Front Row Dress Circle

I was very saddened today to read of the death of Australian actor Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell at the age of 86.

You cannot just call ‘Bud’ an actor; he was an icon of the Australian film and stage industry. A giant of a talent, a modest man of great humility and generosity.

He was there when the Australian film industry was in it’s infancy and it would be impossible to find any other individual who did more to promote and develop the medium that Australian film-making has become today.

Not only was he a great actor of radio, stage, television and screen Bud was a fighter pilot of great courage during WWII flying 76 missions over North Africa for the British Airforce. In 1946 he returned to Australia and appeared in an uncredited role in the landmark film about Sir Charles Kingsford Smith - ‘Smithy’.

Bud travelled to London where he established himself as an actor and is best remembered for his role as the Inspector in the ‘Miss Marple’ series of films starring opposite the great Margaret Rutherford.

Loved and respected for his warmth and intelligence, he was a fond favourite of film crews and fellow actors and was generous with his time and advice for the younger actors he worked with.

My favourite memories of Bud are of his roles in Homocide, the Australian crime drama series from the early 70’s, and his wonderful portrayal of a retired QC who volunteers to help out Aussie battler Daryl Kerrigan save his home from corporate developers in the 1997 film ‘The Castle’.

Not only does Bud leave a huge gap in the hearts of Australians, he leaves a void in the Australian film and stage industry that will never be filled.

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The very sad news is through that stage and screen legend, Bea Arthur, has died at the age of 86. The husky voiced actress was battling cancer and died at her home in Los Angeles.

Bea was first and foremost an icon of the Broadway stage before coming to television fame relatively late in life - in her fifties. She first appeared as the nemesis of that other icon, Archie Bunker, in All in the Family, before going on to star in her own spin-off series Maude. This show was groundbreaking in that Bea’s character, Maude, had an abortion due to her age. The episode caused great controversy at the time.

Bea had a razor sharp delivery and brilliant comedic timing which was used to great effect when she achieved superstardom in The Golden Girls.

Born Beatrice Frankel in New York on May 13, 1922, Bea began performing in college and appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway roles, winning a Tony Award opposite Angela Lansbury in Mame.
In the early 1970s, she appeared on the groundbreaking television comedy ‘All in the Family’ as Edith Bunker’s fiercely liberal cousin Maude.

Arthur followed Maude with The Golden Girls, an unlikely hit from 1985 to 1992 that featured four female retirees living together. The series was a surprise hit seeing as it focused on four older female characters and highlighted their social lives as well as their sex lives. Central to the popularity of Golden Girls was the comic interplay between Arthur’s character and her mother, played by Estelle Getty - who in real life was a year younger and who also won an Emmy for the show.

Getty died last July at the age of 84.

She is survived by two sons and two grandchildren, and family members have asked that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to two of her favourite causes, the ArtAttack foundation and the animal rights group PETA.

We truly have lost one of the great dramatic and comedic actresses of our time.

Trivia:

* Bea Arthur was a passionate animal rights campaigner and once appeared in an episode of ‘Judge Judy’ where she brought action against a circus animal trainer.

* She was a qualified medical technician

* She was best friends with Angela Lansbury

* She appeared as a special guest presenter at the Australian Logie Awards ceremony in the nineties. She was hosting with Daryl Somers when he informed her that the winners were voted for by the public, not the industry itself. She announced “The fans do the voting…? so this is just a popularity contest!…”

Vale Bea.

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Jade Goody would have loved it. Thousands of people lining the streets of the funeral route from London to Essex, passing by all the places she knew and loved, throwing flowers, applauding, laughing and crying as she passes by on her last journey.

How many of us get to plan our last goodbyes as meticulously as Jade did, and in the face of such pain and heartache…? she is going out in style in the full glare of the media spotlight which both adored her and, at times, villified her.

Many of those people lining the route probably at some stage thought of her with disdain, just as many were proud that a normal girl, just like themselves grabbed at the star that is opportunity and ran with it until illness stopped her in her tracks. Many of those who had no time for Jade when she was alive have changed their opinion of her through seeing her courage when fighting her cancer; for holding above all else her fears and plans for her two young sons, Bobby and Freddy.

Jade was like few celebrities today; approachable, flawed and completely down to earth. She came from nothing, with no education other than that gleened from a tough early life and a burning desire to better herself and succeed. Where many celebrities will try to hide the truth of their less than ideal, less than glamourous roots, Jade embraced hers; she never apologised for who she was or where she came from even though that background influenced the way she spoke and behaved at times. In facing death full on she also drove a very strong message home to women everywhere - your future lies in looking after your health.

The scenes today are incredible; even though one might scoff at comparisons to Princess Diana - and they have been made recently and certainly scoffed at - the evidence is there to see. The masses of flowers on the funeral cars, the crowds, the tears. Where Diana was almost beatified in death, Jade has simply become loved.

Jade no doubt would be loving this send off today - a ‘Jade Goody Production’ as flamboyant, unorthodox and lively as the girl herself. You might say it is a shame she cannot be here to enjoy it…but I reckon she is

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