- Sep 6, 2007
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John McCallum, the creator of iconic Australian television show Skippy, has died, aged 91.
The Australian film and television pioneer acted in numerous films during the 1940s and 50s alongside his wife Googie Withers.
But he was best known for his stage work and for writing, directing and producing Skippy.
McCallum and his wife of 60 years were shining stars of the golden era of movies and showbiz.
They were well-known to everyone who counted, including Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Audrey Hepburn.
McCallum was born in Brisbane in 1918 and began his career in theatre in London.
But he told the ABC's Talking Heads program in 2007 that the war interrupted all of that.
"[It was] absolutely ghastly. I mean, I'd been through all the Blitz in London, but nothing was like this," he said.
"It was a beleaguered city and the Germans wanted to get it back again, so we had V2s, V1s, shells, everything else, the whole time."
Speaking about Skippy, McCallum said Australian producer Lee Robinson was the brains behind the program, coming up with the idea for a TV show based on a boy and a kangaroo.
"It was really his idea. And we worked on that - I wanted to call it Hoppy. He said, no, Skippy," McCallum said.
"Skippy had a better ring to it for the children. And so three or four of us put in $5,000, we made a pilot, took it round the world, sold quite a few countries, including England."
The Australian film and television pioneer acted in numerous films during the 1940s and 50s alongside his wife Googie Withers.
But he was best known for his stage work and for writing, directing and producing Skippy.
McCallum and his wife of 60 years were shining stars of the golden era of movies and showbiz.
They were well-known to everyone who counted, including Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Audrey Hepburn.
McCallum was born in Brisbane in 1918 and began his career in theatre in London.
But he told the ABC's Talking Heads program in 2007 that the war interrupted all of that.
"[It was] absolutely ghastly. I mean, I'd been through all the Blitz in London, but nothing was like this," he said.
"It was a beleaguered city and the Germans wanted to get it back again, so we had V2s, V1s, shells, everything else, the whole time."
Speaking about Skippy, McCallum said Australian producer Lee Robinson was the brains behind the program, coming up with the idea for a TV show based on a boy and a kangaroo.
"It was really his idea. And we worked on that - I wanted to call it Hoppy. He said, no, Skippy," McCallum said.
"Skippy had a better ring to it for the children. And so three or four of us put in $5,000, we made a pilot, took it round the world, sold quite a few countries, including England."
