Vincent Martin BallOAM (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian-born retired actor of film, theatre and radio active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain starting in the late 1940s and then his native Australia. Ball, a Royal Air Force military veteran, has also authored a number of books.[2]
In 2003, Ball retired, but briefly returned to television in 2014.[1] He turned 100 in December 2023.[4]
Early life and marriage
Vincent Martin Ball was born in the town of Wee Waa, New South Wales, on 4 December 1923,[5] one of eight children[6] to a father who worked as a linesman on the New South Wales Government Railways. Ball said he wanted to be an actor from an early age, particularly a "cowboy in the movies", as he loved going to the movies as a youngster and seeing Western stars like Tom Mix.[6]
Ball married Sydney actress Doreen Harrop in 1949, she was also his elocution teacher and taught speech therapies. They had three children and reside at Chittaway Point, a suburb on the Central Coast of New South Wales.[5][7]
After the war, he returned to Australia and his old job, To correct his accent, which had by then morphed into part Canadian, part Cockney and part Australian, he took lessons in elocution and became interested in amateur dramatics.
Professional career
Acting profession in Britain
Ball then from Sydney was working as an accountant in 1949, but decided he wanted to enter showbiz, so he set out writing letters asking for auditions. One was to the film studio the Rank Organisation which, impressed with his enthusiasm, told him to come to England and they would give him a screen test for a part in the 1949 British film version of The Blue Lagoon. By the time he got to England, production was under way, but he got a job as stand-in for Donald Houston in an underwater fight with an octopus.[8][9][5] He was then cast as Jack Warner's son in Smiling Irish Eyes, (Talk of a Million).[10]
^"Irish Brogue Did It". The Sun. No. 2468. New South Wales, Australia. 6 August 1950. p. 59. Retrieved 18 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Actor returns". The Canberra Times. Vol. 48, no. 13, 586. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 November 1973. p. 22. Retrieved 18 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
