TURNS

[ VIEW THE REG LIVERMORE PICTURE GALLERY ]

Reg Livermore was stage-struck from the word go. At the age of 13 he started hiring local halls to stage performances of his own pantomimes, his casts made up of coerced neighborhood children and school friends. As the size of the venues increased so did the expenses. The young actor-manager began to appreciate the hit and miss nature of show business.

During his last years at school he worked hard at the drama club and worked nights at the Independent Theatre where he'd been attending acting classes, and in 1957, after a successful audition for well-known Phillip Street Theatre his professional career was underway.

Reg's first job was as understudy in Around The Loop, covering Gordon Chater and Barry Humphries; in the next revue, Cross Section, he shared the stage with Ruth Cracknell, June Salter and John Meillon. During this period he met Hayes Gordon and began acting lessons in earnest, becoming one of the select and privileged founding members of the Ensemble Theatre-in-the-round. Reg appeared in its productions of 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, returning to Sydney for the Independent Theatre's Oh Dad Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad with Lyndall Barbour, and The Importance of Being Earnest at the Old Tote with Sophie Stewart and Ron Haddrick.

During 1964/65 Reg starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz at the Sydney Tivoli, played the lead role in The Knack for the Phillip Theatre management, became the first guest star of the newly formed South Australia Theatre Company and then A Cup of Tea, A Bex and a Good Lie Down another Sydney Phillip Theatre show featuring Gloria Dawn and Ruth Cracknell; after fifteen record-breaking months Reg was invited to compare CrackerJack a children's program for ABC Television. On the strength of his and its success the ABC offered him his own Saturday night Variety show called I'm Alright Now. Next year he took over from Ronnie Fraser in the Mavis Bramston Show.

In 1969 Reg added to his list of musical credits roles in The Mikado and HAIR, the Tribal Love Rock Musical that suddenly and dramatically rocketed his commercial theatrical career. He moved on to Jesus Christ Superstar for Harry M. Miller and in 1974 was rewarded with one his all time great roles: Dr Frank'n'Furter in the original Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 1975 at the request of producer Eric Dare he conceived his first one-man show, Betty Blokk Buster Follies, such was the success of Betty he then wrote and performed Wonder Woman, Sacred Cow, Son of Betty and Firing Squad. His trip to London's West End with Sacred Cow in 1980 created an unexpected sensation: the audience tried to boo him off the stage but he refused to oblige them. The Sydney Daily Telegraph subsequently lamented that his appearance in London had given Australia a bad name.

In 1982 he played the title role in the Broadway Musical Barnum, returning to television in 1989 for Burke's Backyard, concurrently writing and performing Wish You Were Here the first of many shows to play the Clarendon Theatre Restaurant in Katoomba. In 1991 he appeared in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe for Victoria State Opera and directed La Traviata for the same organization at the Ballarat Easter Festival the following year. He was awarded an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship in 1995 and in 1996 made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO).

Reg notched up another nine years on television as a regular presenter for Channel Nine's Our House and appeared on stage in Santa on the Planet of The Apes, Mother Goose, Red Riding Hood The Speed Hump and The Wolf, Home Sweet Home (Leonard's Last Hurrah), and Opera Australia's production of Iolanthe at the Sydney Opera House. Mid 2003 Reg won the lead role of Max Bialystock in the new Brooks Musical The Producers.

The recipient of many awards for his considerable theatrical achievements Reg's long awaited autobiography 'Chapters and Chances' was published through Hardie Grant books in 2003. He has since completed a second volume of biography titled "There Are Things I Haven't Told You"; it remains unpublished. At a special ceremony in Melbourne's Docklands during 2006, Reg was named one of 100 Australian Entertainers of the Century.

More recently he has appeared in Opera Australia's productions of The Pirates of Penzance, and My Fair Lady playing Henry Higgins. His last stage appearance was in 2008 at the Ensemble Theatre, The Thank You Dinner – A Feast to Remember.

For further information visit reglivermore.com or follow Reg on Facebook.