Bill Kerr
Encyclopedia
William 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town
, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
He began working as a child actor in depression era Australia, taking his first major role in The Silence of Dean Maitland, one of Australia's first talking films.
After serving in the Second World War, Kerr moved to England to further his acting career, and during the 1940s he was regularly featured in the BBC
radio series Variety Bandbox
. His trademark was his catch phrase "I'm only here for 4 minutes..."
In the 1950s, he had a recurring role as an Australian lodger in the BBC
radio comedy series Hancock's Half Hour
. Initially sharper than Hancock's characterisation, it was developed into a more dim-witted character who became the butt of Hancock's jokes. His television appearances in Britain include a 1968 Doctor Who
story called The Enemy of the World
, with Patrick Troughton
, and a long-running part in the early 1960s BBC-TV soap, Compact.
Bill Kerr had much theatrical success in Britain, playing The Devil in the original West End production of Damn Yankees
, directed by Bob Fosse
, and Cole
. He also worked with Spike Milligan
. He appeared in Milligan and John Antrobus
's stage play The Bed-Sitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre
on 31 January 1963. A subsequent production opened on 3 May 1967 at the Saville Theatre
, and "a cast containing an unusually high proportion of Australian actors including Bill Kerr and David Nettheim." Then in 1972 he co-starred with Anthony Newley in the long-running Newley/Bricusse musical, The Good Old Bad Old Days. In 1975, Kerr took the part of Bluey Notts, described as "an Australian bookie's clerk, a crude racialist", in The Melting Pot. This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan
and Neil Shand, which was cancelled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast.
He also appeared in several British films, including The Dam Busters
and The Wrong Arm of the Law
, before moving back to Australia. Although probably best known as a comic actor, and especially for his appearances in Hancock's Half Hour, he has since played a number of serious roles, notably in Peter Weir
's films Gallipoli
(1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously
(1982). He also worked on the Australian stage in the 1980s, in musicals such as My Fair Lady
, where he received excellent reviews as Alfred Doolittle. Kerr has thrice played real-life Australian military personalities, appearing as bomber pilot Micky Martin
in The Dambusters (1955), as General John Monash
in the TV mini-series Anzacs (1985) and as General Harry Chauvel in the film The Lighthorsemen
(1986). In addition to his serious roles, he also continued to appear in comedies including the film The Coca-Cola Kid
in 1985 and in 2001, he appeared in the Australian comedy Let's Get Skase
.
Kerr also appeared in Glenview High
and the 1998 television comedy series Minty
. In 1980 he played the part of Douglas Kennedy in the soap opera The Young Doctors
.
Kerr has also been involved in documentaries, providing the narration for No Survivor - The Mysterious Loss of HMAS Sydney Nine Network Australia (1995), Malice or Mutiny for the ABC Australia 2003 and Animal X Natural Mystery Unit series for Discovery in the US, TV2 Norway and many others.
On 26 January 2011, Kerr received the 2011 Walk of Honour in Wagga Wagga, which was unveiled on 17 May 2011.
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
He began working as a child actor in depression era Australia, taking his first major role in The Silence of Dean Maitland, one of Australia's first talking films.
After serving in the Second World War, Kerr moved to England to further his acting career, and during the 1940s he was regularly featured in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio series Variety Bandbox
Variety Bandbox
Variety Bandbox was a British radio variety show transmitted by BBC Radio on the Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show helped to launch the careers of a number of leading British performers....
. His trademark was his catch phrase "I'm only here for 4 minutes..."
In the 1950s, he had a recurring role as an Australian lodger in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio comedy series Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
. Initially sharper than Hancock's characterisation, it was developed into a more dim-witted character who became the butt of Hancock's jokes. His television appearances in Britain include a 1968 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story called The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968...
, with Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
, and a long-running part in the early 1960s BBC-TV soap, Compact.
Bill Kerr had much theatrical success in Britain, playing The Devil in the original West End production of Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
, directed by Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
, and Cole
Cole
-Places:Antarctic*Cole Peninsula, a peninsula on the continent of AntarcticaCanada*Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, a community of Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia**Cole Harbour**Cole Harbour , Nova ScotiaEngland*Cole, SomersetPoland...
. He also worked with Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
. He appeared in Milligan and John Antrobus
John Antrobus
John Antrobus is an English playwright and script writer. He has written extensively for stage, screen, TV and radio, including the epic World War II play, Crete and Sergeant Pepper at the Royal Court...
's stage play The Bed-Sitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
on 31 January 1963. A subsequent production opened on 3 May 1967 at the Saville Theatre
Saville Theatre
The Saville Theatre is a former West End theatre at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a music venue during the 1960s, finally being converted to a cinema in 1970.-Theatre years:...
, and "a cast containing an unusually high proportion of Australian actors including Bill Kerr and David Nettheim." Then in 1972 he co-starred with Anthony Newley in the long-running Newley/Bricusse musical, The Good Old Bad Old Days. In 1975, Kerr took the part of Bluey Notts, described as "an Australian bookie's clerk, a crude racialist", in The Melting Pot. This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
and Neil Shand, which was cancelled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast.
He also appeared in several British films, including The Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
and The Wrong Arm of the Law
The Wrong Arm of the Law
The Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier and Bill Kerr...
, before moving back to Australia. Although probably best known as a comic actor, and especially for his appearances in Hancock's Half Hour, he has since played a number of serious roles, notably in Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
's films Gallipoli
Gallipoli (1981 film)
Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the...
(1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously
The Year of Living Dangerously
The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Peter Weir film adapted from the novel The Year of Living Dangerously by the author Christopher Koch. The story is about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno...
(1982). He also worked on the Australian stage in the 1980s, in musicals such as My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, where he received excellent reviews as Alfred Doolittle. Kerr has thrice played real-life Australian military personalities, appearing as bomber pilot Micky Martin
Harold Brownlow Martin
Air Marshal Sir Harold Brownlow Morgan "Micky" Martin, KCB, DSO & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC was an Australian pilot in the Royal Air Force....
in The Dambusters (1955), as General John Monash
John Monash
General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the War and then became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt shortly after the outbreak of the War with whom he took part...
in the TV mini-series Anzacs (1985) and as General Harry Chauvel in the film The Lighthorsemen
The Lighthorsemen (film)
The Lighthorsemen is a 1987 Australian feature film about the men of a World War I light horse unit involved in the 1917 Battle of Beersheeba...
(1986). In addition to his serious roles, he also continued to appear in comedies including the film The Coca-Cola Kid
The Coca-Cola Kid
The Coca Cola Kid is a romantic comedy Australian film, released in 1985. It was directed by Dušan Makavejev and starred Eric Roberts and Greta Scacchi. The film is based on short stories in The Americans, Baby, and The Electrical Experience by Frank Moorhouse, who wrote the screenplay...
in 1985 and in 2001, he appeared in the Australian comedy Let's Get Skase
Let's Get Skase
Let's Get Skase is a 2001 Australian comedy starring Lachy Hulme, Alex Dimitriades, Craig McLachlan and Bill Kerr. It is based on the life of failed Australian businessman Christopher Skase, who after the collapse of his Qintex business, fled to Majorca, Spain. Skase died at around the time of the...
.
Kerr also appeared in Glenview High
Glenview High
Glenview High is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978.-Story:...
and the 1998 television comedy series Minty
Minty (TV series)
Minty is a 1998 Australian / British comedy television series, in which Australian actress Angela Kelly appeared in the dual roles of Minty and Melanie ....
. In 1980 he played the part of Douglas Kennedy in the soap opera The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
.
Kerr has also been involved in documentaries, providing the narration for No Survivor - The Mysterious Loss of HMAS Sydney Nine Network Australia (1995), Malice or Mutiny for the ABC Australia 2003 and Animal X Natural Mystery Unit series for Discovery in the US, TV2 Norway and many others.
On 26 January 2011, Kerr received the 2011 Walk of Honour in Wagga Wagga, which was unveiled on 17 May 2011.
Filmography
- Harmony RowHarmony RowHarmony Row is Jack Bruce's third album, originally released in July 1971.The album takes its title from a tenement street in Glasgow, near where Bruce grew up. The street, since demolished, was famous as the largest unbroken houserow in Europe, stretching for over a mile...
(1933) - The Silence of Dean MaitlandThe Silence of Dean Maitland-Synopsis:The plot concerns a clergyman, Cyril Maitland , living in a small seaside town, who impregnates the beautiful Alma Lee despite being engaged to another woman. When Alma's father Ben finds out about the pregnancy, he attacks Maitland and is killed in a fall...
(1934) - Penny Points to ParadisePenny Points to ParadisePenny Points to Paradise is a 1951 comedy feature film. The film was the feature film debut of the stars of The Goon Show, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers....
(1951) - Appointment in LondonAppointment in LondonAppointment in London is a 1952 war film starring Dirk Bogarde and set during World War II. The film was directed by Philip Leacock from a screenplay by John Wooldridge and Robert Westerby and based on an original story by Wooldridge...
(1952) – Bill Brown - You Know What Sailors Are (1954)
- The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters (film)The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1955) - The Night My Number Came UpThe Night My Number Came UpThe Night My Number Came Up is a film, directed by Les Norman at Ealing Studios. The screenplay was written by R. C. Sherriff based on a real incident in the life of British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard.-Plot summary:...
(1955) - Port of EscapePort of EscapePort of Escape is a 1956 British thriller film starring Googie Withers, John McCallum, Bill Kerr and Joan Hickson. Two American sailors kicked off their ship when it docks in London, go on a killing spree....
(1956) - The Captain's TableThe Captain's TableThe Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee from a novel by Richard Gordon. It starred John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins, Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier and June Jago...
(1959) - A Pair of BriefsA Pair of BriefsA Pair of Briefs is a 1962 British legal comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Mary Peach, Brenda De Banzie and James Robertson Justice...
(1962) - The Wrong Arm of the LawThe Wrong Arm of the LawThe Wrong Arm of the Law is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins, Lionel Jeffries, John Le Mesurier and Bill Kerr...
(1963) - Doctor in DistressDoctor in Distress (film)Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series...
(1963) - Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(TV) (1965) - Doctor in CloverDoctor in CloverDoctor in Clover is a British comedy film released in 1966, starring Leslie Phillips. The film is based on the novel by Richard Gordon.The film was shot in Carnaby Street, Wormwood Scrubs and Pinewood Studios.-Synopsis:...
(1966) - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a 1966 farce musical comedy film, based on the stage musical.Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus – specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria – it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus...
(1966) - GallipoliGallipoli (1981 film)Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the...
(1981) - The Year of Living DangerouslyThe Year of Living DangerouslyThe Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Peter Weir film adapted from the novel The Year of Living Dangerously by the author Christopher Koch. The story is about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno...
(1982) - The Pirate MovieThe Pirate MovieThe Pirate Movie is a 1982 musical and comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. The film is loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. The original music score is composed by Mike Brady and Peter Sullivan...
(1982) - RazorbackRazorback (film)Razorback is a 1984 Australian film, based on Peter Brennan's novel, written by Everett De Roche, and directed by Russell Mulcahy who would later make the first two of the Highlander trilogy...
(1984) - VigilVigil (film)Vigil is a 1984 New Zealand drama film directed by Vincent Ward. It was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.The film was awarded three awards at the 1986 National Mutual GOFTA Awards: Best Cinematography , Best Original Screenplay , and Best Production Design .-Cast:* Penelope Stewart -...
(1984) - The Coca-Cola KidThe Coca-Cola KidThe Coca Cola Kid is a romantic comedy Australian film, released in 1985. It was directed by Dušan Makavejev and starred Eric Roberts and Greta Scacchi. The film is based on short stories in The Americans, Baby, and The Electrical Experience by Frank Moorhouse, who wrote the screenplay...
(1985) - Anzacs (TV mini-series) (1985)
- The Lighthorsemen (1986)
- A Fortunate Life (1986) (TV mini-series)
- Kokoda Crescent (1989)
- No Survivors - The Mysterious Loss of HMAS Sydney (1995) (TV)
- Let's Get SkaseLet's Get SkaseLet's Get Skase is a 2001 Australian comedy starring Lachy Hulme, Alex Dimitriades, Craig McLachlan and Bill Kerr. It is based on the life of failed Australian businessman Christopher Skase, who after the collapse of his Qintex business, fled to Majorca, Spain. Skase died at around the time of the...
(2001) - Changi (2001) (TV mini-series)
- The River Kings (1991) (TV)
- Animal X Natural Mystery Unit (2004–2006) (TV)
- Malice or Mutiny (2003) (TV)