Bud Tingwell AM
Tingwell inMurder Ahoy! (1964)
Born	Charles William Tingwell (1923-01-03)3 January 1923 Coogee,New South Wales, Australia
Died	15 May 2009(2009-05-15) (aged 86) Melbourne,Victoria, Australia
Education	Sydney Grammar School
Occupation(s)	Actor, radio announcer, pilot
Years active	1941–2008
Spouse	Audrey May Wilson ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 1996)​ [1]
Children	2
Awards	Logie Hall of Fame Inductee (1994) Raymond Longford Award (1998) Australian Film Walk of Fame Inductee (2008)

Charles William TingwellAM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009),^[2][3] known professionally asBud Tingwell orCharles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian actor. One of the veterans ofAustralian film, he acted in his first motion picture in 1946 and went on to appear in more than 100 films and numerous TV programs in both the United Kingdom and Australia.^[4]

Tingwell was born on 3 January 1923 in theSydney suburb ofCoogee, the son of William Harvey Tingwell and Enid (née Green). William volunteered as a surf lifesaver atCoogee Surf Life Saving Club where, in 1922, a colleague noticed Enid's pregnancy and asked, 'What's budding there?', and 'Bud' became the nickname for their infant son.^{[citation needed]} As an adolescent, Bud was encouraged by his father to train as an accountant, but Tingwell failed the entrance exam.^{[citation needed]}

While still at school, he became a cadet at Sydney radio station2CH, soon becoming the youngest radio announcer in Australia.^[2]

In 1941, aged 18, Tingwell volunteered for war service overseas with theRoyal Australian Air Force. Under theBritish Commonwealth Air Training Plan, personnel fromCommonwealth air forces formed part of a joint training and assignment system. Consequently, Tingwell trained as a pilot in Canada during 1942. Despite damaging aHarvard training aircraft in August, he later qualified as a pilot and was commissioned as apilot officer that December. He was posted to theMediterranean Theatre and underwentoperational training with No. 74 Operational Training Unit RAF, inBritish Palestine, and qualified to fly theHawker Hurricane andSupermarine Spitfire.

In January 1944, he was posted toNo. 680 Squadron RAF, aphoto reconnaissance unit, and flew 75sorties inMosquitos and Spitfires during theItalian campaign. Other aircraft that Tingwell was qualified to fly included theBristol Blenheim,Martin Baltimore,Bristol Beaufighter andAirspeed Oxford. He was promoted toflying officer in June 1943 andflight lieutenant in December 1944.

Towards the end of the war, Tingwell was transferred back to Australia. He was posted toNo. 5 Operational Training Unit RAAF as a flying instructor in June 1945, and then in December 1945, after the war had ended, he was posted toNo. 87 Squadron RAAF, flying photo-reconnaissance Mosquitoes, until his demobilisation in March 1946.

Tingwell's war service earned him the1939–45 Star,Italy Star,Defence Medal,War Medal 1939–1945, andAustralia Service Medal 1939–1945.^[6] He remained a reservist into the 1950s.

After returning to Australia, Tingwell married his childhood sweetheart, Audrey May Wilson.^[7] They were to have two children, Christopher and Virginia.^[8]

He joinedDoris Fitton'sIndependent Theatre company and appeared on stage from the mid-1940s in such classics asThe Little Foxes byLillian Hellman^[9] andJean Giraudoux'sThe Madwoman of Chaillot^[10]

In 1946, Tingwell was given his first film role, inSmithy, cast as an RAAF control tower officer – winning the role since he could supply his own RAAF uniform.

Tingwell had an excellent supporting role inBitter Springs (1950), made byEaling Studios withChips Rafferty; Tingwell played Rafferty's bigoted son. He had a similar role inKangaroo (1952), a Hollywood-financed film shot in Australia for20th Century Fox.^[11] He then appeared inI Found Joe Barton (1952), the first TV show filmed in Australia.

Fox liked Tingwell's work inKangaroo and invited him to Los Angeles to play the role of Lt. Harry Carstairs inThe Desert Rats, in which he appeared oppositeChips Rafferty,James Mason andRichard Burton. They offered him a long-term contract but Tingwell turned it down because he wanted to return to Australia.^[5]

Tingwell played the lead inKing of the Coral Sea (1954) alongside Rafferty. In 1954, he co-starred withGordon Chater inTop of the Bill, the first of the famous satirical revues staged at Sydney'sPhillip Street Theatre.

The Australian film and radio industry slumped with the advent of television and Tingwell decided to move to the UK. He used the opportunity of a role in Ealing'sThe Shiralee (1957), which was filmed in Australia and London. Tingwell travelled to England to complete his scenes and decided to stay.

The following year, he took on his first recurring television role, as Australian surgeon Alan Dawson in the live TV serialEmergency Ward 10 and its film spin-offLife in Emergency Ward 10 (1959).

He had small roles in Ealing'sDunkirk (1958), thenBobbikins (1959),Cone of Silence (1960), andTarzan the Magnificent (1960).

Tingwell played the role of Inspector Craddock in all four films of theMiss Marple series, starringMargaret Rutherford, from 1961 to 1964:Murder, She Said (1961),Murder at the Gallop (1963),Murder Most Foul (1964) andMurder Ahoy! (1964). ForHammer Films he appeared inThe Secret of Blood Island (1964) andDracula: Prince of Darkness (1966).

He had the lead in a TV seriesAn Enemy of the State (1965).

In the late 1960s, he performed various minor voice roles for theGerry Anderson "Supermarionation" TV seriesThunderbirds andCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, besides appearing in the first series ofCatweazle.

In 1969 until the end of the play's run, he appeared asRobert Danvers in the long running farceThere's a Girl in My Soup at the Comedy Theatre, London.

He was the recurring character of motel manager Kevin McArthur inCrossroads in the late 1960s and early 1970s.^{[citation needed]} (Vincent Ball played McArthur in 1970–1973). He had a small role inNobody Runs Forever (1968) withRod Taylor.

Tingwell appeared in many other films during his time in Britain, spending a total of 16 years as a "LondonAussie".^[12] In 1973, he returned to Australia with his wife and children, and shortly after won the role of Inspector Reg Lawson in the long-running TV seriesHomicide. This was followed by small roles in a number of major Australian films, such asBreaker Morant (1980),Puberty Blues (1981) andAll the Rivers Run (1983). He also played the recurring role of farmer Ted Campbell in the soapA Country Practice in the late 1980s and early 1990s and as the Narrator fromThe Flying Scotsman in Australia

Tingwell's career went through a quiet period during the late 1980s and early 1990s, until he took on the role of 'Gramps' in "Charlie the Wonderdog", a recurring segment onThe Late Show, in 1993. His role inThe Late Show was later to win him a major role as lawyer Lawrence Hammill in the filmThe Castle (1997). He later stated that this role helped him to recover from the death of his wife the previous year.

After the success ofThe Castle, Tingwell's career underwent a revival during the late 1990s and early 2000s. This saw him take on small roles in the commercial filmsThe Craic (1999) andThe Dish (2000), and in the TV mini-seriesChangi, as well as the lead role in the romantic drama filmInnocence (2000). He would also appear on sketch showTotally Full Frontal, playing himself, as well as a recurring guest role in the soap operaNeighbours from 2000 to 2003, playingHenry O'Rourke. He had previously appeared in the soap in 1993 asBert Willis.^[13] He appeared as John Conroy in the musical theatre productionThe Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, which toured Australian capital cities twice during 2002.

In 2004, Tingwell published a memoir,Bud: A Life. In 2006, he launched his own website, which attracted 500 registered users in just over a week. On 5 October that year, he created his first blog. He continued to act regularly until his death, in a number of films and TV programmes including eight episodes ofBed of Roses that aired in 2010. Among his last appearances, he hosted bothCelebrity Circus and20 to 1 and appeared on a celebrity special ofTemptation with his daughter, Virginia.

Tingwell was inducted into theLogie Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2008, he was inducted intoAustralian Film Walk of Fame in honour of his career and achievements in film and television.^[14]

Tingwell was appointed aMember of the Order of Australia in theQueen's Birthday Honours of June 1999.^[15]

Audrey Tingwell died in 1996.^[7] Bud Tingwell died inEpworth Hospital in Melbourne, thirteen years later, after a long battle withprostate cancer, on 15 May 2009. He was 86.^[21][22] He was given astate funeral, which was held atSt Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 20 May.^{[3][23][24][25][26][27][28]}

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toCharles "Bud" Tingwell.

• Bud Tingwell atIMDb
• Bud Tingwell at the National Film and Sound Archive
• "Tingwell Takes Off", Royal Australian Air Force News
• Obituary inThe Daily Telegraph
• Obituary inThe Independent

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