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Reg Livermore
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Reg Livermore
Reginald Dawson Livermore AO (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer, designer, director, lyricist and writer and former television presenter.
From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to see pantomimes at the Tivoli Theatre Sydney indicated the sort of productions he enjoyed, and hinted at the direction his career would eventually take. At the age of 13 he started hiring local halls to stage performances of his own pantomimes in aid of local charities, his casts made up of coerced neighbourhood children and school friends. He hired the Mosman Town Hall in 1955 and again in 1956 to stage Snow White, and then Mother Goose. More money was taken at the box office but profits were small. The young actor-manager began to appreciate the hit and miss nature of show business.
During his last years at Knox Grammar School he worked hard at the school's drama club and worked nights at the Independent Theatre where he'd been attending acting classes, and as the opportunities presented themselves appeared in Toad of Toad Hall, The Glass Slipper, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream; he chose to leave school early. More plays for the Independent followed, and in 1957, after a successful audition for well-known Phillip Street Theatre his professional career was underway.
He was initially a student of Doris Fitton's at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney. His first professional job was as understudy at the Phillip Theatre in Around The Loop, covering Gordon Chater and Barry Humphries; in the next revue, Cross Section, he starred with Ruth Cracknell, June Salter and John Meillon. During this period he met Hayes Gordon and began acting lessons in earnest, becoming a founding member of the Ensemble Theatre-in-the-round. Like many actors of that time he was drawn to the bright lights of London and then returned to Australia and the Ensemble Theatre, by then re-located to a boatshed at the edge of Sydney Harbour in Kirribilli.
There followed a period of instruction and practical experience with his teacher, Hayes Gordon. Livermore appeared in Ensemble productions of Orpheus Descending, The Drunkard, The Double Dealer, The Canterville Ghost, The Thracian Horses, Miss Lonely Hearts, The Physicists and The Real Inspector Hound. He moved to Melbourne for a two and a half-year stint with the Union Theatre Repertory Company, performing in the works of Rattigan, Ionesco, Shakespeare, Peter Ustinov, Bram Stoker and Patrick White. He also made his directorial debut in a new production of The Shifting Heart by Australian playwright Richard Beynon and wrote his first musical The Good Ship Walter Raleigh. At the conclusion of this very busy period, he returned to Sydney to re-establish his career. He performed in the Independent Theatre production Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad with Lyndall Barbour, followed up by The Importance of Being Earnest at the Old Tote Theatre Company with Sophie Stewart and Ron Haddrick.
During the 1960s Livermore became nationally known with roles in a number of notable Australian films and television programs. His first known TV role was in the early Australian TV adventure series Whiplash (1961). He featured in several important ABC television drama productions, playing Ariel in The Tempest (1963), and co-starring opposite Tony Ward in The Rape of the Belt (1964). During 1964–65 he had a featured role as the alien Vorussa in the pioneering ABC-TV children's science fiction series The Stranger. Livermore had a prominent role the groundbreaking Commonwealth Film Unit documentary From the Tropics to the Snow (1964) and also featured in the historic ABC-TV production of The Recruiting Officer (1965), notable as the first play ever performed in the newly founded colony of New South Wales, in 1789. He gained his first starring role in TV as the host of the ABC version of the children's comedy series Crackerjack (1966–67), and was a featured cast member for the final season of the satirical sketch series The Mavis Bramston Show (1968).
During 1964/65 Livermore starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz at the Sydney Tivoli, and then played the lead role in The Knack for the Phillip Theatre management. He then became the first guest of the newly formed South Australia Theatre Company performing Andorra by Max Frisch and West of the Black Stump which he wrote with Sandra McKenzie. This was followed by the popular, A Cup Of Tea, A Bex and A Good Lie Down another Sydney Phillip Theatre show featuring Gloria Dawn and Ruth Cracknell. After fifteen months in this show, Livermore was invited to compere a children's program for ABCTV called CrackerJack. On the strength of his success the ABC offered Reg his own Saturday night Variety show called I'm Alright Now. Next year he took over from Ronnie Fraser in the Mavis Bramston Show, and when Mavis finished in 1968 stayed on at Channel 7 to participate in Anything Goes.
In 1969 Livermore added to his musical credits in The Mikado. In 1969 he joined the cast of the original Australian production of the then groundbreaking rock musical Hair. He originally joined as a member of "the Tribe", then became the understudy to Keith Glass who played the role of Berger. When Glass left the production in 1970 Livermore took over as Berger, and Hair rapidly elevated his commercial and theatrical profile.
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Reg Livermore
Reginald Dawson Livermore AO (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer, designer, director, lyricist and writer and former television presenter.
From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to see pantomimes at the Tivoli Theatre Sydney indicated the sort of productions he enjoyed, and hinted at the direction his career would eventually take. At the age of 13 he started hiring local halls to stage performances of his own pantomimes in aid of local charities, his casts made up of coerced neighbourhood children and school friends. He hired the Mosman Town Hall in 1955 and again in 1956 to stage Snow White, and then Mother Goose. More money was taken at the box office but profits were small. The young actor-manager began to appreciate the hit and miss nature of show business.
During his last years at Knox Grammar School he worked hard at the school's drama club and worked nights at the Independent Theatre where he'd been attending acting classes, and as the opportunities presented themselves appeared in Toad of Toad Hall, The Glass Slipper, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream; he chose to leave school early. More plays for the Independent followed, and in 1957, after a successful audition for well-known Phillip Street Theatre his professional career was underway.
He was initially a student of Doris Fitton's at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney. His first professional job was as understudy at the Phillip Theatre in Around The Loop, covering Gordon Chater and Barry Humphries; in the next revue, Cross Section, he starred with Ruth Cracknell, June Salter and John Meillon. During this period he met Hayes Gordon and began acting lessons in earnest, becoming a founding member of the Ensemble Theatre-in-the-round. Like many actors of that time he was drawn to the bright lights of London and then returned to Australia and the Ensemble Theatre, by then re-located to a boatshed at the edge of Sydney Harbour in Kirribilli.
There followed a period of instruction and practical experience with his teacher, Hayes Gordon. Livermore appeared in Ensemble productions of Orpheus Descending, The Drunkard, The Double Dealer, The Canterville Ghost, The Thracian Horses, Miss Lonely Hearts, The Physicists and The Real Inspector Hound. He moved to Melbourne for a two and a half-year stint with the Union Theatre Repertory Company, performing in the works of Rattigan, Ionesco, Shakespeare, Peter Ustinov, Bram Stoker and Patrick White. He also made his directorial debut in a new production of The Shifting Heart by Australian playwright Richard Beynon and wrote his first musical The Good Ship Walter Raleigh. At the conclusion of this very busy period, he returned to Sydney to re-establish his career. He performed in the Independent Theatre production Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad with Lyndall Barbour, followed up by The Importance of Being Earnest at the Old Tote Theatre Company with Sophie Stewart and Ron Haddrick.
During the 1960s Livermore became nationally known with roles in a number of notable Australian films and television programs. His first known TV role was in the early Australian TV adventure series Whiplash (1961). He featured in several important ABC television drama productions, playing Ariel in The Tempest (1963), and co-starring opposite Tony Ward in The Rape of the Belt (1964). During 1964–65 he had a featured role as the alien Vorussa in the pioneering ABC-TV children's science fiction series The Stranger. Livermore had a prominent role the groundbreaking Commonwealth Film Unit documentary From the Tropics to the Snow (1964) and also featured in the historic ABC-TV production of The Recruiting Officer (1965), notable as the first play ever performed in the newly founded colony of New South Wales, in 1789. He gained his first starring role in TV as the host of the ABC version of the children's comedy series Crackerjack (1966–67), and was a featured cast member for the final season of the satirical sketch series The Mavis Bramston Show (1968).
During 1964/65 Livermore starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz at the Sydney Tivoli, and then played the lead role in The Knack for the Phillip Theatre management. He then became the first guest of the newly formed South Australia Theatre Company performing Andorra by Max Frisch and West of the Black Stump which he wrote with Sandra McKenzie. This was followed by the popular, A Cup Of Tea, A Bex and A Good Lie Down another Sydney Phillip Theatre show featuring Gloria Dawn and Ruth Cracknell. After fifteen months in this show, Livermore was invited to compere a children's program for ABCTV called CrackerJack. On the strength of his success the ABC offered Reg his own Saturday night Variety show called I'm Alright Now. Next year he took over from Ronnie Fraser in the Mavis Bramston Show, and when Mavis finished in 1968 stayed on at Channel 7 to participate in Anything Goes.
In 1969 Livermore added to his musical credits in The Mikado. In 1969 he joined the cast of the original Australian production of the then groundbreaking rock musical Hair. He originally joined as a member of "the Tribe", then became the understudy to Keith Glass who played the role of Berger. When Glass left the production in 1970 Livermore took over as Berger, and Hair rapidly elevated his commercial and theatrical profile.