Barry Hugh Crocker (born 4 November 1935
Official Barry Crocker website) is an Australian
Gold Logie
The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards.
The Gold Logie was first awarded at the 2nd Annual TV We ...
-winning character actor, television personality, singer, and variety entertainer with a
crooning
A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to acce ...
vocal style.
Crocker is known for his iconic
Australian films during the 1970s, including ''
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' (1972) and its sequel, ''
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own'' (1974). Crocker was also the presenter and leading performer on the TV series ''The Sound of Music'', taking over from entertainer
Bobby Limb
Robert Limb Officer of the Order of Australia, AO, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, te ...
.
His singing talents eventually earned him over 30
Gold record
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
s. In 1971, ''Sound of Music'' was the 11th-most-popular show in the country. Crocker sang the theme tune to the Australian soap opera ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'' between 1985 and 1992. Crocker published an autobiography called ''Bazza – The Adventures of Barry Crocker'' in 2003. In 2023, he published ''Last of the Entertainers: A Star-Studded Story Across Sixty-Five Years of Television, Stage, Screen and in Recording''.
Early life
Crocker was born in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
, Victoria.
After doing
National Service
National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
with the
RAAF
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...
in 1955, he toured with a theatre group and performed on the club circuit in Melbourne, followed by a partnership with David Clark (aka Dave Nelson), and performed in the UK and the United States.
Career
Crocker returned to Australia to star in a TV musical comedy show called ''66 And All That'' in 1966, hence the title, which became ''The Barry Crocker Show'' (1966–67) on Channel 10 Sydney (now
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
). That was followed by the musical variety show ''
Say It with Music'' (1967–1969), also broadcast on Ten.
Acting
Crocker made his acting debut on a 1969 episode of ''
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' (known commonly as ''Skippy'') is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin, and Lee Robinson, produced from 1967 to 1969 (airing from 5 February 1968 to 4 May 1 ...
''. He has also had a successful career as a stage, television and motion picture actor, most notably starring alongside
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...
in the title role of
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director, opera director, screenwriter, and producer. He began his career during the Australian New Wave, and has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally ...
's 1972 movie, ''
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' and its 1974 sequel, ''
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own''. The "bogan" character of
Barry McKenzie gave rise to Crocker recording such ribald songs as "My One Eyed Trouser Snake" and other "
off-colour
Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgarity, vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, Ribaldry#B ...
" songs.
Crocker was Beresford's first choice as lead actor when it came to the filming of
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson (born 1942) is an Australian playwright, who has also written screenplays and teleplays. He became known in the early 1970s with his political comic drama '' Don's Party'', and other well-known plays include '' The Clu ...
's popular play ''
Don's Party
''Don's Party'' is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The play opened on 11 August 1971 at The Pram Factory theatre in Carlton (Victoria), Carlton.
Plot
Don Henderson is a schoolteacher living with ...
'', but serious back problems curtailed Crocker's screen career at that point, opening the way for
John Hargreaves to achieve film success in the coveted title role.
Nevertheless, in 1976 Crocker was crowned ''
King of Moomba'', the annual entertainment festival in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
.
He had the lead role as Governor Alan Smith in the short-lived prison drama ''
Punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...
'' (1981), and guest-starred in two episodes of the Australian satirical black comedy series ''
Review with Myles Barlow''. Later TV roles included parts in ''
Pizza
Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...
'', ''
Swift and Shift Couriers'', and ''
Housos
''Housos'' (titled ''Housos of the Housing Commission'' from seasons 1 to 2, ''Housos vs Virus: The Lockdown'' from season 3, and ''Housos: The Thong Warrior'' from season 4) is an Australian comedy television series created by Paul Fenech for ...
'' for
SBS, and ''
The Strange Calls'', an
ABC2
ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...
comedy series.
In 1994, Crocker appeared as himself in the worldwide record-breaking film ''
Muriel's Wedding
''Muriel's Wedding'' is a 1994 comedy-drama film written and directed by P.J. Hogan. The film, which stars Toni Collette, Bill Hunter and Rachel Griffiths, focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambition is to have a glamorous wedding ...
''. He proved his acting and comedy credentials once again as the retro-disco host Donny Destry in the 2007 movie ''
Razzle Dazzle''.
Crocker appeared as Charles "Hoot" Russell, Greg Russell's father in the ''
Hey Dad..!'' episode "Hoot's Boots". It was the second last episode of the show, which spanned 14 seasons. A DVD box set of ''Hey Dad..!'' has had to be abandoned, following the conviction of the original "Dad" –
Robert Hughes – on several sex offences.
In 2005, Crocker was featured on the
Nine Network
Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
program ''
This Is Your Life''. It was a rare accolade, because Crocker had already been the subject of this prestigious TV program thirty years earlier, in 1975, when the show was hosted by
Roger Climpson
Roger Climpson (born 18 October 1931) is an English-born Australian retired media personality who served a lengthy career in both radio and television, as a journalist and reporter, announcer, News presenter, newsreader, weather presenter and ...
. Crocker was caught by surprise when host
Mike Munro and the TV production team arrived, after a lot of careful planning by his long-term partner, Katy Manning, the English actress.
Crocker was chosen by
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol (; 9 September 1935 – 8 March 2023), mononymously known as Topol, was an Israeli actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye, the lead role in the stage musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and the Fiddler on the Roof ...
to co-star as his nemesis Lazer Wolfe in a long-running Australian season of the musical ''
Fiddler on the Roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...
.'' He also featured in the role of The Lecturer in the 2008 Australian premiere of the stage musical ''
Reefer Madness
''Reefer Madness'' (originally made as ''Tell Your Children'' and sometimes titled ''The Burning Question'', ''Dope Addict'', ''Doped Youth'', and ''Love Madness'') is a 1938/1939 American exploitation film about drugs, revolving around the me ...
''.
Crocker presented the Australian version of ''
Behind Mansion Walls
''Behind Mansion Walls'' is an American documentary television series on Investigation Discovery that debuted on June 6, 2011, ending in 2013 at completion of its third season. The series, hosted by Christopher Mason, tells the stories of crime ...
'' on the
Crime and Investigation Network on
Foxtel
NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
in Australia.
Music career
In 1959, after successfully touring and a number of television appearances, he convinced Cyril Stevens, of Spotlight Records in
Thornbury, to audition him and his musical partner. Stevens, who was a photographer by trade, had set up a recording studio in the early 1950s. He recorded mainly jazz and musical events around Victoria. Stevens wasn't impressed, and Crocker and Dave Clark were about to leave when Stevens' son entered the room, recognised the pair from television and concerts, and convinced his father to record the team. Two
EPs
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
were recorded, totalling eight tracks. The records were Spotlight's highest sellers.
In May 1973, Crocker released the album ''Music Makes My Day'', on
Festival Records
Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...
, featuring an updated version of American rockabilly singer
Robin Luke's "
Susie Darlin'. The recording featured
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
and
Pat Carroll on backup vocals, and enjoyed chart success, peaking at number 7.
He sang the original recording of the theme song for the 1977
Reg Grundy soap opera, ''
The Restless Years
''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...
'' (later a hit for
Renée Geyer), and also the original theme to the long-running soap opera ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'', another Reg Grundy production. His version was used from 1985 to 1992, and it was also played during the series' final episode, which aired in July 2022.
Crocker wrote and recorded an unofficial theme song for the
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
team,
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
, entitled ''Come on the Cats''.
[
]
Personal life
Crocker married Doreen (Dene), with whom he had five children: Geraldine, Martine, Erica, Barry jnr. and Amanda. He has to date 8 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren and 1 great, great, grandchild born May 2025.
In the 1970s, he entered into a relationship with Christine Platel, which lasted five years, which resulted in the divorce from his wife. Since 1988, he has been in a relationship with English actress Katy Manning
Catherine Ann Manning (born 14 October 1946) is a British actress. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doct ...
, whom he met in Australia, although she moved back to the UK in 2010 she still regularly comes to Australia and they maintain a long-distance relationship
Partners in LDRs typically use frequent telecommunications to maintain their relationship
A long-distance relationship (LDR) or long-distance romantic relationship is an intimate relationship between partners who are geographically separated fro ...
.
Discography
Charting albums
Charting singles
Awards
Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were last awarded in 2016.
...
), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Barry Crocker won two awards in that time and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.
(wins only)
, -
, 1976
, Barry Crocker
, Entertainer of the Year
,
, -
, 1981
, Barry Crocker
, Entertainer of the Year
,
, -
, 2013
, Barry Crocker
, Hall of Fame
,
, -
In popular culture
During the 1980s, the rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
expression "Barry Crocker", or simply "Barry" or "Baz", emerged in Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language. While Australia has no of ...
to mean a "shocker", as in "very poor". In 1997, the term "Having a Barry" was included in the third edition of the Macquarie Dictionary
The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' () is a dictionary of Australian English. It is considered by many to be the standard reference on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing proje ...
as rhyming slang.
A notable public use of the expression was on the front page of the Sydney newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' on 17 April 2014 when Barry O'Farrell
Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian former politician who was Australia's List of Australian High Commissioners to India, High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan from February 2020 to 30 June 202 ...
the Premier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...
, was forced to resign, allegedly for accepting a gift of an expensive bottle of wine without declaring it, and then later denying in court that he had even received the gift. The headline, consisting of almost half the front page, read "A Barry Crocker".
In February 2022, news of the cancellation of ''Neighbours'' in the British press prompted fans of the TV show to download the theme song. It reached No. 1 on UK iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and at No. 11 on the UK Singles Sales Chart
The UK Singles Sales Chart is a weekly record chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. The UK Singles Sales Chart differs from the UK Singles Chart (also known as the Official Singles Chart) ...
sales and downloads chart ending 17 February 2022.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Barry
1935 births
Australian autobiographers
Australian male film actors
Australian male singers
Australian male stage actors
Australian television personalities
Gold Logie winners
Living people
Members of the Order of Australia
Male actors from Geelong
Royal Australian Air Force personnel
Transatlantic Records artists