Double Act

Not many can boast of careers that lasted successfully for nearly seventy years, but that is what both Googie Withers and John McCallum achieved. Googie portrayed everything from brazen murderesses to Lady Bracknell, taking in blonde nitwits, wartime Resistance workers, lady farmers, and Shakespeare along the way.

John not only performed memorably in all the acting media but was also a pioneer producer in Australian television, sending Skippy into the far corners of the earth, the managing director of a huge theatrical firm, and a film director, playwright, and author. Just as remarkable was their 62-year marriage, not all that common in the entertainment world, and the way this worked is as fascinating as their varied and prolific careers.

There were plenty of disagreements along the way, but underlying all was their profound respect for each other's work and a kind of love that was essentially complementary. Together, in professional and personal matters alike, they were an unbeatable combination.

Brian McFarlane's biography, Double Act, does justice to this remarkable pair and reads as an absorbing story.