John McCallum, AO CBE

A public celebration of  the Life of John McCallum AO CBE, will be held at the Theatre Royal in Sydney at 2PM  on the 26th of Feb 2010.

BIOGRAPHY

John Neil McCallum, AO, CBE was an Australian theatre and film actor. He was also a television producer.

John Neil McCallum AO, CBE was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1918, son of theatre owner and entrepreneur John Neil McCallum Sr, who built and ran the 2000 seat Cremorne Theatre on the banks of the Brisbane River for many years. McCallum Jr was born during an opening night comedy performance and a friend sent his father a telegraph, reading Congratulations on two howling successes.

McCallum Sr. had emigrated from Scotland. After his father's early death, John McCallum and his brother were brought up by their mother, who continued to run the small farm that their grandfather had bought at Bald Hills. McCallum Sr became an accomplished musician and was soon involved in the Brisbane entertainment scene. McCallum's childhood memories were full of backstage encounters at the Cremorne Theatre with the variety of performers peopling a multitude of hit shows. His mother was an accomplished amateur actress, born in England. The oldest child in this family of three boys, McCallum and his younger brothers received their primary school education in England. When the Great Depression forced the family to return to Australia, McCallum entered a Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane and "liked it enormously"

His early theatrical training was with Barbara Sisely at the Brisbane Repertory Company. He later did two years at RADA in London under Kenneth Barnes and his sisters Violet and Irene Vanburgh. From there he went into repertory at Tunbridge and Northampton. In 1939 he did a season at Stratford-upon-Avon playing small roles and understudying. From there he moved to similar roles at the Old Vic under Harley Granville-Barker in which he appeared in the historic 1939 production of King Lear which featured Jack Hawkins with Peggy Ashcroft, Fay Compton and Cathleen Nesbitt.

McCallum returned to Australia shortly afterwards in order to join the AIF for the duration of World War II, in which he served in New Guinea. After the war he joined the J. C. Williamson Company for a while, working with Gladys Moncrieff in The Maid of the Mountains. Because there were limited theatrical choices in Australia at the time, McCallum returned to England where he soon went back into to films.

McCallum became a leading man in Australian films of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1948 he married the British actress Googie Withers, with who he appeared in a large number of films. They made their home in Australia. McCallum also wrote, directed and produced numerous films and television series, particularly the international TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (1966-68) which he co-produced with Lee Robinson. McCallum also widely acted on the stage. A particular favourite role was in The Circle by W. Somerset Maugham. In this production he acted alongside Googie Withers in the U.K. as well as in Australia.

At the invitation of Sir Frank Tait of J. C. Williamsons, McCallum became joint managing director. McCallum was keen to encourage the casting of talented Australians in leading roles and was instrumental in beginning the starring careers of Kevin Colson, Jill Perryman, Nancye Hayes, Barbara Angell and others. His contribution to the Australian performing arts is considerable and, in 1971, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Both honours were made for services to drama and theatre.