Bud Tingwell

• Name — Bud Tingwell • Honorific Suffix — AM • Birth Name — Charles William Tingwell • Born — 3 January 1923 • Birthplace — Coogee, New South Wales, Australia • Died — 15 May 2009 • Place of death — Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Education — Sydney Grammar School • Occupation — * Actor • radio announcer • pilot • Years Active — 1941–2008 • Awards — Logie Hall of Fame Inductee (1994) Raymond Longford Award (1998) Australian Film Walk of Fame Inductee (2008) • Children — 2

Tingwell was born on 3 January 1923 in the Sydney suburb of Coogee, the son of William Harvey Tingwell and Enid (née Green). William volunteered as a surf lifesaver at Coogee Surf Life Saving Club where, in 1922, a colleague noticed Enid's pregnancy and asked, 'What's budding there?', and 'Bud' became the nickname for their infant son. As an adolescent, Bud was encouraged by his father to train as an accountant, but Tingwell failed the entrance exam. While still at school, he became a cadet at Sydney radio station 2CH, soon becoming the youngest radio announcer in Australia.

In 1941, aged 18, Tingwell volunteered for war service overseas with the Royal Australian Air Force. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, personnel from Commonwealth air forces formed part of a joint training and assignment system. Consequently, Tingwell trained as a pilot in Canada during 1942. Despite damaging a Harvard training aircraft in August, he later qualified as a pilot and was commissioned as a pilot officer that December. He was posted to the Mediterranean Theatre and underwent operational training with No. 74 Operational Training Unit RAF, in British Palestine, and qualified to fly the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. In January 1944, he was posted to No. 680 Squadron RAF, a photo reconnaissance unit, and flew 75 sorties in Mosquitos and Spitfires during the Italian campaign. Other aircraft that Tingwell was qualified to fly included the Bristol Blenheim, Martin Baltimore, Bristol Beaufighter and Airspeed Oxford. He was promoted to flying officer in June 1943 and flight lieutenant in December 1944. Towards the end of the war, Tingwell was transferred back to Australia. He was posted to No. 5 Operational Training Unit RAAF as a flying instructor in June 1945, and then in December 1945, after the war had ended, he was posted to No. 87 Squadron RAAF, flying photo-reconnaissance Mosquitoes, until his demobilisation in March 1946. Tingwell's war service earned him the 1939–45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945, and Australia Service Medal 1939–1945. He remained a reservist into the 1950s.

After returning to Australia, Tingwell married his childhood sweetheart, Audrey May Wilson. They were to have two children, Christopher and Virginia. He joined Doris Fitton's Independent Theatre company and appeared on stage from the mid-1940s in such classics as The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman and Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot In 1946, Tingwell was given his first film role, in Smithy, cast as an RAAF control tower officer – winning the role since he could supply his own RAAF uniform. He made his leading role debut in Always Another Dawn. Filmink wrote Tingwell "was relatively green at the time, but even at this stage was an ideal leading man – handsome, good voice and posture, all that stuff. If he’d gone to Britain straight after this film, we think he would’ve become a movie star." Tingwell had an excellent supporting role in Bitter Springs (1950), made by Ealing Studios with Chips Rafferty; Tingwell played Rafferty's bigoted son. He had a similar role in Kangaroo (1952), a Hollywood-financed film shot in Australia for 20th Century Fox. He then appeared in I Found Joe Barton (1952), the first TV show filmed in Australia. Fox liked Tingwell's work in Kangaroo and invited him to Los Angeles to play the role of Lt. Harry Carstairs in The Desert Rats, in which he appeared opposite Chips Rafferty, James Mason and Richard Burton. They offered him a long-term contract but Tingwell turned it down because he wanted to return to Australia. Tingwell played the lead in King of the Coral Sea (1954) alongside Rafferty. In 1954, he co-starred with Gordon Chater in Top of the Bill, the first of the famous satirical revues staged at Sydney's Phillip Street Theatre.

The Australian film and radio industries slumped with the advent of television and Tingwell decided to move to the UK. He used the opportunity of a role in Ealing's The Shiralee (1957), which was filmed in Australia and London. Tingwell travelled to England to complete his scenes and decided to stay. The following year, he took on his first recurring television role, as Australian surgeon Alan Dawson in the live TV serial Emergency Ward 10 and its film spin-off Life in Emergency Ward 10 (1959). He had small roles in Ealing's Dunkirk (1958), then Bobbikins (1959), Cone of Silence (1960), and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960). Tingwell played the role of Inspector Craddock in all four films of the Miss Marple series, starring Margaret Rutherford, from 1961 to 1964: Murder, She Said (1961), Murder at the Gallop (1963), Murder Most Foul (1964) and Murder Ahoy! (1964). For Hammer Films he appeared in The Secret of Blood Island (1964) and Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). He had the lead in a TV series An Enemy of the State (1965). He also appeared in various episodes of the popular crime series Dangerman during this period. In the late 1960s, he performed various minor voice roles for the Gerry Anderson "Supermarionation" TV series Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, besides appearing in the first series of Catweazle. In 1969 until the end of the play's run, he appeared as Robert Danvers in the long running farce There's a Girl in My Soup at the Comedy Theatre, London. He was the recurring character of motel manager Kevin McArthur in Crossroads in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (Vincent Ball played McArthur in 1970–1973). He had a small role in Nobody Runs Forever (1968) with Rod Taylor.

Tingwell appeared in many other films during his time in Britain, spending a total of 16 years as a "London Aussie". In 1973, he returned to Australia with his wife and children, and shortly after won the role of Inspector Reg Lawson in the long-running TV series Homicide. This was followed by small roles in a number of major Australian films, such as Breaker Morant (1980), Puberty Blues (1981) and All the Rivers Run (1983). He also played the recurring role of farmer Ted Campbell in the soap A Country Practice in the late 1980s and early 1990s and as the Narrator from The Flying Scotsman in Australia

Tingwell's career went through a quiet period during the late 1980s and early 1990s, until he took on the role of 'Gramps' in "Charlie the Wonderdog", a recurring segment on The Late Show, in 1993. His role in The Late Show was later to win him a major role as lawyer Lawrence Hammill in the film The Castle (1997). He later stated that this role helped him to recover from the death of his wife the previous year. After the success of The Castle, Tingwell's career underwent a revival during the late 1990s and early 2000s. This saw him take on small roles in the commercial films The Craic (1999) and The Dish (2000), and in the TV mini-series Changi, as well as the lead role in the romantic drama film Innocence (2000). He would also appear on sketch show Totally Full Frontal, playing himself, as well as a recurring guest role in the soap opera Neighbours from 2000 to 2003, playing Henry O'Rourke. He had previously appeared in the soap in 1993 as Bert Willis. He appeared as John Conroy in the musical theatre production The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, which toured Australian capital cities twice during 2002. In 2004, Tingwell published a memoir, Bud: A Life. In 2006, he launched his own website, which attracted 500 registered users in just over a week. On 5 October that year, he created his first blog post. He continued to act regularly until his death, in a number of films and TV programmes including eight episodes of Bed of Roses that aired in 2010. Among his last appearances, he hosted both Celebrity Circus and 20 to 1 and appeared on a celebrity special of Temptation with his daughter, Virginia.

• Illustration — Tingwell's plaque at the Australian Film Walk of Fame, the Ritz Cinema, Randwick, Sydney Tingwell was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2008, he was inducted into Australian Film Walk of Fame in honour of his career and achievements in film and television. Tingwell was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1999.

Audrey Tingwell died in 1996. Bud Tingwell died in Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, thirteen years later, after a long battle with prostate cancer, on 15 May 2009. He was 86. He was given a state funeral, which was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 20 May.

• Year — Title — Role — Type • 1956 — Studio 57 — Alan Caldwell — Season 3, episode 10: "Mr. Cinderella" • 1957–1962 — Emergency Ward 10 — Dr. Alan Dawson — 331 episodes • 1961 — Theatre 70 — Le Strange — Season 1, episode 20: "The Watchmen of Saul" • 1963 — Crane — Albert Ringwood — Season 1, episode 2: "Bad Company" • ITV Play of the Week — Season 9, episode 8: "Stella" • 1963; 1967 — The Avengers — Mike Venner / Dr. Neville — 2 episodes • 1964 — Beware of the Dog — John Woodley — 6 episodes • 1965 — Danger Man — Kemp — Season 1, episode 17: "The Affair at Castelevara" • ITV Sunday Night Drama — Donald Wedderburn — Episode: "Suspense Hour: Nightmare on Instalments" • Love Story — Professor Bellamy — Season 3, episode 13: "Girl on the Cliff" • An Enemy of the State — Harry Sutton — 6 episodes • 1965–1969 — Out of the Unknown — Mark Blaine / Captain Dantor / Captain Jaffe — 3 episodes • 1966 — The Man in Room 17 — Major David Winton — Season 2, episode 11: "The Standard" • Knock on Any Door — Bill Anderson — Season 2, episode 10: "White Rhino" • Adam Adamant Lives! — Benjamin Kinthley — Season 1, episode 4: "The Sweet Smell of Disaster" • BBC Play of the Month — Johnson — Season 2, episode 1: "Defection! The Case of Colonel Petrov" • Thunderbirds — Various characters (voices) — Season 2, 3 episodes • 1966–1969 — The Troubleshooters — Matthew Baber / Blue Hughes — 2 episodes • 1967 — Uncle Charles — Episode 4: "Bars of the Cage" • Mickey Dunne — Max — Season 1, episode 2: "If Anyone Calls - I'm in the Doghouse" • The Revenue Men — Pringle — Season 2, episode 4: "Who Needs Friends?" • The Gamblers — Walters — Season 1, episode 4: "When the Chips Are Down" • 1967–1968 — Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons — Doctor Fawn / various characters (voices) — 29 episodes • 1968 — A Man of our Times — David Soames — 5 episodes • Z-Cars — Arthur Cranley — Season 6, 2 episodes • Detective — Pederson — Season 2, episode 4: "Lesson in Anatomy" • Sherlock Holmes — Carruthers — Season 2, episode 14: "The Solitary Cyclist" • 1969 — ITV Playhouse — Major George Fitzallan — Season 2, episode 36: "The Marrying Kind" • 1970 — Catweazle — Mr. Bennet — Season 1, 13 episodes • The Wednesday Play — John Mitchell — Season 9, episode 25: "Chariot of Fire" • UFO — Beaver James — Season 1, episode 14: "Mindbender" • 1972 — Father, Dear Father — Mr Welsh — Season 6, episode 1: "The Cardboard Casanova" • The Man from Haven — Bank Manager — Episode 1 • Behind the Legend — Arthur Phillip — Season 1, episode 13: "Arthur Phillip" • 1973 — Division 4 — Detective Sergeant John Smith — Season 5, episode 2: "Big Bad John" • Boney — Jeff Stanton — Season 2, episode 4: "Boney and the Powder Trail" • Certain Women — Duncan — Season 1, episode 1: "Freda" • The Bellcrest Story — Sam Urwin — 5 episodes • 1973–1976 — Homicide — Inspector Reg Lawson — Seasons 10–13, 126 episodes • 1976 — Power Without Glory — Kenneth Murkett — Miniseries, season 1, episode 18: "Rough and Tumble" • Bellbird — Paul Hadfield — Episode 1525 • 1977–1982 — The Sullivans — Dr. Hammond / Doctor / Quiz Host / Voice of Priest — 9 episodes • 1978 — Case for the Defence — George McGee — Episode 2: "The Killing of Toby McGee" • Run From the Morning — Vic Hennessy — 6 episodes • Father, Dear Father in Australia — Dr Baker — Episode 10: "Father Dear Father's Day" • 1978–1980 — Cop Shop — Supt. Keith York / George Connolly / Graham Horner — 5 episodes • 1979 — Skyways — Harold Forbes — 4 episodes • 1980 — Lawson's Mates — Episode 5: "Tommy" • 1983 — The Coral Island — Sir Charles Rover — Miniseries, episode 1 • All the Rivers Run — Uncle Charles — Miniseries, 6 episodes • Carson's Law — Judge Warren / Brigadier Rattigan — 5 episodes • 1985 — The Flying Doctors — Oscar (voice) — Miniseries, episode 3 • Anzacs — Narrator — Miniseries, 1 episode: "The Making of ANZACS" • 1985; 1986 — Prisoner (a.k.a. Prisoner: Cell Block H) — Dr. Massey / Mr. Hudson — 5 episodes • 1986 — The Lancaster Miller Affair — Sam Hayes — Miniseries, 3 episodes • My Brother Tom — Justice Masters — Miniseries, episode 2 • The Fast Lane — Bertie — Season 2, episode 5: "Murder Most Fouled" • 1987 — The Far Country — Dr Morton — Miniseries, 2 episodes • The Harp in the South — Father Cooley — Miniseries, 3 episodes • Poor Man's Orange — Father Cooley — Miniseries, 3 episodes • 1988 — House Rules — Clarrie O'Donnell — Episode 1 • 1989 — The Magistrate — Prologue Narrator — Miniseries, 2 episodes • All the Rivers Run 2 — Uncle Charles — Miniseries, 2 episodes • 1990 — Flair — Bert Clarke — Miniseries, 2 episodes • G.P. — Doug — Season 2, episode 37: "Longing" • 1990–1991 — The Flying Doctors — Hughie Geddes / Felix — 2 episodes • 1991 — Boys from the Bush — Graham — Season 1, episode 8: "Mateship" • Pugwall — Terrence Humble — Season 2, episode 20: "Mr Humble" • Golden Fiddles — Narrator — 2 episodes • 1992 — Acropolis Now — Customer — Season 5, episode 12: "Here Come the Brides: Part One" • 1993 — The Late Show — Gramps in "Charlie the Wonder Dog" & "A Very Charlie Christmas" segments — 7 episodes • A Country Practice — Santa Claus / Edward Seldon — 2 episodes • 1993; 2000; 2003 — Neighbours — Henry O'Rourke / Bert Willis — 17 episodes • 1994 — Mother and Son — The Judge — Season 6, episode 5: "The Lamingtons" • Ocean Girl — Mr Carmody — Season 1, episode 7: "Toxic Waste" • Snowy River: The McGregor Saga — Governor — Season 1, episode 12: "Love Finds a Way" • Wedlocked — Episode 10: "Dating Game" • 1994; 2004 — Blue Heelers — Charles Shaw / Hayes — 2 episodes • 1995 — Home and Away — Dr Gordon — 8 episodes • 1998 — All Saints — Dr Harry Mackay — Season 1, episode 39: "Moment of Truth" • The Violent Earth — Bishop Guiart — Miniseries, 3 episodes • The Silver Brumby — Benni / Narrator (voice) — Animated series, season 3, episode 12: "Getting Together" • 1999 — Totally Full Frontal — Various characters — 13 episodes • Chuck Finn — Old Snowy — Season 1, episode 10: "Finn P.I. & Associates" • 2000 — Round the Twist — Derek — Season 3, episode 10: "The Tears of Innocence" • 2001 — The Secret Life of Us — Cyril — Season 1, episode 14: "Better the Devil You Know" • Changi — Older David Collins — Miniseries, 2 episodes • 2001–2002 — Something in the Air — William Brown — 7 episodes • 2003 — Legacy of the Silver Shadow — Billings — Episode 9: "Teenage Sidekicks" • 2005 — Scooter: Secret Agent — Lawrence Clemments — Episode 22: "Operation: Senior Citizen" • Celebrity Circus — Host • 2005–2009 — 20 to One — Host — 18 episodes • 2010 — Bed of Roses — Sandy Wilsoncroft — 8 episodes

• Year — Title — Role — Station — Ref. • c.1939 — 2CH, Sydney — Cadet Announcer — 2CH, Sydney • 1939 — Billy Bunter of Greyfriars — Bob Cherry — Radio serial • 1947 — Great Expectations — Pip — Lux Radio Theatre radio play • 1948 — Hagen's Circus — David Hagen — Radio serial on 2UE • 1950 — Larry Kent: I Hate Crime — Radio show on 2UE • The Frank Scranton Murder — "Larry Kent: I Hate Crime" radio play on 2UE • They Gave Him a Gun — Radio serial with 2UW • Lady in Distress — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial • 1951 — Hart of the Territory — Gil Hart — Radio serial on 2GB • The Harp in the South — Narrator — Radio serial on 2UW • A Dog's Life — Radio serial on ABC Radio • 1952 — Chips — Radio serial on 2UE • Colgate Palmolive's Strike it Rich — Assistant compère / announcer — Game show on 2UE, 4BK-AK, 3SR & 3DB • Phantom Ranger — Phantom Ranger — Radio serial on 2UW • Night Was Our Friend — Martin — General Motors Hour radio play on 2GB & 4BH • 1952–1955 — The Adventures of Jindawarrabel — Sergeant Bob Keane — Radio serial (later became The Adventures of Smoky Dawson) • 1953 — Cop the Lot — Assistant compère / announcer — Game show on 2UE & 4BK-AK • c.1953–1962 — Kellogg's Wild West Club — Local policeman (regular role) • 1954 — The Dam Busters — Guy Gibson VC — Radio serial • The Great Escape — Radio serial on 2UE & 3DB • Silver Ridge — Bruce Conway — Radio serial on 2FC • Dick Tracy — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial on 2UW • Wings Off the Sea — Radio serial on 2FC-2NA • The Fat Man — Radio serial on 2UW, episodes 1–7 • Gimme the Boats — Radio serial on 4EC • It Remains to Be Seen — General Motors Hour radio play • Western Trail — Wolf Castella — Radio serial on 2GB • 1954–1955 — The Adventures of Ellery Queen — Ellery Queen — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial on 2UE, 4BK-AK and 2KO, 2GZ & 2NZ • Deadline (aka Deadline for Danger) — Radio serial on 3XY, episodes: "The Voice", "Leap in the Dark" • 1955 — Friday the 13th — "Harry Dearth's Playhouse" radio serial on 2GB & 4BH • 1955; 1956 — The Clock — Bud / Howard Williams / Len / John / Joe — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial, episode 9: "The Hunter and the Hunted", episode 10: "The Helping Hand", episode 15: "The Hitchhiker", episode 17: "Time in Reverse", episode 20: "Pretty Cousin Amy" • 1956 — Tension (Suspense) — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial, episode 1: "Remember Me" • Tarzan — Tarzan — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial on 2GB • Blind Justice — Radio serial • Undated — Martin's Corner — Radio serial on 2UW • Undated — Doctor Paul — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial on 2UW • Undated — When a Girl Marries — Radio serial on 2CH & 2KO • Undated — Pick a Box — Assistant compère / announcer — Game show on 2GB • Undated — It Pays to Be Funny — Assistant compère / announcer — Variety show • Undated — Blue Hills — Radio serial on ABC Radio • Undated — Starlight Theatre — Grace Gibson Productions radio serial • Undated — Lux Radio Theatre — Radio show on 2GB, 2UW, 2UE & 2KO • Undated — The Rola Show — Radio show on 2UE • Undated — Caltex Theatre — Radio show on 2GB • Undated — General Motors Hour — Radio show on 2GB • Undated — Harry Dearth's Theatre — Radio show • Undated — Harry Dearth's Playhouse — Radio show on 2UW • Undated — Kool Mint Playhouse — Radio show

• Year — Title — Role — Venue / Co. — Ref. • 1947 — The Little Foxes — Independent Theatre, Sydney • 1950 — La Parisienne • Home of the Brave — Sergeant Mingo • The Madwoman of Chaillot • 1954 — Hit and Run — Phillip St Theatre, Sydney • 1954; 1955 — Top of the Bill • 1955 — Highlights of the Footlights — Theatre Royal Sydney • 1955; 1956 — Simon and Laura — David Prentice — Australia & New Zealand tour with J. C. Williamson's • The Deep Blue Sea • 1963 — Person Unknown — Detective Inspector Ian Conway — Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth • 1964 — See How They Run — Reverend Lionel Toop — UK tour • 1966 — Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — George — Birmingham Repertory Theatre • 1966–1972 — There's a Girl in My Soup — Robert Danvers (replacement) — UK tour • 1967 — Five, Four, Three, Two, One — Jeremy Brown — Golders Green Hippodrome, London • 1967–1968 — Say Who You Are — Bristol Hippodrome • 1968 — Candida — Morrell — Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford • 1971 — The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall — Queeg — Thorndike Theatre, Surrey • 1974 — Doctor in the House — UK tour • 1977 — The Pleasure of His Company — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne with J. C. Williamson • 1979 — Dirty Linen — Withenshaw, M.P. (the Chairman) — Playbox Theatre, Melbourne with Hoopla Theatre Foundation • No Man’s Land — Spooner • 1980 — Comedians — Eddie • A Doll’s House — Dr Rank — Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC • The Matchmaker — Horace Vandergelder • 1981 — Every Good Boy Deserves Favour — Doctor — Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne with Playbox • 1984 — Pack of Lies — Stewart — Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC • 1987 — The Impostor — The Plant / Venerable Comrade Zhang — St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Melbourne with Playbox • 1990 — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Big Daddy — Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC • 1994 — Cosi — Henry — Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC • 1995 — Paradise Lost — St George's Cathedral, Perth • Flame of Freedom – Australia Remembers — Brisbane Entertainment Centre • 1998 — The Herbal Bed — Bishop Parry of Worcester — Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC • 2000 — Travelling North — University of Sydney with Ensemble Theatre • 2000–2004 — The Carer — George Parker — Australian tour • 2002 — The Man From Snowy River Arena Spectacular — John Conroy — Australian tour • 2005 — The Q Story — Q Theatre, Penrith with Railway St Theatre Company • 2006 — An Audience with Charles 'Bud' Tingwell — Himself — Theatre Royal, Hobart • 2007 — Scenes from Collits' Inn — Narrator — Army Drill Hall, Melbourne • Metaphysical — Reader (poetry) — Sixteenth Castlemaine State Festival, Castlemaine Art Museum • 2008 — Follies — Dimitri Weisman — State Theatre, Melbourne with The Production Company

List of singles, with selected chart positions • Year — Title — Peak chart positions — Album • AUS • 1981 — "The Breaker" (with John Williamson) — 100 — True Blue – The Very Best of John Williamson

Bud Tingwell is recorded with the occupation television actor. Recorded with the occupation aircraft pilot. Recorded with the occupation comedian. Recorded as comedian, aircraft pilot, actor and director.

• Year — Title — Role — Venue / Co. — Ref. • 1967 — Five, Four, Three, Two, One — Playwright — Golders Green Hippodrome, London • 1974 — Doctor in the House — Director — Australian tour & Blackpool, UK • The Collector — Director — King's Head Theatre, London • 1980 — Quadraphrenia — Director — Playbox Theatre, Melbourne with Hoopla Theatre Foundation

• Year — Title — Type — Publisher • 2004 — "Bud: A Life" — Memoir — Macmillan Publishers • 2009 — "Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell’s War Stories – The heroes, the battles, the tragedies and triumphs of WW2" — Memoir — Wilkinson Publishing