Bill Kerr
Bill Kerr
Biography
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. He began working as a child actor in depression era Australia, taking his first major role in The Silence of Dean Maitland, one of Australia's first talking films. After serving in the Second World War, Kerr moved to England to further his acting career, and during the 1940s he was regularly featured in the BBC radio series Variety Bandbox. His trademark was his catch phrase "I'm only here for 4 minutes..." In the 1950s, he had a recurring role as an Australian lodger in the BBC radio comedy series Hancock's Half Hour. Initially sharper than Hancock's characterisation, it was developed into a more dim-witted character who became the butt of Hancock's jokes. His television appearances in Britain include a 1968 Doctor Who story called The Enemy of the World, with Patrick Troughton, and a long running part in the early 1960s BBC-TV soap, Compact. Bill Kerr had much theatrical success in Britain, playing The Devil in the original West End production of Damn Yankees, directed by Bob Fosse, and Cole. He also worked with Spike Milligan. He appeared in Milligan and John Antrobus's stage play The Bed-Sitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963. A subsequent production opened on 3 May 1967 at the Saville Theatre, and "a cast containing an unusually high proportion of Australian actors including Bill Kerr and David Nettheim." Then in 1972 he co-starred with Anthony Newley in the long running Newley/Bricusse musical, The Good Old Bad Old Days. In 1975, Kerr took the part of Bluey Notts, described as "an Australian bookie's clerk, a crude racialist", in The Melting Pot. This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand, which was cancelled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast. He also appeared in several British films, including The Dam Busters and The Wrong Arm of the Law, before moving back to Australia. Although probably best known as a comic actor, and especially for his appearances in Hancock's Half Hour, he has since played a number of serious roles, notably in Peter Weir's films Gallipoli (1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). He also worked on the Australian stage in the 1980s, in musicals such as My Fair Lady, where he received excellent reviews as Alfred Doolittle. In 2001, he appeared in the Australian comedy Let's Get Skase. Kerr also appeared in Glenview High and the 1998 television comedy series Minty. Kerr has also been involved in documentaries, providing the narration for No Survivor - The Mysterious Loss of HMAS Sydney Nine Network Australia (1995), Malice or Mutiny for the ABC Australia 2003 and Animal X Natural Mystery Unit series for Discovery in the US, TV2 Norway and many others. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Kerr, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
63
Gender
Male
Birthday
1922-06-10 (102 years old)
Place of Birth
Cape Town, South Africa
Acting

2003

Peter Pan as Fairy Guide

2001

Changi as Older Eddie

2001

Let's Get Skase as Mitchell Vendieks

1997

Animal X as Not available

1993

Ship to Shore as Not available

1993

Snowy as Stuart McLachlan

1992

Over the Hill as Maurice

1991

The River Kings as Captain Elijah

1991

Sweet Talker as 'Uncle' Cec

1989

Kokoda Crescent as Russ

1988

Mortuary Academy as Brody

1987

The Lighthorsemen as Gen. Sir Harry Chauvel

1987

Bushfire Moon as Trevor Watson

1987

Rob Roy as Not available

1987

Running from the Guns as Not available

1986

Double Sculls as Curly

1986

A Fortunate Life as Narrator (voice)

1986

Platypus Cove as Mr. Anderson

1985

The Coca-Cola Kid as T. George McDowell

1985

Anzacs as General Monash

1984

Razorback as Jake Cullen

1984

The Settlement as Kearney

1984

Vigil as Birdie

1983

Return to Eden as Not available

1983

Dusty as Tom Lincoln

1983

Great Expectations as (Voice)

1982

Deadline as Willliam Ashby

1982

The Year of Living Dangerously as Colonel Henderson

1982

The Pirate Movie as Major General

1981

Gallipoli as Jack

1981

Save the Lady as MacDuff

1978

Father, Dear Father as Customs Man

1977

Glenview High as Not available

1976

House of Mortal Sin as Mr. Davey

1976

House of Mortal Sin as Mrs. Davey

1975

Girls Come First as Hugh Jampton

1973

Ghost in the Noonday Sun as Giacomo

1966

Doctor in Clover as Digger

1963

Doctor Who as Giles Kent

1963

The Wrong Arm of the Law as Jack Coombes

1963

Doctor in Distress as Australian Sailor

1962

Compact as Not available

1962

A Pair of Briefs as Victor - Club Owner

1962

A Pair of Briefs as Victor

1960

Citizen James as Not available

1959

No Hiding Place as Not available

1959

Garry Halliday as Not available

1959

The Captain's Table as Bill Coke

1957

The Shiralee as Shopkeeper (uncredited)

1956

Hancock's Half Hour as Not available

1956

Port of Escape as Dinty Missouri

1955

The Dam Busters as Flight Lieutenant H. B. Martin, D.S.O., D.F.C., A.F.C.

1953

Appointment in London as Bill Brown

1952

My Death Is a Mockery as Hansen

1951

Penny Points to Paradise as Digger Graves

1933

Harmony Row as Leonard