| Atholl Fleming | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 December 1894 London, England |
| Died | 6 May 1972 Sydney, Australia |
Atholl Fleming (6 December 1894 - 6 May 1972) was a British actor and an Australian radio personality.
He was the third of nine children of R. S. Fleming, a Scottish Baptist minister of Beckenham in Kent. After a fall as a child, he became deaf in his right ear. He saw fighting in France during World War I with the Royal West Kent Regiment, notably the Battle of the Somme, and was wounded three times - a shrapnel wound, a bayonet wound and gas injuries.[1]
After the War, he abandoned a career with the Bank of England for the stage, appearing in a number of Whitehall farces and dramas on BBC television at Alexandra Palace. He starred in People Like Us at The Strand in 1929.[2] He toured Australia in 1932 with Dame Sybil Thorndike and Sir Lewis Casson,[3],(playing Dunois in St Joan and Macduff in the Scottish play) and while in Sydney married fellow company member, Phyllis Best, daughter of Sir Robert Best of Hawthorn, Victoria.[4] Their son Robert was born in 1933. Fleming appeared in a number of British films throughout the 1930s most notably as Bulldog Drummond in the Jack Hulbert comedy thriller Bulldog Jack (1935).
With the outbreak of the Second World War, he volunteered for duty but was rejected on grounds of ill health. Blackouts meant the virtual closure of London theatres so he took the opportunity in 1939 to bring his wife back to see her parents. He joined E.J Tait's touring company then the Australian Broadcasting Commission as actor and drama producer. He was active in the British Drama League and acted as adjudicator for its annual competitions.[5][6] In 1946 he was a member of the "Radio Players", who performed Max Catto's They Walk Alone and Philip Johnson's Lover's Leap to outstanding reviews. For a time, he was co-producer (with [[Richard Parry) for Kathleen Robinson's "Whitehall Institute of Dramatic Art",[7] a competitor of Doris Fitton's Independent Theatre. He notably appeared as Gloucester in John Alden's 1951 production of King Lear at St James' Hall in Phillip Street.[8] He was called upon to adjudicate at major drama festivals.[9]
As 'Mac', he co-hosted the Australian Broadcasting Commission's 'Children's Session' and, as Jason, became the central figure in its hugely popular Argonaut's Club for most of its 31 year run, from 7 January 1941 until 2 April 1972. With his wife Phyllis he visited countless schools and children's hospitals. He became a much loved figure by generations of Australian children.
He was awarded an MBE for his contribution to broadcasting and his work with children.[10]
Fleming loved sport. He was a founder member of the Stage Golfing Society (handicap 7) and the Stage Cricket Club in England. He started the Stage and Radio Cricket Club in Sydney. He was a useful bat, a good slip field and a Machiavellian captain.
Atholl Fleming retired in 1969, shortly before the Argonaut's Club and the Children's Session, because of the advance of television, were closed. He was one of the best loved and most respected figures in Australian broadcasting.