BIOGRAPHY

Reg Livermore was stage-struck from the word go. At the age of 13 he started hiring local halls to stage performances in aid of local charities, his casts made up of neighborhood children and school friends.

Regular outings to see pantomimes at the famous Tivoli Theatre Sydney indicated the sort of productions he enjoyed and hinted at the direction his career would eventually take. In 1953/54 he presented A Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and raised 33 Pounds for the Torchbearers of Legacy. He began attending acting classes at the Independent Theatre and early on made appearances in Toad of the Hall, The Glass Slipper, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Fired with Enthusiasm and a strong sense of his own destiny he hired the Mosman Town Hall in 1955 and again in 1956 to stage pantomimes Snow White, and Mother Goose. More money was taken at the box office but the expenses were now greater, so profits were small. The young actor-manager began to appreciate the hit and miss nature of show business.

During his last years at school he worked hard at the drama club and worked nights at the Independent Theatre; his mind was on everything but study and he chose to leave school early, rather than suffer humiliation at the hands of the examiner. More plays for the Independent followed, and in 1957, after a successful audition for well-known Phillip Street Theatre his professional career was underway.

Reg was understudy in Around The Loop for Gordon Chater and Barry Humphries, and in the next revue, Cross Section, shared the stage with Ruth Cracknell, June Salter and John Meillon. During this period he met Hayes Gordon and began acting lessons in earnest, becoming one of the select and privileged founding members of the Ensemble Theatre-in-the-round. Like many actors of that time, he was drawn to the bright lights of London, but rather than change the nature of his speaking voice and possibly his whole persona in a bid to wholly satisfy English theatrical producers, the assertive young Mr. Livermore returned to Australia and the Ensemble Theatre, by then re-located to a boatshed in Kirribilli at the edge of Sydney Harbour.

There followed an intense period of instruction and practical experience with his true teacher, Hayes Gordon. Reg appeared in Ensemble productions of Orpheus Descending, The Drunkard, The Double Dealer, The Canterville Ghost, The Thracian Horse, Miss Lonely Hearts, The Physicist and The Real Inspector Hound. He moved to Melbourne for a two and a half year stint with the Union Theatre Repertory Company, performing in the works of Rattigan, Ionesco, Shakespeare, Peter Ustinov, Bram Stoker and Patrick White. He also made his directorial debut in a new production of The Shifting Heart by Richard Beynon and wrote his first musical The Good Ship Walter Raleigh. At the conclusion of this very busy period, he returned to Sydney to re-establish his career in that very difficult city. He performed in the Independent Theatre production, Oh Dad Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad with Lyndall Barbour, then at the Old Tote with Sophie Stewart and Ron Haddrick in The Importance of Being Earnest.

During 1964/65 Reg starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz and played the lead role in The Knack. He then became the first guest of the newly formed South Australia Theatre Company performing Andorra by Max Frisch and West of the Black Stump, which he wrote with Sandra McKenzie. This was followed by the popular, Cup of Tea, A Bex and a Good Lie Down produced by the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney featuring Gloria Dawn and Ruth Cracknell. After fifteen months in this record-breaking show, Reg was invited to compare a children's program for ABC TV called CrackerJack. On the strength of his success the ABC offered Reg his own Saturday night Variety show called I'm Alright Now. Next year he took over from Ronnie Fraser in the Mavis Bramston Show, and when Mavis was finally put to bed in 1968 stayed on at Channel 7 to participate in Anything Goes.

In 1969 Reg added to his list of musical credits roles in The Mikado and then Hair, the musical that suddenly and dramatically rocketed his commercial theatrical career. After two years starring in this liberating show he moved on to The Tooth of Crime by Sam Shepard at Nimrod, his own musical Lasseter for the Old Tote, and Jesus Christ Superstar for Harry M. Miller. In 1974 he was rewarded with one of life's great roles: the original Australian Dr Frank'n'Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. In 1975 at the request of producer Eric Dare he conceived his first one man show, Betty Blokk Buster Follies, which played to record crowds in Sydney, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne. After the phenomenal success of this, he wrote and performed Wonder Woman, Sacred Cow, Son of Betty and Firing Squad. His trip to London with Sacred Cow in 1980 created an unexpected sensation: the audience tried to boo him off the stage but he refused to oblige them. The Sydney Daily Telegraph lamented that his appearance on the West End had given Australia a bad name. In 1982 he played the title role in the American musical Barnum, and 1984 saw him in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show.

After this Reg enjoyed a period of well-earned quiet tending his well-known garden property in the picturesque Blue Mountains, also mounting several one-man exhibitions of his own colorful paintings. In 1989 he began appearances on Burke's Backyard for the Nine Television network but also wrote and performed Wish You Were Here, a one-man show at the Clarendon Theatre Restaurant in Katoomba. This subsequently played the Melbourne International Festival and a season at the Victorian Arts Centre. In 1991 he appeared in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe for the Victoria State Opera and directed La Traviata for them at the Ballarat Easter Festival in 1992. In that year he also wrote and performed his second one-man show for the Blue Mountains, Santa on the Planet of the Apes. This was followed by his performance as Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance for the Victoria State Opera. During 1993 he toured regional Victoria with Wish You Were Here and in 1994/95 he performed the same play to ecstatic audiences at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney. He also wrote and performed the highly successful Red Riding Hood, the Speed Hump and the Wolf at the Clarendon Guest House and at the Ensemble Theatre, before receiving an Australian Artist Creative Fellowship through the Australia Council. In 1996 Reg was afforded the great honor of being made an officer in the Order of Australia (AO).

Reg was a regular presenter on Channel Nine's Our House, a show that notched up nine years of television. In 1998 Reg wrote and performed Home Sweet Home, Leonard's Last Hurrah for the Clarendon Guest House, followed by a season at the Melbourne Festival and at the Sydney Opera House in 1999. In 2001 Reg enjoyed enormous success again at the Clarendon with The Thank You Dinner ­ A Feast to Remember.

In 2002 Reg joined Opera Australia for their production of Iolanthe at the Sydney Opera House. Reg starred in The Lord Chancellor in a sell out, three times extended season.

Reg's autobiography long awaited autobiography 'Chapters and Chances' is due for publication in November 2003 through Hardie Grant books.

Mid 2003 Reg auditioned in Los Angeles for Mel Brooks, and won the leading role of Max Bialystock in the new Brooks Musical The Producers, opening at Melbourne's Princess Theatre in April 2004.