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John Ewart

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John Ewart
Born
John Reford Ewart

26 February 1928
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died8 March 1994(1994-03-08) (aged 66)
Greenwich, New South Wales Australia
EducationScotch College, Hawthorn
OccupationsActor, entertainer
Years active1932–1994
SpouseJane Fennell
Children4

John Reford Ewart (26 February 1928 – 8 March 1994) was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double nominee (and one/time winner) of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role[1]

Early life

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Ewart was born in Melbourne, Victoria to Alfred Adam Ewart, an insurance agent and his wife Jennie Grace Madge Lois (nee Macauley). He was educated at Scotch College, Hawthorn.[2]

Career

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Ewart's mother was, he claimed, 'a frustrated actress if I ever saw one' and pushed him 'unwilling' into acting (his father had hoped he would become a dentist).[3] He was cast as Dopey at the age four in a 3XY radio production of Snow White. He was first seen on stage, still a child, in Chekhov's The Proposal.[4] At the age of 18, he made his film debut in the lead role of Mickey O'Riordan in Charles Chauvel's production of Sons of Matthew.

Ewart appeared in hundreds of Australian radio, theatre, film and television productions. To many thousands of Australians who grew up in the 1950s and '60s, he will be remembered as 'Jimmy', the boyishly cheeky co-presenter of the ABC Radio Children's Session, and in the title role of its long-running serial The Muddle-Headed Wombat.

In the 1960s he was involved with the Phillip Street Theatre, notably the 1965-66 production A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down.[5] In the 1970s he was frequently seen in sitcoms: he told TV Week in 1976 that 'Whenever they want a short, fat, funny looking bloke they call Ewart.'[6]

He was well known for his role in the film Sunday Too Far Away, his ongoing role in the Australian TV series The Restless Years in 1980–81, and his lead role opposite Nicole Kidman in Bush Christmas. He was proudest of his starring role in the 1977 film The Picture Show Man.

Personal life

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Ewart married four times, firstly to Lorraine Marie Croke, a Sydney beauty consultant, in May 1951.[7] The couple had twins, a son and a daughter, but divorced a few years later. Ewart then married Susan Mary Newton, a classical singer and actress on radio, stage and TV on 17 April 1966, with whom he had two daughters. They divorced in 1978. On 24 December, he married public relations consultant Patricia De Heer.

In 1992 he became engaged to TV presenter Jane Fennell, but they postponed the wedding after the death of her father, Ewart's long time friend Willie Fennell. They were married on 8 March 1994 in a bedside ceremony as Ewart was dying of throat cancer. He died five days after the wedding.[8]

Awards and nominations

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Year Nominated work Award Category Result
1976Let the Balloon GoAACTA Awards Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated
1977The Picture Show ManAACTA Awards Best Actor in a Supporting RoleWon

Filmography

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Film

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Television

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Radio

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References

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  1. ↑ Jennie Lees (2020). "Ewart, John Record (1928-1994)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. ↑ 'Behind the radio scenes' Sydney Daily Mirror 15 November 1949 p. 7
  3. ↑ Howard Dudding, 'The Face is Familiar, But...' TV Week 14 February 1976 p. 25
  4. ↑ 'Radio Personalities: John Ewart' ABC Weekly 10 October 1953 p. 18
  5. ↑ Ruth Cracknell, A Biased Memoir, Viking, Ringwood 1997, p. 129, 136
  6. ↑ Howard Dudding, 'The Face is Familiar, But...' TV Week 14 February 1976 p. 25
  7. ↑ 'Bride Designs Own Gown' Melbourne Sun-News Pictorial 16 May 1951 p. 13
  8. ↑ Harris M. Lentz (1994). Obituaries in the Performing Arts. McFarland. p. 63.
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