4 posts tagged “aussie pride”
What a great Aussie gentleman Bud was.
I think I first saw him on TV when I was 10 years of age, when he was in "Bellbird"
Bud you will be missed.
Veteran Australian actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell has died aged 86.
His agent Joanne Baker confirmed he died this morning in a Melbourne hospital.
"He had been suffering from prostate cancer," Ms Baker said.
It is understood Tingwell had been battling the disease for the last couple of years.
The Sydney-born star first appeared on the silver screen in 1946 and is best known for his roles in classic Australian films Breaker Morant, The Castle and TV cop show Homicide.
He became a radio actor while still at school, before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941 and serving as a reconnaissance pilot flying Spitfires and Mosquitoes over Nazi-occupied north Africa and southern Europe.
After leaving the service, he entered the film industry and landed his first speaking role in 1945 in the film Smithy, which was about aviator Charles Kingsford Smith.
In 1952, he was invited to Hollywood to work alongside Richard Burton on The Desert Rats.
He went on to have roles in a number of Australian films and TV shows, including All The Rivers Run, Puberty Blues, The Flying Doctors, All Saints and Neighbours.
Most recently, Tingwell had small roles in The Craic, The Dish and the ABC series Changi and Bed Of Roses.
He was awarded the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in 1999 for his services to the performing arts as an actor, director, producer, and to the community.
He is survived by his son Christopher and daughter Virginia - who is an actress.
Tingwell's wife Audrey died in 1996.
'Australian legend'
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has paid tribute to Tingwell as an "Australian legend".
"Bud Tingwell is in every sense an Australian legend," Mr Rudd said.
"From old generations knowing him through Homicide and newer generations knowing him as the battlers' friend from The Castle. He is so much a part of the Australian character as it's been shaped and as it will evolve in the future.
"A great Australian and all Australians are sad to see his passing."
'A delight'
Tom Gleisner from Working Dog Productions, who collaborated with Tingwell on a number of projects, says the actor was a "delight" to work with.
"He would willingly throw himself into anything - from Neighbours to a small and often uncredited role in a film," Gleisner told Jon Faine on ABC Radio 774.
Gleisner said Tingwell was a master of learning his lines and was happy to "jump into" projects, which helped give him his longevity in the industry.
"He had an interesting philosophy. Some actors are very selective about what they do or are cautious about their image, but Bud had the other end of the spectrum. He virtually never said no to anything," he said.
Rob Sitch, who directed Tingwell in films The Castle and The Dish, says the actor's life was defined by a willingness to try new things.
"He said that one of the secrets to life was saying 'yes', because you end up meeting people, you have new experiences - you know, luck seems to follow you," Sitch said.
"I don't know that anyone's kind of lived a life in entertainment that's proved that point better."
Margaret Pomeranz from ABC 1's At The Movies says Tingwell was an exceptional talent.
"To maintain your craft for that length of time and to put yourself out there and be brave in the films that you take on, I mean it's a pretty wonderful life actually," she said.
"He's given us a lot."
Triple J film critic Marc Fennell says Tingwell's contributions to the local entertainment industry ran deep.
"The thing with Bud Tingwell is that everyone knows the big roles that he's done in The Dish and The Castle, but what a lot of people don't know is that he would do tons of Australian short films and student films," Fennell said.
'He foxed me'
Sitch says Tingwell's death has surprised him.
"Because I visited him last week in hospital and he completely foxed me. We were talking about work and what he was going to do - he was in the middle of a production at the time and he said, 'It's such a bother, I just can't wait to get all these tubes off me'," Sitch recalled.
"I walked away thinking, 'Oh we've got Bud back'.
"It's incredible to think that someone that was so ill was being so positive and welcoming."
Fellow actor Jack Thompson, whose parents were friends with Tingwell, says he will be greatly missed.
"It's like a great tree has been felled in the landscape of our culture and, in particular, in the landscape of our film world," he told Sky News.
The number of deaths from the Victorian fires now stands at 209 (updated 20th February 2009). Police now believe that the death toll should not rise much further than this figure
More than 1800 homes have been destroyed.
Sadly a firefighter was killed on Tuesday 17th February when a tree fell on him when he was working near Marysville.
Fires continue to burn as the death toll rises.
For me personally even though I have not lost anyone I have been totally shattered and stunned by the events that have occurred. I am still trying to come to terms with the loss that so many people are experiencing. Also knowing the horror the people would have experienced before they died is just so hard to deal with.
I know I am not alone in feeling the way I do; these feelings are being expressed throughout the country and even internationally.
As the Southern states battle fires, the
Northern state of Queensland has been experiencing enormous floods
and they too have had to deal with their own tragedies.
The state of New South Wales is now also experiencing huge floods.
Seeing so many Aussies coming together to help out has been an inspiration; that is the one shining light amongst all of this horror. It is good to see that the true Aussie spirit is still well and truly alive.
Life is so precious and it is so easily lost.
You can help the victims of the bushfires and floods by:
Donating to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund or phone 1800 811 700
Donating to the Queensland Floods Disaster Relief Appeal
Donating to Wildlife Victoria The animals need
our help too.
Share thoughts and feelings with the victims of the Victorian fire: Condolence book
Accessing victims of the bushfires please call:
Victorian Bushfire Information Line – 1800 240 667
Bushfire Family
Hotline – call and register 1800 727 077
Victorian Road closures - Vicroads
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is warning of potential scams as people prepare to donate to the various bushfire appeals.
It says people's generosity was exploited by scammers during the 2003 Canberra bushfires and the Boxing Day tsunami.
The ACCC says people should use their common-sense and refrain from sending money or giving details to anyone who is not known and trusted.
I agree that the matter of the date our national day of celebration should be discussed and possibly changed. For Australians not to even consider discussing this issue indicates that we still have a long way to go before we can reconcile our nation. What is the harm with having a discussion and listening to the voices of our indigenous Australians.
I had hoped to post this post on Australia Day however my internet obviously had other ideas and so I was unable to post anything for a few days. Then I thought I would let it pass because I had felt that my window of opportunity had passed. However it seems that the subject has literally been ignited after a group of 100 indigenous Australians protested against Australia Day and burnt the national Australian Flag.
I am not a fan of burning national flags, however I wonder if their point would have been taken seriously had they not burnt an Australian flag.The point which was being made was as follows:
About 100 Aborigines from across Tasmania rallied in Launceston's City Park against what they call "Invasion Day".
After the speeches, Adam Thompson stepped from the crowd and burnt the Australian flag with a cigarette lighter, to cheers from the crowd.
Mr Thompson says he would not have been deterred by the threat of prosecution.
"I would have done it anyway because it signifies something, and that's for a bigger cause," he said.
"Australians know what it means to Aboriginal people for them to celebrate Invasion Day and they do it anyway, so there's a blatant disregard there for Aboriginal people. And that made us angry enough to do that. (Source)
For those who are not aware, Australia Day is Australia's national day of celebration of our great country. The date coincides with the date that the British fleet first landed on the shores of Australia in order to establish the British penal colony in Australia. This occurred on the 26th January 1788. The British felt justified in occupying this land because according to the British the land was void of inhabitants. This was a common practice and was not just applicable to the colonisation of Australia by the British.
The occupation of the land was occupied under what is termed "terra nullius".
Sovereignty of a territory could be acquired under the enlarged notion of terra nullius , for the purposes of the municipal law that territory (though inhabited) could be treated as a ‘desert uninhabited' country.' At the time of the establishment of the Colony in Australia, it “consisted of a tract of territory practically unoccupied, without settled inhabitants or settled law”. Their statement to that effect was thereafter seen as authoritatively establishing that the territory of New South Wales had, in 1788, been terra nullius not in the sense of unclaimed by any other European power, but in the sense of unoccupied or uninhabited for the purposes of the law.
However as we are aware there were people occupying the land now called Australia and as is the case in the majority of colonised countries throughout the world, the original inhabitants were not treated well. In my opinion the date we as a nation have picked to celebrate our national day of pride, is not inclusive of our indigenous brothers and sisters and I believe they are justified in seeing the 26th January as a day of invasion and not a day of celebration given the treatment of their people over the past two centuries by 'white' Australia.
In my opinion if we as a nation are truly working toward true reconciliation with our indigenous Australians, then we also need to revise the date we celebrate our day of national pride. It should be a date that is debated on and decided on by all groups of Australians and it needs to be inclusive of all Australians especially those belonging to our indigenous people and a day all Australians can feel proud. To my way of thinking when we are well on the way to true reconciliation, then a day that celebrates that achievement would have more meaning.
There is some good news and this news has made me feel proud.
The Getup! organisers put out a request to its members to list the things they wanted GetUp! to present to parliament as an agenda we would like our government to tackle in the year(s) ahead.
The item which made it to number three on the top 10 list was: Indigenous rights
and living standards.
2008 People's Agenda
In my opinion that is great news, as the people of Australia really do want true reconciliation. The new government is currently is the process of developing a meaningful statement of apology to the Australian Indigenous people, hopefully this apology will bring about effective dialogue in the future years to come.
We have a great country; and let’s make it even better by making a genuine effort to help Indigenous Australians achieve the life they are entitled to. It will take effort from all communities, but I know if we work together it can be achieved.
A fellow VOX blogger, Daddy-Fu has written some very
interesting posts in regards to indigenous Australians and reconciliation and I would like to draw
your attention to them.
The
Hardest Word - Part One: Me
The Hardest Word - Part 2: The Facts
The Hardest Word - Part 3: Compensation
The Hardest Word - Part 4: Australia Day
Australia Day - a minor side note
