Ali Bongo
| Ali Bongo | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
William Oliver Wallace 8 December 1929 Bangalore, India |
| Died | 8 March 2009 (aged 79) London, England |
| Occupation | Magician |
William Oliver Wallace (8 December 1929 – 8 March 2009), known by his stage name Ali Bongo, was a British comedy magician and president of The Magic Circle who performed an act in which he was known as the "Shriek of Araby".
Born as William Oliver Wallace in Bangalore, India, where his father (also called William) was serving as a sergeant major with the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. Young William spent his early years on a British station in Trimulgherry, Secunderabad before going to Britain with his mother Lillian, at the age of seven.
After William Wallace senior had ended his army service, the family moved to Sutton Valence in Kent and young William won a scholarship to Sutton Valence School, leaving at 16 to begin his career as an entertainer. His time in National Service was spent with the Royal Army Pay Corps. He worked for Harry Stanley's Unique Magic Studio and was manager of the magic department at Hamleys toy shop in London's Regent Street.
Wallace created his Shriek of Araby character with an oriental costume (robes, golden curly-toed slippers, horn-rimmed spectacles and headgear that incorporated both fez and turban) and took the name Ali Bongo from a character he had created for a youth club pantomime he had co-written and appeared in while in his teens. The original character had sung a song which began: "My name is Ali Bongo and I come from Pongo, pong-tiddley-pongo land." Among his later magic catch-phrases were "Uju Buju Suck Another Juju", "Aldy Bority Phostico Formio", "Hocus Pocus Fishbones Chokus".
He made his British TV debut on The Good Old Days in 1965 on a bill topped by Tommy Trinder.
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