Vincent Ball(I)

With the outbreak of war, Vincent left his job with the Australian General Electric Company and became a pilot with the Australian Air Force in England. He returned to Australia and his old job in 1945 but couldn't settle. He tried amateur dramatics. but his accent was a mixture of Australian, Cockney (due to his stay in London) and Canadian (having mixed with Canadian forces). To correct this, he had elocution lessons, which resulted in him marrying his teacher, Doreen. They had a daughter, Catherine. With his diction corrected, he wrote letters asking for auditions. One of these was to the Rank Organisation who replied, asking him to call and see them if he was in the neighbourhood. He got a job as a stoker on a cargo ship, but the journey took six months instead of the expected six weeks. Undaunted, he presented himself at the Rank offices where he impressed with his enthusiasm. They gave him a job as stand-in for Donald Houston in an underwater fight with an octopus in the film The Blue Lagoon. He then won a scholarship to RADA from where he went into rep, working his way up to juvenile lead in Rain Before Seven, Barnett's Folly and Nitro. He got a few bit parts in films before moving into slightly larger parts in such as A Town Like Alice, Robbery Under Arms,and Danger Within. He moved back to Australia in the 70's, appearing in various TV series and films,such as Breaker Morant, Phar Lap and Muriel's Wedding.