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Charles 'Bud' Tingwell was one of the greatest stars of Australian Film

and acted in his first motion picture in 1946

he went on to appear in more than 100 Films

 and Television programs in both the United Kingdom and Australia.

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 Bud Tingwell was born in the Sydney suburb of Coogee

the son of William Harvey Tingwell and Enid

as an adolescent his Father  encouraged him to be an accountant

 but Bud failed the entrance exam and fell in love with radio.

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 While still at school he became a cadet at Sydney radio station 2CH

 soon becoming the youngest radio announcer in Australia.

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 In 1941, aged 18 Bud's Radio career was cut short when he volunteered

 for war service overseas with the Royal Australian Air Force

 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan personnel.

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 Commonwealth air forces formed part of a joint training 

and assignment system and consequently

Bud trained as a pilot in Canada during 1942.

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Despite damaging a Harvard training aircraft in the August

of that year he later qualified as a pilot and was commissioned

as a Pilot Officer and posted that December 

to the Mediterranean Theater for operational training

with No. 74 OTU RAF in British Palestine

to fly the famous Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire.

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 He was then posted to active duty on a photo reconnaissance

unit No. 680 Squadron RAF and flew 75 missions

in Mosquitos and Spitfires during the North African Campaign

among the Allied invasion of Sicily.

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Other aircraft that he was qualified to fly included

the Bristol Blenheim Martin Baltimore, Bristol Beaufighter

and Airspeed Oxford.

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  He was promoted to flying Officer in June of 1943

  and flight Lieutenant in December of 1944.

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  Towards the end of the war Bud was transferred

 back to Australia and posted to No. 5

  Operational Training Unit RAAF as a flying instructor

 then too No. 87 Squadron RAAF

  flying photo reconnaissance Mosquitoe planes

over the Dutch East Indies.

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  On demobilization in 1946, he was awarded

  the 1939 - 45 Star, Italy Star and Defense Medals

 and remained a reservist in the Air Force into the 1950's.

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After returning to Australia  

  Bud married his childhood sweetheart Audrey May Wilson

  who died in 1996 and they had two children.

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  He then joined Doris Fitton's Independent Theater group

  and appeared live on stage from the mid-1940's

  in such classics as 'The Little Foxes' by Lillian Hellman

  and Jean Giraudoux's 'The Madwoman of Chaillot'

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  In 1946 Bud was given his very first film role

  as a control tower officer in 'Smithy'

  and several roles over the next few years

  rising in prominence until he caught the attention

 of Hollywood in 1952 and was awarded the part of

  Lt Harry Carstairs in the all time film classic

'The Desert Rats' in which he appeared opposite

Chips Rafferty, James Mason and Richard Burton.

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After the filming of 'The Desert Rats' he remained

in Australia for three years making three further films

which included 'King of the Coral Sea' 

featuring Chips Rafferty. 

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  In 1954 he co-starred with Gordon Chater

  in 'Top of the Bill' the first of the famous live satirical

revues staged at Sydney's Phillip Street Theater in 1956.

​

  Bud moved to Britain the following year

  and began his first recurring Television role as

  Australian surgeon Alan Dawson in the live TV serial

  'Emergency – Ward 10' and it's film spin-off

  'Life in Emergency Ward 10' (1959). 

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  He played the role of Inspector Craddock in all four films

  of the famous 'Miss Marple' series  

  starring Margaret Rutherford.  

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  In the late 1960's Bud performed various voice roles

  for the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation TV series

'Thunderbirds' and in TV series  

  'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'.  

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 He then appeared in the first series of 'Catweazle'

 and was the recurring character of Motel Manager

 Kevin McArthur in 'Crossroads' in the late 1960's to early 70's.

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 Bud appeared in many films during his time in Britain

  spending a total of 16 years on screen

  as a 'London Aussie' abroad.  

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  In 1973 he returned to his beloved Australia

with his wife and children  

  and shortly after won the role of Inspector

  Reg Lawson in the long-running TV series

  and highly successful Crawford production 'Homicide'.

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  This was followed by roles in a number of major

  Australian films such as 'Breaker Morant' (1980)

  'Puberty Blues' (1981)  

 'All the Rivers Run' (1983).  

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 He played the recurring role of farmer Ted Campbell  

  in the soap 'A Country Practice' in the late 1980's  

   and as the Narrator from 'The Flying Scotsman In Australia' 

Bud took on the role of Gramps in 'Charlie the Wonderdog' 

  a recurring TV segment on The Late Show  

  and then played lawyer Lawrence Hammill  

 in the Australian classic film 'The Castle' (1997). 

​

  Bud later stated that this role helped him to recover

  from the death of his wife the previous year.

​

 After the success of 'The Castle' 

  Buds career underwent a revival during the late 1990's

   and early 2000's and take on roles in the commercial films 

 'The Craic' (1999) and 'The Dish' (2000) 

 the TV mini-series 'Changi' as well as the lead role

 in the romantic drama film 'Innocence' (2000).

​

 Bud continued with a recurring role in the soap opera

 'Neighbours' from 2000 to 2003 playing Henry O'Rourke

and had previously appeared in the soap in 1993

as Bert Willis and John Conroy in the musical theater

production of 'The Man from Snowy River' Arena Spectacular

which toured Australian capital cities twice during 2002.

​

 In 2004 Bud published a memoir 'Bud: A Life' 

 and he launched his own website in 2006 

 which attracted 500 registered users in just over a week. 

​

 On the 5th October that year he created his first blog 

 and continued to act regularly in a number of films 

  and TV programs that are still in production 

 among his last appearances he hosted 'Celebrity Circus' 

  and '20 to 1' and appeared on a celebrity special   

  of 'Temptation' with his daughter, Virginia.

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• Smithy (1946) .... Control Tower Officer

• Bitter Springs (1950) .... John King

• Kangaroo (1952) .... Matt

• I Found Joe Barton (1952) .... Al Munch

• The Desert Rats (1953) .... Lieutenant Harry Carstairs

• King of the Coral Sea (1953) .... Peter Merriman

• The Shiralee (1957) .... Jim Muldoon

• Dunkirk (1958) .... Sergeant in Cookhouse

• Life in Emergency Ward 10 (1959) .... Dr. Alan Dawson

• Bobbikins (1959) .... Luke Parker

• Cone of Silence (1960) .... Captain Braddock

• Tarzan the Magnificent (1960) . . .Conway

• Murder, She Said (1961) .... Inspector Craddock

• Murder at the Gallop (1963) .... Inspector Craddock

• Murder Most Foul (1964) .... Inspector Craddock

• Murder Ahoy! (1964) .... Inspector Craddock

• The Secret of Blood Island (1964) .... Major Dryden
  Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) .... Alan Kent

• Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) .... Dr. Tony Grant (voice)

• Nobody Runs Forever (1968) .... Jacko

• Petersen (1974) .... Reverend Petersen

• End Play (1975) .... Dr. Fairburn

• Eliza Fraser (1976) .... Duncan Fraser

• Summerfield (1977) .... Dr. Miller

• Money Movers (1978) .... Jack Henderson

• Breaker Morant (1980) .... Lt. Colonel Denny

• Puberty Blues (1981) .... The Headmaster

• Malcolm (1986) .... Tram Factory Boss

• Windrider (1986) .... Stewart Simpson Senior

• Bushfire Moon (1987)

• Evil Angels (a.k.a. A Cry in the Dark) (1988)

• The Flying Scotsman in Australia (1992) .... Narrator

• The Castle (1997) .... Lawrence Hammill QC

• Amy (1997) .... Country Doctor

• The Craic (1999) .... Farmer

• The Wog Boy (2000) .... Mr. Walker

• Innocence (2000) .... Andreas Borg

• The Dish (2000) .... Reverend Loftus

• Irresistible (2006) .... Sam

• Menzies and Churchill at War (2008)

• Three Blind Mice (2008)

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• Emergency – Ward 10 (1957) .... Dr. Alan Dawson

• The Avengers (1963).... Mike Venner

• An Enemy of the State (1965) .... Harry Sutton

• The Avengers (1967) .... Dr. Neville

• A Man of our Times (1968) .... David Soames

• Catweazle (1970) .... Mr. Bennet

• UFO (1970) .... Beaver James

• Homicide (1973–76) .... Inspector Reg Lawson

• The Sullivans (1976) .... Dr. Hammond

• All the Rivers Run (1983 mini-series) .... Uncle Charles

• All the Rivers Run 2 (1989 mini-series) ... Uncle Charles

• The Late Show (1993) .... Gramps in "Charlie the Wonder Dog"

• Mother and Son (1994) .... The Judge

• The Silver Brumby (1998) .... Benni

• Neighbours (2000, 2003) .... Henry O'Rourke

• Changi (2001) .... David Colins (in old age)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Partial Television Appearances   

The Shaun Miller Foundation

   FOUNDATION PATRON

   partial film appearances  

  Bud was appointed a member of the 'Order of Australia' in 1999

Queen's Birthday Honours inducted into the 'Logie Hall of Fame' in 1994 

inducted into 'Australian Film Walk of Fame' in 2008 

 in honour of his outstanding career and achievements in Film and Television. 

Charles  Bud'  Tingwell

 

Australian Film Icon

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