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Ross Higgins
Higgins as his most famous character Ted Bullpitt in Kingswood Country
Born	(1930-06-14)14 June 1930 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died	7 October 2016(2016-10-07) (aged 86) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations	Actor vaudevillian TV host comedian singer radio announcer voice artist
Years active	1946–2016
Spouse	Nadine
Children	4, including actor Brendan Higgins

Ross Higgins (14 June 1930 – 7 October 2016) was an Australian vaudevillian, character actor, television host, comedian, singer and voice actor. He was best known for his role as Ted Bullpitt in the 1980s television situation comedy series Kingswood Country and brief revival Bullpitt!. He was also a commercial advertiser who provided the voice of animated character "Louie the Fly" in the television ad campaign for Mortein, over a 50-year period (the longest running such ad in Australia) as well as Mr. Pound, when decimal currency was first introduced in Australia.

Career

Radio

Higgins' entertainment industry career began in 1946, when he took a cadetship at Sydney's 2GB commercial radio station at the age of 15. This led to an on-air announcing position and hosting of breakfast and, later, evening variety shows. A trained singer, he soon began recording singles which lifted his profile around Australia. His flair for comedy came to the fore in the 1950s when he became a cast member of the very popular The Jack Davey Show. He moved between commercial radio and the ABC, touring the country, hosting and singing with the ABC show band. It was during this period he performed with Peter Dawson, Slim Dusty and Mel Tormé. His radio career reached a peak in the mid-1950s and, when television arrived in 1956, he successfully made the transition, appearing on variety shows, hosting game shows on the 7 Network and in the early 1960s on Singalong and Bobby Limb's Sound of Music on the 9 Network.

Recording

Higgins used his vocal talents on thousands of projects during his 60 years in radio and television, including recording the song "Monster Mash" for ABC For Kids Video Hits, and two albums of the classic Australian children's story "Blinky Bill".

Voice over

During the 1960s, Higgins consolidated his position as a leading voiceover artist, creating character voices for TV and radio ads and cartoons. His earliest character voice—"Louie the Fly" (an animated fly for the Mortein fly-spray commercials), was recorded by him as late as 2011. It is now the longest continuously running campaign in television history, having run for over 50 years (1957–2011). Other characters that Higgins voiced included Mr. Sheen, Mr. Pound and the Paddle Pop Lion.

Theatre

During the mid-1960s, Higgins worked in theatre, doing several back-to-back seasons at Sydney's Menzies Theatre Restaurant—a popular nightspot where musicals were staged under the direction of Hayes Gordon.

Television

Higgins played Rev. Larcombe in two episodes of the soap opera Motel in 1968. He also had guest roles in various series, including Division 4 and Skippy. Throughout the 1970s, he and voiceover colleague Kevin Golsby dominated Australian airwaves. While enjoying this success, another break-through role came in 1977 when he and Golsby were key regular performers in sketch comedy series The Naked Vicar Show. He played various characters in the series, which lasted two seasons. In 1980, a spin-off series based on a bombastic Holden Kingswood driving character he had portrayed in one sketch of The Naked Vicar Show was created. Titled Kingswood Country, the series had a successful five-year run, completing five-and-a-half seasons.

As well as being known as the voice of Mortein's "Louie the Fly", during the 1980s Higgins did TV commercials for one of their main competitors in the Australian market, Pea Beu.

Higgins played a straight dramatic role in the soap opera Richmond Hill (1988). His character, a dour policeman, was the show's main authority figure. The series was cancelled at the end of 1988. In 1992, he starred in the Ten Network's sitcom Late for School (which launched the TV careers of Matthew Newton and Stephen Curry). Higgins' final series saw him reprise the Ted Bullpitt character in the situation comedy Bullpitt! in 1997, which had two seasons on the 7 Network. Kingswood Country has since found new audiences via cable TV, DVD and YouTube.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Albums

Personal life and death

Higgins and his wife Nadine had four children, including actor Brendan Higgins.

Higgins died of unspecified causes on 7 October 2016, aged 85. He had been ill for some time and had been hospitalized for several weeks.

References

1. source: Grant Higgins (Ross's son)
2. ^ Erica Thompson (7 October 2008). "Ross Higgins' role of Ted Bullpitt appeals to a new un-PC generation". Courier Mail. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
3. ^ "Dollar Bill Turns 50 Years Old | Reserve Bank of Australia - Museum".
4. "21 Years of TV Times". TV Times. 7 July 1979.
5. "ABC for kids [videorecording]". 1 February 2000.
6. "Blinky Bill". Screensound Australia. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009.
7. "The adventures by Blinky Bill Dorothy Wall, narrated by Ross Higgins".
8. Louie the Fly. Straight from rubbish tip to you!
9. "Mr. Sheen ad (Australia 1980's)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
10. "Streets Paddle Pop 1963 TV commercial". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
11. "Motel (TV Series 1968– ) - IMDb". IMDb.
12. "What's On (February 3–9)". TV Times. 3 February 1979. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
13. Smooth Pierre Pea Beu ad 1986
14. Andrew Mercado (2004). Super Aussie soaps: behind the scenes of Australia's best loved TV shows. Pluto Press Australia. pp. 274–277. ISBN 1-86403-191-3.
15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 138, 282. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
16. "Kingswood Country star Ross Higgins dies". ABC News. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.

• Australian male television actors
• 1931 births
• 2016 deaths
• Male actors from Sydney
• Australian male comedians
• Australian male singers
• Australian radio presenters
• Australian male voice actors
• Blinky Bill
• Comedians from Sydney