Robin Ordell

{{Infobox person

| name = Robin Ordell

| image = PopOrdell1945.png

| caption = Ordell in military uniform

| nickname = Pop

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|06|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|02|03|1920|06|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Europe

| occupation = Actor

}}

Robin "Pop" Ordell {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|DFC}} (16 June 1920 – 3 February 1945) was an Australian actor and radio announcer. He acted as a child in his father Tal's film The Kid Stakes, later working with the radio station 2GB as a teenager and adult. He was killed in the Second World War.

Biography

=Early life and acting career=

Ordell was born in Sydney on 16 June 1920 to nurse Ethel Phillips and actor Tal Ordell.{{Cite news |date=1945-02-19 |title=Radio Star Airman Reported Missing |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/185747855 |work=The West Wyalong Advocate |pages=2}}{{Cite web |title=World War Two Service |url=https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=1059278&c=WW2#R |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Department of Veterans' Affairs}} Tal had acted for around two decades before his son's birth.{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|title=Talone (Tal) Ordell (1880–1948)|last=Rutledge|first=Martha|year=1988|volume=11|access-date=2024-02-27}}

In January 1927, aged six, Ordell was cast in his father's film The Kid Stakes as the main character, Fatty Finn.{{Cite news |date=1927-01-31 |title=Moving Pictures. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55265055 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Morning Bulletin}} The Sunday Times described him as a "wistful looking youngster, with a direct heart appeal, and an uncanny instinct for his work. His sense of comedy and face play of varying emotions are delightful."{{Cite news |date=1927-06-19 |title="Kid Stakes" at the Haymarket is a Winner |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128510686 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Sunday Times}}

In the mid-1930s, Ordell began acting in radio plays for 2GB. He appeared as Peter Heywood in The Mutiny of the Bounty (1934) and as the boy in Murder at 2FC (1935).{{Cite news |date=1934-04-28 |title=To-night's Broadcast |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94530041 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Northern Star}}{{Cite news |date=1935-09-26 |title=Notes and News from the Studios |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27512130 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Queenslander}} He appeared in other serials throughout the late 1930s like Raising a Family.{{Cite news |date=1936-10-29 |title="Raising a Family." |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104685138 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate}}

=Radio announcing career=

After graduating from Sydney Grammar School in 1937, Ordell joined 2GB as a junior radio announcer.{{Cite news |date=1939-05-13 |title="Veteran" of radio is not yet 18! |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51763096 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Australian Women's Weekly}} In 1939,{{efn|A May 1939 article from The Australian Women's Weekly says that Ordell assumed the position "a few weeks ago", while The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers' Advocate wrote in June 1940 that Ordell had become a full-time radio announcer "nearly 18 months ago", indicating a date of around January 1939.{{Cite news |date=1940-06-26 |title=Notes & News of 2GB |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106211323 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate}}}} when Dick Fair was transferred from the early morning radio session (between 6:00 and 8:45{{nbsp}}a.m.) to the evening programme, Ordell filled his place, becoming the youngest radio announcer in Australia at the time.

In June 1940, Ordell created The Youth Show, a programme on 2GB focusing on radio stars below the age of 21. It was broadcast throughout Australia.{{Cite news |date=1940-06-22 |title=Young stars make bid for radio fame |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46468219 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Australian Women's Weekly}}

=Military service=

In late 1941, Ordell underwent medical examinations and was accepted by the Royal Australian Air Force to serve as an airman in the Second World War.{{Cite news |date=1941-11-05 |title=Robin Ordell Joins Up |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107293031 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate}} The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers' Advocate explained that "always a flying fanatic, Robin has realised his boyhood ambitions, and holds high hopes of becoming a fighter pilot." On 25 April 1942, he enlisted in Woolloomooloo; Jack Davey replaced him as morning announcer on 2GB.{{Cite news |date=1942-05-09 |title=Robin Ordell now in the R.A.A.F. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46232185 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Australian Women's Weekly}} During his service, Ordell trained as a pilot in Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme and performed for other servicemen during posting in London.{{Cite news |date=1943-07-03 |title=Adventurous Son of Actor |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article272080791 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Daily Mirror}}{{Cite news |date=1943-12-15 |title=Sydney Star in B.B.C. Feature |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231602093 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=Sun}}{{Cite web |title=London, England. 1943-12-24. Flight Sergeant Robin Ordell, who was a well known broadcaster in ... |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C278254 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Australian War Memorial}}{{Cite web |title=The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (422251) Flight Lieutenant Robin Ordell, No. 100 Squadron, RAF, Second World War. |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2133871 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Australian War Memorial |language=en}} He was assigned to No. 100 Squadron RAF, serving as an Avro Lancaster bomber pilot.

On 3 February 1945, Ordell, a flight lieutenant, engaged in a bombing raid against industrial plants in Germany's Ruhr region. During the raid, he and five other crew members were killed in action when their plane was shot down.{{CWGC|id=2081038|name=Robin Ordell|access-date=2024-02-27}} The only survivor, tail gunner J. Harper, was wounded and taken prisoner. Initially reported missing in action, Ordell's body was recovered and buried in Venraij before being interred in Mierlo War Cemetery after the war. In April 1946, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for "displaying the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty."{{London Gazette |issue = 37523 |date = 1946-04-02 |page = 1738 |supp = y}}

Notes

References

Category:1920 births

Category:1945 deaths

Category:Male actors from Sydney

Category:20th-century Australian male actors

Category:Australian male film actors

Category:Australian male radio actors

Category:Australian radio personalities

Category:Australian male child actors

Category:People educated at Sydney Grammar School

Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II

Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers

Category:Missing in action of World War II

Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II

Category:Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)