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Owen Weingott
Owen Weingott
Born	Owen Ash Weingott; 21 June 1921; Sydney, Australia
Died	12 October 2002 (aged 81)
Education	Sydney University, Independent Theatre
Occupations	Actor; director; voice over; drama teacher;
Years active	1941-2001
Organization	Vice President of the Australian Actors Union
Known for	The Private World of Miss Prim; Autumn Affair; Home and Away;
Spouse	Peg Weingott
Children	2 children

Owen Ash Weingott (21 June 1921 – 12 October 2002)^[1] was an Australian actor, director and drama teacher. Although primarily working in theatre, he appeared on radio and television in serials and made for television films and voice overs. Weingott was vice-president of the Australian actors union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. He appeared in the very first Australian soap opera Autumn Affair, opposite Muriel Steinbeck, and is well known for his role as Mr. Walter Bertram, a demented school principal in the first season of Home and Away^[1]^[2]

Early life

Weingott was born in Sydney in 1921 and when he was 15 he began studying and performing with the Independent Theatre, then in King St., Sydney, under producer Doris Fitton, later at the Savoy Theatre in Bligh Street: 1066 and All That,^{[citation needed]} Six Characters in Search of an Author,^{[citation needed]} and Judgement Day.^{[citation needed]} He learnt to fence from Frank Stuart at the Sydney Swords Club. He was given a role in the Insect Play at the Independent in 1941.

In 1939 he left Sydney Boys High School and studied economics at Sydney University until joining the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In 1945, after his war service, having graduated as Sergeant, he studied Physical Education and returned to the Independent Theatre, now at North Sydney, performing as Young Siward in Macbeth. Stuart, who had choreographed the duel in Macbeth, advised Fitton to cast Weingott in future when duels where required. The next year, 1946, Fitton produced Hamlet and cast Weingott as Laertes (who duels with Hamlet), a role he played five more times, one being a live broadcast from the ABC-TV studios at Gore Hill.

Career; theatre and radio

On Stuart's suggestion Weingott studied period duelling and became a professional teacher choreographing 400+ duels. In 1971 he played Sinbad the Sailor in a pantomime directed by Bill Orr.

Weingott's first radio work was in 1945 in The Scarlet Widow , a serial for 2CH. He starred as Papa in Samuel Taylor's The Happy Time.

In 1951 he played Cornwall in John Alden's King Lear at St. James Hall, also choreographing the duels and the eye-gouging scene. In 1952 he joined Alden's national tour of a Shakespearian play season^[3] playing Edgar in King Lear, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antigonus in The Winter's Tale,^[4] and The Prince of Morocco, Tubal and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.

Prior to the Alden tour he had played Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust at the Independent Theatre, and on his return he approached Sydney John Kay for a position in his Mercury Theatre. Again he played Papa in The Happy Time, other plays in which he was involved as a leading actor for the Mercury included As You Like It, Ring Round the Moon, Tovarich, Charley's Aunt, Chekhov's The Proposal and a revue called Happily Ever After. At the Independent he played the lead in two plays by Arthur Miller, as Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge (1959) and as Victor in The Price (1970). He worked with Ray Milland in the play Hostile Witness (1967), John Mills in the film Adam's Woman (1970) and Michael Redgrave in John Mortimer's play A Voyage Round My Father (1973).

Television

A pioneer of Australian television, in October 1958-59 Weingott was one of a sustaining cast of five actors who supported Muriel Steinbeck in Australia's first locally made television serial for ATN Channel 7, Autumn Affair.

He was in ABN 2's television drama Sixty Point Bold, and its first live-to-air production of Hamlet, inevitably as Laertes. He then played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Caliban in The Tempest, all directed by Alan Burke. He also played in many Shakespeare plays for ABC Radio.

In the ABC's The Stranger (Australian TV series), produced from 1964 to 1965, he appeared in nine episodes as Professor Mayer. In 1966, Weingott had a starring role in the television sitcom The Private World of Miss Prim. With many guest roles to his credit, he appeared in such hit series as Number 96 and The Box and appeared as school principal Mr. Walter Bertram in Home and Away, during the first season in 1988.

Further theatre and teaching

In 1957 at the Independent Theatre he played the co-lead with Peter O'Shaughnessy in Brigid Boland's The Prisoner, he was directed by John Alden as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice; he produced Leonard Teale as Macbeth; and he played the Inquisitor in Jean Anouilh's The Lark, directed by Cardamatis.

He was a foundation teacher at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, and through the 1960s he worked as an actor with the Old Tote Theatre in plays which included The Playboy of the Western World, The Cherry Orchard, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and The School Mistress.

In 1974 he was invited to the Mitchell College of Advanced Education, Bathurst, to direct King Lear and to play the lead. In 1976 he returned as a full-time lecturer in Theatre Arts, remaining for ten years. He returned to Sydney in 1986.

He died in 2002, aged 81.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Type
1954	Long John Silver		Feature film
1962	My Three Angels	Henri	TV movie
1969	Silo 15	Captain Thomson	Short film
1970	Adam's Woman		Feature film
1974	Stone	Alder	Feature film
1975	That Lady from Peking	Barona	Feature film
1989	Minnamurra	General Smith	Feature film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Type
1958-59	Autumn Affair	Larry Muir	TV series
1959	Sixty Point Bold		TV play
1959	Hamlet	Hamlet	TV play
1960-61	Whiplash		TV series
1961	The Merchant of Venice	Shylock	TV play
1962	Jonah	Stone Polonski	TV series, episode 1: "No Time for Despair"
1963	The Tempest	Caliban	TV play
1964-65	The Stranger	Professor Mayer	TV series, 8 episodes
1966	The Private World of Miss Prim	Tony Kendall	TV series
1970	Phoenix Five	Platonus	TV series
1972-73	Around the World in Eighty Days	Lord Maze	TV series
	Number 96	Guest role	TV series
	The Box	Guest role	TV series
1988	Home and Away	Mr. Walter Bertram	TV series, Season 1

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Type
	1066 and All That		Independent Theatre
	Six Characters in Search of an Author		Independent Theatre
	Judgement Day		Independent Theatre
1941	Insect Play		Independent Theatre
1945	Macbeth	Young Siward
1946	Hamlet	Laertes
1951	Pantomime	Sinbad the Sailor	Directed by Bill Orr
	The Happy Time	Papa	By Samuel Taylor
1951	King Lear	Cornwall	By John Alden at St. James Hall
	Goethe's Faust	Mephistopheles	Independent Theatre
1952	King Lear	Edgar	John Alden's national tour
1952	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Demetrius	John Alden's national tour
1952	The Winter's Tale	Antigonus	John Alden's national tour
1952	The Merchant of Venice	The Prince of Morocco, Tubal & Bassanio	John Alden's national tour
	The Happy Time	Papa	Mercury Theatre
	As You Like It		Mercury Theatre
	Ring Round the Moon		Mercury Theatre
	Tovarich		Mercury Theatre
	Charley's Aunt		Mercury Theatre
	The Proposal		Mercury Theatre
	Happily Ever After		Mercury Theatre
1957	The Prisoner	Lead role	Independent Theatre
	The Merchant of Venice	Shylock	Directed by John Alden
	The Lark	The Inquisitor	Directed by Cardamatis
1959	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone	Independent Theatre
1960s	The Playboy of the Western World		Old Tote Theatre
1960s	The Cherry Orchard		Old Tote Theatre
1960s	The Caucasian Chalk Circle		Old Tote Theatre
1960s	The Schoolmistress		Old Tote Theatre
1967	Hostile Witness
1970	The Price	Victor Franz	Independent Theatre
1973	A Voyage Round My Father
1974	King Lear	King Lear	Mitchell College of Advanced Education

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Neil McDonald (14 November 2002). "Dashing pioneer always at home on centre stage". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^ Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. pp. 62–64.
^ Melbourne Argus 29 March 1952 critique of Melbourne season
^ Hobart Mercury 22 November 1952 review of The Winter's Tale

(Above is adapted from a published interview by Lyn Murphy & Richard Lane)

National Institute of Dramatic Art Archive, personal papers, photographs, encrypted radio scripts and play texts, costume sketches and painted characteurs;

Australian Film & TV Companion, by Tony Harrison;

The Independent Theatre’s 40th Anniversary booklet;

Interview with Owen Weingott (1999) and personal knowledge.