and entertainer.

Career

Wallace was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1956,^[1] majoring in radio-TV-theater.^[2] He joined the Army and performed in plays while stationed in Germany, and produced programs for public television in Ohio after returning home.^[2]

He recorded "The Baby Smile" for Morningside Records in 1968, a Christmas song that was released with a Spanish language version on the b-side.^[3] He had previously written "Tide Comes In" which was recorded by Valentine Pringle.^[4] Wallace followed this with an album of children's stories titled Uncle Wiggily and his Friends, released in 1970.^[5]

His television career began as an announcer at WOSU-TV,^[6] and later WBNS-TV. In 1968 he produced the Harlem Cultural Festival TV-series for WNEW-TV.^[3]

He joined the cast of soap opera All My Children as police officer Mel Jacobi in 1978,^[7] and made appearances in The Incredible Hulk and Trapper John MD, before starring in his first major motion picture role in 1980 as Lieutenant Ed Clayton in New Year's Evil.^[1]

Wallace relocated to Australian in the 1990s, and created the musical Nothing to Wear which debuted at Arts Centre Melbourne in 1995.^[8][9] He became an Australian citizen the following year,^[8] and has continued performing in his own works such as two based around Mark Twain, The Mark Twain You Don't Know (2007),^[10][11] and Huckleberry: A Musical Adventure (2018).^[12]