Last of the Entertainers A star-studded story across sixty-five years of television, stage, screen and in recording

Everyone has an interpretation of what the ‘ all round entertainer’ should be. The term once invoked the image of a singer who could dance a little, tell jokes and hold an audience’ s attention with anecdotes of his life and career. In my world, in order to wear this label successfully, the description of the ‘ all round entertainer’ expands, with the ability to perform not only as an actor in films, television, and on stage, but also to direct, write books and plays, and even pen his own autobiography. The definition of the ‘ all round entertainer’ is a generational conundrum. When I became a ‘ showbiz professional’ in 1956, I found myself part of the end of the age of vaudeville, being lucky enough to learn from those who had been there and done that, and now I am wearing the same shoes as those who paved the way for me. Sadly, most of those contemporaries who shared the same journey have either shuffled off the mortal coil, or are in retirement. Now, with the departure of Ernie Sigley, Jimmy Hannan, Graham Kennedy, Stuart Wagstaff, Don Lane, and Bert Newton I find myself left alone now to carry the torch, hence the title of this book.

Barry Crocker has been an omnipresent part of the Australian entertainment industry for as long as most of us can remember. In a career spanning more than 60 years Barry has done it all as a singer, dancer, actor and comedian. As an actor, he has had a diverse range of dramatic and comedy rolls, including starring in the successful Barry McKenzie films in the early 1970s (earning him the nickname of ‘ Bazza’ for the rest of his life and an enduring place in Australian rhyming slang!) and he is fondly known for singing the theme song for the TV show Neighbours and his many Carols by Candlelight

Foreword 9 Introduction 10 Chapter 1 The Boy and His Box Brownie 13 Chapter 2 The Sinatra Chronicles 38 Chapter 3 Return of the Don and the Sizzling ’ 70s 52 Chapter 4 King of Moomba 56 Chapter 5 The World’ s a Stage – Telethons and Carols 69 Chapter 6 From Banjo to Katy 78 Chapter 7 Feet Back on the Ground 104 Chapter 8 Rediscovering Banjo 126 Chapter 9 Family Affairs 135 Chapter 10 Eureka 151 Chapter 11 Fiddler on the Roof 171 Chapter 12 The Bazza Legend Rolls On 186 Epilogue 217