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Ronald Norman Haddrick MBE AM (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, narrator and South Australian cricketer. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, spanning some seventy years both locally and also in Britain. He appeared in many Shakespearean roles and often performed with theatre actress Ruth Cracknell.

At the time of this Lifetime Achievement Award, playwright David Williamson said, "Ron Haddrick was chosen for two reasons. He’s a great actor, definitely one of the greatest of his generation, and also a great human being who has enriched the lives of countless Australians through his acting. He has also enriched the lives of many of us who work in the theatre because of his dedication and palpable decency."

In presenting the award, actor John Bell said Haddrick's "career has been extraordinary ... he is undoubtedly one of the leading lights in the Australian acting industry and he is much loved, admired and respected, because of both his professionalism and his good nature." On news of his death, Bell Shakespeare said: “a legend of Australian theatre ... it was a privilege to have him grace our stage”.

Family

Haddrick was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the only son of Olive May (née Gibson) and Alexander Norman Haddrick. Haddrick's wife, Lorraine, received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for her "outstanding dedication to athletics as a volunteer official for 32 years". They had two children: NIDA graduate Lynette Haddrick and screenwriter and producer Greg Haddrick, and three grandchildren, Taya, Milly and Jack Haddrick.

In 2011 three generations of the Haddrick family were involved in the production of the Australian miniseries Cloudstreet. Ron Haddrick was the narrator, Greg Haddrick was a producer, and Mille Haddrick was an actor.

Cricket career

As a sportsman, Haddrick played first-class cricket during the 1950s, representing South Australia on three occasions in the Sheffield Shield competition.

Professional acting career

Theatre

Haddrick first appeared on the stage in 1949 at the Adelaide Tivoli Theatre. Later, he was invited to join the Stratford Memorial Theatre (now the Royal Shakespeare Theatre). During five seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon he performed with Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Michael Redgrave.

On his return to Sydney, he gained roles with the Trust Players. After the Old Tote Theatre Company formed, Haddrick played in more than forty productions.

Radio and television

Haddrick has worked extensively in radio and TV throughout his career, notably for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He made an early television appearance in the 1960 television play Close to the Roof. He had his first starring TV role as Dr. William Redfern in The Outcasts. He later appeared as the alien "Adam Suisse" in G K Saunders' pioneering children's science fiction series The Stranger, broadcast on the ABC in 1964–65. In 1969 and again in 1982, he voiced Ebenezer Scrooge for two Australian-produced adaptations of A Christmas Carol. He worked along the same lines in the Australian animation field in 1977 with a shorter version of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Narrator

Haddrick also narrated six audio books of the British children's TV series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, released by ABC For Kids. These were written by Christopher Awdry and illustrated by Ken Stott.

Haddrick is also known for having narrated all audio books of the Australian children's/young adult fantasy book series Deltora Quest, written by Emily Rodda.

Selected stage work

Other stage work in the '70s and ‘80s included major roles for Sydney Theatre Company, State Theatre Company of South Australia and Queensland Theatre Company in classics and new Australian plays. He also played extensive seasons of the Nimrod Theatre Company production of The Club. Haddrick received two of the now defunct "Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Awards" for his performances in Long Day's Journey into Night and I'm Not Rappaport.

In the 1990s he played many roles for Marian Street Theatre and the STC, including King Lear and Wacka Dawson in The One Day of the Year.

Haddrick appeared in Australian-made television from Certain Women and Heartbreak High to Farscape and in numerous feature films. Haddrick also played on The Lost Islands, as the tyrant "Q", a 200-year-old ruler. On radio, he has performed in hundreds of dramas, documentaries, and special features. He was frequently heard reading poetry for the ABC.

Haddrick and Cracknell

In 1960 Haddrick appeared at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in a production of Murder in the Cathedral in Bonython Hall. It marked the start of a long working partnership between Haddrick and Ruth Cracknell. In 1970 they performed in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. It was directed for the Old Tote in Sydney by Sir Tyrone Guthrie and toured widely. In 1973, Haddrick, Ruth Cracknell, Gordon Chater and Garry McDonald appeared at the Australian Theatre in Newtown in a miscellany called Aurora Australis. They were in the Old Tote's production of David Williamson's What If You Died Tomorrow? in 1974; it toured Australia and played in London at the Comedy Theatre. In the late 1970s, they were in two Peter Williams' productions at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, Bedroom Farce and The Gin Game.

In 1983 Haddrick and Cracknell played the theatrical Mr and Mrs Crummles in Richard Wherrett’s production of David Edgar's two-part Dickens marathon, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby for the Sydney Theatre Company. This played at the Theatre Royal in Sydney and the State Theatre in Melbourne. In 1990 they were reunited in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters for the Sydney Theatre Company.

Death

Haddrick died at home at age 90 in Sydney surrounded by his wife and family on 11 February 2020. A memorial service was held at The Parade Theatre at NIDA on 1 March 2020. Speakers included his daughter Lyn, his granddaughter Millie, his son Greg, actors Kirrily Nolan and Peter Carroll AM, directors Aubrey Mellor OAM and John Bell AO OBE and former Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell.

Honours

• In 1974 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) – For services to the Arts.
• In 1977 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.
• In 2012 he was awarded an Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award – for a lifetime combining a phenomenal career with generous leadership and selfless mentorship presented by Actors Equity Australia.
• In 2013 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (General Division) – For significant service to the performing arts as an actor and narrator.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. SMH Deaths Ron Haddrick AM MBE 9.4.1929 – 11.2.2020 Retrieved 21 February 2020.
2. LEADING MAN — IN ART AND LIFE Retrieved 14 February 2020.
3. "Lifetime Award shows that its not just a stage he is going through" Retrieved 14 February 2020.
4. Vale Ron Haddrick Retrieved 14 February 2020.
5. "Ron Haddrick Biography (1929–)". Film Reference. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
6. It's an Honour Retrieved 14 February 2020.
7. Austage Retrieved 28 May 2015.
8. Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. pp. 121–124.
9. Cloudstreet – TV Miniseries Retrieved 4 August 2023.
10. Crininfo retrieved 28 May 2015.
11. Vagg, Stephen (12 July 2019). "Good Sports: Australian Athletes Who Act". Filmink.
12. "Ron Haddrick". AusStage.
13. Ron Haddrick Biography (1929–) Retrieved 28 May 2015.
14. Ruth Cracknell AM 1925 – 2002 Retrieved 14 February 2020.
15. SMH Obituary – Cricketer and actor who worked with the biggest names in theatre Retrieved 3 March 2020.
16. A gentleman, and one of the great actors of his generation Retrieved 3 March 2020.
17. It’s an Honour Retrieved 14 February 2020.
18. Ron Haddrick honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award Retrieved 14 February 2020.
19. It's an Honour Retrieved 14 February 2020.
20. Vagg, Stephen (27 April 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Big Killing". Filmink. Retrieved 12 August 2024.

External links

• Ron Haddrick at IMDb

• Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
• 1929 births
• 2020 deaths
• Male actors from Adelaide
• Australian cricketers
• Australian male Shakespearean actors
• Australian male film actors
• Australian male musical theatre actors
• Australian male stage actors
• Australian male television actors
• Australian television presenters
• Australian male voice actors
• Members of the Order of Australia
• Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire
• South Australia cricketers
• Cricketers from Adelaide