Obituary: James Elliott

In last Sunday’s TV Week Logie Awards’ tribute to those that have passed away, there was one name that was brought to our attention.

Actor James Elliott, best known as “whingeing Pom” Alf Sutcliffe in 1970s drama Number 96, died in February from Lewy body dementia.  He was 82.

Born in Scotland, Elliott came to Australia in 1949 after receiving a postcard from his older sister who had been visiting.  He’d only intended to stay a short while but Australia became his home permanently.

He pursued an acting career after scoring a non-speaking role as a pirate in the movie Long John Silver in the mid-1950s.  He went on to feature in ABC radio dramas, and in June 1959 appeared in ABC’s television production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet – the first Shakespeare play ever telecast in Australia.

Elliott starred in many early TV dramas including Consider Your Verdict, Stormy Petrel, Whiplash and Homicide.

He starred in the movie Ned Kelly in 1970 but his most famous role came in 1972 when he was cast as English migrant Alf Sutcliffe in the groundbreaking drama Number 96.  Elliott and Elisabeth Kirkby, who played wife Lucy, were with the show until their characters were written out in 1975.  They both returned for the 1000th episode special They Said It Wouldn’t Last in 1976, and again for the show’s all-star curtain call at the end of the final episode in 1977.

After Number 96, Elliott worked in the theatre but also continued to appear in film and television roles, including TV series Chopper Squad, Case For The Defence, Solo One and Bellamy.

He then quit acting and worked for twelve years as a tipstaff to a judge in the Supreme Court, but in 1995 returned to appear in a commercial with son James followed by guest appearances in Home And Away and All Saints.  He also made a brief appearance in the SBS comedy Life Support.

Last year, Elliott was among the cast members of Number 96 to reunite for the occasion of former colleague Johnny Lockwood’s 90th birthday.

James Elliott is survived by his second wife Elaine, their son James, and sons Greg and Doug from his first marriage.

Source: The Age, IMDB

TV Week Logie Awards: 50 years ago

British actor Jimmy Edwards was the special guest of honour at the 3rd annual TV Week Logie Awards presentation, held at Sydney’s Chevron-Hilton Hotel on 18 March 1961. 

The Gold Logie for Australia’s most popular television personality was won by Pick-A-Box host Bob Dyer.  “This is the most exciting night of my life,” he said as he received his award.

Sydney’s ATN7 won two Logies – one for variety show Curtain Call, the predecessor to variety series Revue ‘61 and which introduced English-born Digby Wolfe to Australian audiences, and one for the play Shadow Of A Pale Horse. 

National broadcaster ABC also won two Logies – Stormy Petrel, the story of the mutiny against Captain Bligh when he was Governor of New South Wales, was awarded Best Drama Series, while the broadcaster also won a Logie for its coverage of the Davis Cup tennis which was broadcast via a special link between Sydney and Melbourne.

National awards:
Gold Logie: Bob Dyer (pictured)
Best Variety Program: Curtain Call (ATN7)
Best Comedians: Buster Fiddess, Bobby Limb (both from The Mobil-Limb Show)
Best Singer: Elaine McKenna (In Melbourne Tonight/The Graham Kennedy Show)
Best Australian Drama: Shadow Of A Pale Horse (ATN7)
Best Drama Series: Stormy Petrel (ABC)
Best Sports Broadcast: Davis Cup (ABC)
Best Actor: Brian James (Stormy Petrel)

State-based awards (Most Popular Male Personality, Most Popular Female Personality, Most Popular Program):
NSW: Digby Wolfe (ATN7), Tanya Halesworth (ABN2), The Bobby Limb Show (TCN9)
VIC: Graham Kennedy (GTV9), Panda Lisner (GTV9), In Melbourne Tonight (GTV9)
QLD: Brian Tait (BTQ7), Nancy Knudsen (BTQ7), The Late Show (BTQ7)
SA: Ian Fairweather (NWS9), Maree Tomasetti (ADS7), Adelaide Tonight (NWS9)

The presentation was telecast live to Sydney viewers in a half-hour broadcast on ABN2, while ABC stations in other states presented a delayed broadcast the following week.

Pictured (left to right): Lionel Williams (Adelaide Tonight), Ian Fairweather, Maree Tomasetti, Elaine McKenna, Bernard Kerr (sports director, ABC), Bob Dyer, Graham Kennedy, Bobby Limb, Panda Lisner, Tanya Halesworth, Nancy Knudsen, Rod Kinnear (program manager, GTV9), Brian Tait, Wilson Irving (program manager, BTQ7)

Source: TV Week, 23 March 1961.  TV Week, 30 March 1961.

Brian James

Of the names remembered in our last post of 2009 there was one name that has only now come to our attention – actor Brian James, who passed away late last year at the age of 91.

A former schoolteacher, James served in the Navy for six years before making his professional acting debut in the production of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, at the Princess Theatre, in 1948.  After touring Australia with the production he went to London, studying drama and also appearing at the West End in the naval comedy Seagulls Over Sorrento – a production that he would also appear in on stage upon his return to Australia.

By the late-1950s, James had made the transition to television, with the lead role in the GTV9 series Emergency, followed by HSV7’s live-to-air performance of Seagulls Over Sorrento, reprising his former stage role.

In the early ‘60s, James had scored the lead role of Captain Bligh in the ABC historical series Stormy Petrel, a role which won him a TV Week Logie for best actor in 1961.  He then appeared in the courtroom drama Consider Your Verdict and played the title role in the Seven Network’s Jonah.

On 1 August 1964, he appeared (pictured) in the TV special This Is It!, commemorating the official opening of Melbourne’s third commercial television channel, ATV0, from studios based in the suburb of Nunawading. 

With roles in dozens of stage productions and in TV series including Bellbird, Motel, Solo One and Young Ramsay, James continued to be a familiar name on both stage and television throughout the 1970s, ending the decade as the bumbling airport administration officer George Tippett in the Seven Network’s Skyways – a role that scored him a Penguin Award.

During the ‘80s he reprised the role of George Tippett in Holiday Island, guest starred in Carson’s Law, appeared as prison warden Stan Dobson in Prisoner and swept neighbourhood gossip Nell Mangel (Vivean Gray) off her feet in Neighbours – all productions based in the same Nunawading studios where he appeared on opening night of ATV0 in 1964.

His last credited TV role was in the ABC series Something In The Air.

Brian James is survived by his niece Julie and nephews Phillip, Michael and Brian.  His cousin Gerald Mayhead had written a tribute to Brian James for The Age, including his extensive stage and film career.

Source: The Age, IMDB, Australian Television Information Archive