Vincent Ball
{{Short description|Australian actor (born 1923)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2016}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vincent Ball
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|OAM}}
| image =
| caption = Ball in 1980
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1923|12|04}}
| birth_place = Wee Waa, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| education = Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|writer|soldier}}
| years_active = 1949–2003; 2015
| known_for = {{ubl|A Town Like Alice|Breaker Morant|Phar Lap|Muriel's Wedding}}
| notable_works = {{ubl|Crossroads (UK TV series)|Against the Wind (miniseries)|Rush (miniseries)|Anzacs|A Country Practice (TV series) recurring Ted Campbell|Home and Away (TV series) as Tom Knight}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Doreen Harrop|1949}}
| website =
| module = {{infobox military personnel|embed=yes
| allegiance = {{AUS|flagicon}}
| branch = Royal Australian Air Force
| serviceyears = 1942–1945
| rank = Flying Officer
| battles = Second World War
}}
}}
Vincent Martin Ball, {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100|OAM}} (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired actor of film, theatre and radio active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain starting in the late 1940s and then his native Australia. Ball, a Royal Air Force military veteran, has also authored a number of books.{{cite web|url=https://www.bookdepository.com/author/Vincent-Ball|title=Vincent Ball |website=bookdepository.com |access-date=2021-04-22}}
Ball is best known for film roles in British and Australian films and television films, including A Town Like Alice, Breaker Morant, Phar Lap, Muriel's Wedding and The Man Who Sued God.
Ball appeared in numerous television roles, primarily in cameo guest roles, but had recurring roles in serials including the British serial Crossroads, Rush, The Young Doctors, A Country Practice and Home and Away.
Ball cited film stars Virginia McKenna and Chips Rafferty and Australian actor Ray Meagher as among his co-stars and friends in the entertainment industry.
Ball also worked variously in theatre, including Shakespeare, with productions of Henry IV, Part 1 and Romeo and Juliet and a musical based on Charles Dickens famous novel Great Expectations.{{cite web|url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/226913|title=Vincent Ball}}
In 2003, Ball retired, but briefly returned to television in 2014. He turned 100 in December 2023.{{cite web|url=https://crossroadsmotel.co.uk/fanclub/2023/12/04/vincent-ball-joins-the-motel-100-club/|title=Vincent Ball joins the "Motel" 100 club"|date=8 May 2024 }}
Early life and marriage
Vincent Martin Ball was born in the town of Wee Waa, New South Wales, on 4 December 1923,{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52260773|title=Vince, Keep Your Face Away From The Camera|newspaper=Australian Women's Weekly |date=7 November 1973 |access-date=15 September 2019}} one of eight children to a father who worked as a linesman on the New South Wales Government Railways. Ball said he wanted to be an actor from an early age, particularly a "cowboy in the movies", as he loved going to the movies as a youngster and seeing Western stars like Tom Mix.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52260773 |title="Vince, Keep Your Face Away From the Camera" |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=41 |issue=23 |location=Australia |date=7 November 1973 |access-date=18 August 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Ball married Sydney actress Doreen Harrop in 1949, she was also his elocution teacher and taught speech therapies. They had three children and reside at Chittaway Point, a suburb on the Central Coast of New South Wales.{{cite web|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-artice28665180|title=Australians Abroad Spanish Journeys For Many Sydney Travellers|newspaper=The Sunday Herald|location=Sydney, Australia|date=6 November 1949|via=National Library of Australia}}
Military service
Ball left his job with the Australian division of the now defunct British firm General Electric Company after the Second World War broke out and, after military training in Canada, became a wireless air gunner with the Royal Australian Air Force, serving in Britain.
After the war, he returned to Australia and his old job. To correct his accent, which had by then morphed into part Canadian, part Cockney and part Australian, he took lessons in elocution and became interested in amateur dramatics.
Professional career
=Acting profession in Britain=
Ball then from Sydney was working as an accountant in 1949, but decided he wanted to enter showbiz, so he set out writing letters asking for auditions. One was to the film studio the Rank Organisation which, impressed with his enthusiasm, told him to come to England and they would give him a screen test for a part in the 1949 British film version of The Blue Lagoon. By the time he got to England, production was under way, but he got a job as stand-in for Donald Houston in an underwater fight with an octopus.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230931113 |title=Irish Brogue Did It |newspaper=The Sun |issue=2468 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 August 1950 |access-date=18 August 2020 |page=59 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0050482/|title=Vincent Ball|website=IMDb|access-date=2018-02-23}} He was then cast as Jack Warner's son in Smiling Irish Eyes, (Talk of a Million).{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18482956 |title=Harry Lauder's Life |newspaper=The Sunday Herald (Sydney) |issue=84 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 September 1950 |access-date=18 August 2020 |page=4 (Features) |via=National Library of Australia}}
He was working as a bricklayer, when he then won a scholarship to study drama at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/vincent_ball/|title=Vincent Ball|website=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en|access-date=2017-01-04}} Having moved to Stowting, Kent, he appeared in supporting and uncredited film roles in the UK for the next two and a half decades. He was a juvenile lead in the TV films Rain Before Seven, Barnet's Folly and Nitro, before moving into slightly larger parts in films such as A Town Like Alice, Robbery Under Arms, Sea of Sand, and Danger Within.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stores-the-1957-film-version-of-robbery-under-arms/|date=7 March 2025|access-date=7 March 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Wrecking Australian stores: the 1957 film version of Robbery Under Arms|magazine=Filmink}} In 1969, he played Cecil Carpenter in Where Eagles Dare, alongside Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f130e43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921145253/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f130e43|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2016|title=Vincent Ball|website=BFI}}
His television credits in Britain include Gym Teacher, Jenkins, Compact, Man in a Suitcase, The Troubleshooters, Dixon of Dock Green, and a recurring role on the long-running UK soap opera Crossroads''.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=886|title=Vincent Ball|website=aveleyman.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.atvtoday.co.uk/p29176/|title=They were in Crossroads?|date=3 April 2013}}
=Acting career in Australia=
Ball who was then living in Canterbury, Kent, returned to Australia in 1973.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131690918 |title=Actor returns |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=48 |issue=13,586 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=8 November 1973 |access-date=18 August 2020 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}} He was soon very busy acting in films, theatre and television.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47229149 |title=WORK FLOODS IN FOR PRINCE VINCENT |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=48 |issue=17 |location=Australia |date=24 September 1980 |access-date=18 August 2020 |page=21 (Your TV Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}} ,
Ball is best known for his work in Australian films and television series, including film roles in Breaker Morant, Phar Lap and Muriel's Wedding.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/vincent-ball/credits/178380|title=Vincent Ball | TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com}} His credits in Australian television serials include Cop Shop, The Sullivans, The Young Doctors, The Flying Doctors, Grass Roots and All Saints.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/central-coast-actor-vincent-ball-reflects-on-fascinating-movie-career-after-receiving-oam-honour/news-story/9978dff6c5de6f157d45ea7352eb3bdd|title='I might get a job now they know I'm alive'|date=26 January 2016|website=The Daily Telegraph}} His many roles in Australian mini-series or made-for-television films include Against the Wind, and the epic Anzacs.
In 2014, aged 91, he came out of retirement briefly to play a Second World War veteran named Tom Knight, in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, whom series regular Alf Stewart (played by Ray Meagher) meets in hospital. The scenes went to air during April 2015, just before Anzac Day.[http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/alf-not-the-sole-veteran-in-home-and-aways-anzac-storyline/story-e6frfmyi-1227306274695 Alf not the sole veteran in Home and Away
Publications (selected)
{{expand section|date=April 2021}}
| class="wikitable"
! Title ! Year/Release ! Publisher ! ISBN | |||
| Words of Silence | 21 May 2008 | DoctorZed Publishing | {{ISBN|9780646983837}} |
| The Ivory Starr Collection | 12 October 2008 | Xlibris | {{ISBN|9781436358224}} |
| The Cathedral Tree | 06 May 2013 | Equilibrium Books | {{ISBN|9781921456848}} |
| Patrick Downs | 31 July 2013 | Equilibrium Books | {{ISBN|9781921456855}} |
| Regency Rebel | 01 March 2014 | Equilibrium Books (Rockingham, Australia | {{ISBN|9781921456909}} |
| Buck Jones: Where are You | 01 September 2014 | Equilibrium Books | {{ISBN|9780992435806}} (also available audio CD) |
National honours
Ball was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Australia Day Honours.{{cite web|url=http://dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/central-coast-actor-vincent-ball-reflects-on-fasinating-movie-career-after-receiving-oam-honour/news-story/9978dff6c5de6f157d45ea735.html|title=Australia Day 2016: Actor Vincent Ball reflects on fascinating movie career after receiving OAM honour|publisher=Central Coast Express Advocate|first=Terry |last=Collins|date=26 January 2016}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="4"|1949
| Footman | Uncredited |
| Stop Press Girl
| Hero | featuring in "cinema sequence" |
| Poet's Pub
| Stacey | Uncredited |
| The Interrupted Journey
| First Workman | |
| 1950
| Secretary | |
| rowspan="2"|1951
| Jack Murnahan | |
| Encore
| Young Husband | segment : "Winter Cruise" |
| 1952
| Man at Party | Uncredited |
| 1953
| Henley's Assistant | Short film |
| rowspan="5"|1954
| Sergeant Gifford | Short film |
| Imposter's Gold
| Leonard Hughes | TV film |
| Dangerous Voyage
| John Drew | |
| Devil's Point
| Williams | |
| The Black Rider
| Ted Lintott | |
| rowspan="6"|1955
| Barnet's Folly | Richard Barnet | TV film |
| Nitro
| Jeff | TV film |
| John and Julie
| Digger | |
| The Stolen Airliner
| Flight Sergeant Watkins | |
| Stolen Time
| Johnson | |
| The Blue Peter
| Digger | |
| rowspan="6"|1956
| Ben | |
| The Secret of the Forest
| Mr. Lawson | |
| The Long Arm
| P.C. at Hospital | uncredited |
| Reach for the Sky
| Thelma's cousin | uncredited |
| The Baby and the Battleship
| Second Sailor at Dance | uncredited |
| The Battle of the River Plate
| Barnes – HMS Achilles | uncredited |
| rowspan="2"|1957
| Bob Meredith | |
| Robbery Under Arms
| George Storefield | |
| rowspan="2"|1958
| John Pierre | |
| Sea of Sand
| Sergeant Nesbitt | |
| rowspan="2"|1959
| Captain Pat Foster | |
| Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
| |
| rowspan="3"|1960
| Ken | |
| Dead Lucky
| Mike Billings | |
| Dentist in the Chair
| Michaels | |
| rowspan="6"|1961
| David Kyle | |
| Very Important Person
| Higgins | uncredited |
| Nearly a Nasty Accident
| Sergeant at Crybwyth | |
| Highway to Battle
| Ransome | |
| A Matter of WHO
| Dr. Blake | |
| Middle Course
| Cliff Wilton | |
| rowspan="2"|1962
| The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day | Horrie Darcel | TV film |
| Carry On Cruising
| Jenkins | |
| rowspan="2"|1963
| Pilot | |
| Echo of Diana
| Bill Vernon | |
| 1967
| Ship's Officer | |
| rowspan="2"|1968
| Australian Policeman | uncredited |
| Where Eagles Dare
| Carpenter | |
| 1969
| Australian Soldier | |
| rowspan="2"|1971
| Alex | |
| Clinic Exclusive
| Bernard Wilcox | |
| rowspan="2"|1974
| | TV film |
| Lindsay's Boy
| Jim Lindsay | TV film |
| 1975
| Games for Parents and Other Children | | TV film |
| rowspan="2"|1976
| Arena | Bill Scott | TV film |
| Deathcheaters
| Commander Carson | |
| rowspan="2"|1978
| Bailey Clark | |
| Bit Part
| Sherry | TV film |
| 1979
| Ainsley | TV film |
| 1980
| Colonel Hamilton | |
| 1981
| Dr. Jeremy Lyall | |
| rowspan="2"|1982
| Lieutenant Commander Hubert Marsham | |
| ..Deadline..
| Prime Minister | TV film |
| 1983
| Phar Lap | Lachlan McKinnon | |
| rowspan="2"|1986
| Robert Monahan, K.C. | TV film |
| Double Sculls
| Stuart | TV film |
| rowspan="2"|1987
| Headmaster | |
| Hot Ice
| Harry Romano | TV film |
| 1988
| Jonathon Hutt | TV film |
| 1990
| Captain Richie | |
| 1991
| The Private War of Lucinda Smith | Colonel Foster | TV film |
| rowspan="3"|1993
| Cyril Williams | |
| Frauds
| Judge | |
| Butterfly Island
| Sergeant Pat Connolly | TV film |
| rowspan="2"|1994
| Sirens | Bishop of Sydney | |
| Muriel's Wedding
| Priest | |
| 1997
| Mr. Dickson | |
| 2001
| Cardinal | |
| 2002
| Chief Justice Napier | |
| 2003
| The Night We Called It a Day | Rex Hooper | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1952
| rowspan="2"|BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Young Officer | Episode: "Holiday in Berlin" |
| rowspan="2"|1954
| George Grant | Episode: "Rain Before Seven" |
| Douglas Fairbanks Presents
| Harry | Episode: "The Wedding Veil" |
| 1955
| Locke | Episode: "The Voices" |
| 1957
| John Blackmoor | Mini-series |
| 1958
| Trevor | Episode: "The Step-father" |
| 1959
| Jeff Petersen | Episode: "The Revelation" |
| rowspan="3"|1960
| Joplin | Episode: "The Joplin Case" |
| No Man's Island
| Denis Barker | Mini-series |
| ITV Play of the Week
| Mallow | Episode: "The Watching Eye" |
| rowspan="4"|1961
| Jessup | Episode: "An Obituary for a Champion" |
| Theatre 70
| Martin Wade | Episode: "News From Jericho" |
| BBC Sunday-Night Play
| Digger | Episode: "The Hasty Heart" |
| Deadline Midnight
| Keith Durrant | Recurring role |
| rowspan="4"|1963
| Once Aboard the Luggar... | Dennis Barker | Episode: "The Girl Arrives" |
| Ghost Squad
| Father Huggins | Episode: "The Big Time" |
| The Plane Makers
| Nelson | Episode: "The Testing Time" |
| Zero One
| Pilot | Episode: "The Stowaway" |
| 1963–1965
| Compact | David Rome | Series regular |
| rowspan="4"|1966
| | Episode: "Target, David March" |
| The Man in the Mirror
| Austin | 2 episodes |
| The Newcomers
| Mr. Mackie | 3 episodes |
| The Troubleshooters
| Captain Grainger | Episode: "Operation Saigon" |
| 1966–1973
| Kevin McArthur | Series regular |
| 1967
| rowspan="2"|Dixon of Dock Green | Abel | Episode: "The Team" |
| rowspan="3"|1968
| King | Episode: "Find the Lady" |
| Man in a Suitcase
| Dalby | Episode: "The Boston Square" |
| Z-Cars
| Foster | Episode: "Vigilance" |
| 1969
| rowspan="2"|Dixon of Dock Green | Garry Kendrick | Episode: "The Set-Up" |
| rowspan="2"|1970
| Jenkins | Episode: "Shadows" |
| Softly, Softly: Taskforce
| Scotland | Episode: "Private Mischief" |
| rowspan="2"|1971
| Simpson | Episode: "Traitor" |
| The Troubleshooters
| Reg Walters | Episode: "A Touch of the Nelsons" |
| 1972
| Jack Stevens | Episode: "Time Out" |
| rowspan="2"|1973
| Kenneth Hammond | 4 episodes |
| The Dragon's Opponent
| Captain McColm | Mini-series |
| 1974
| Norris | Episode: "Cecelia" |
| rowspan="4"|1975
| Horrie | 1 episode |
| Homicide
| Patrick O'Brien | Episode: "Snails for Dinner" |
| Ben Hall
| Sergeant Garland | Series regular |
| Shannon's Mob
| Ashby | Episode: "There Was a Man" |
| rowspan="5"|1976
| White | Episode: "Yesterday's Friends" |
| Rush
| Superintendent James Kendall | Recurring role |
| King's Men
| | Episode: "Suffer Little Children" |
| The Sullivans
| Admiral Spencer | |
| rowspan="2"|Bluey
| Muley Price | Episode: "Speak to Me Only" |
| rowspan="2"|1977
| Kenneth Granger | Episode: "A Political Animal" |
| The Outsiders
| Jack Gower | Episode: "Sophie's Mob" |
| rowspan="3"|1978
| Cop Shop | James Benedict | 2 episodes |
| Chopper Squad
| John Williams | Episode: "Something to Shout About" |
| Against the Wind
| Governor Macquarie | Episode: "The Windfall Summer" |
| rowspan="4"|1979
| Cop Shop | David Hammond | 2 episodes |
| Skyways
| Captain Fitzgerald | Episode: "The Legend" |
| A Place in the World
| | Mini-series |
| The Young Doctors
| Kevin McAllister | 2 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|1980
| Cop Shop | Adrian Cummins | 1 episode |
| Timelapse
| Boyd Mackiel | Mini-series |
| 1982
| Bunny Wilcox | Episode: "Come Blow Your Horn" |
| 1983
| Justin O'Byrne | 1 episode |
| rowspan="4"|1984
| General Sturdee | Mini-series |
| Special Squad
| | 2 episodes |
| Bodyline
| Lyons – Prime Minister of Australia | Mini-series |
| A Country Practice
| Keith Fitzgerald | Episode: "Moment of Truth" |
| 1985
| Anzacs | Sir Rupert Barrington | Mini-series |
| rowspan="2"|1987
| Mathew | Episode: "Kids" |
| Vietnam
| Dave the Spook | Mini-series |
| 1987–1993
| Ted Campbell | Recurring role |
| 1988
| Eastwick Banker | Mini-series |
| rowspan="2"|1989
| Presenter | Episode: "The Golden Serpent" |
| Bangkok Hilton
| British Attache | Mini-series |
| rowspan="2"|1990
| Warren Price | Episode: "Daddy's Girl" |
| The Paper Man
| Sir Evan Mason | Mini-series |
| 1991
| G.P. | Dr. Thomas Radley | 3 episodes |
| 1995
| Dr. Cumberland | Mini-series |
| 1998
| Keith Charrington | Episode: "Home Truths" |
| 2000
| Monty Chesney | Episode: "April to July" |
| 2001
| Bill Weiner | 2 episodes |
| 2015
| 2 episodes |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|50482}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Vincent}}
Category:20th-century Australian male actors
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:Australian men centenarians
Category:Australian male film actors
Category:Australian male television actors
Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:Royal Australian Air Force airmen
Category:Australian male novelists