Claude "Candy" Williams (1929–1983) was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the T ...

musician, known for his

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while t ...

singing, often termed the

Aboriginal country music Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush ballad ...

. He was an active advocate for the advancement of his people, and also appeared in several television films and series.

Early life

Claude Williams was born on

Erambie Mission Erambie Mission is an Aboriginal community located on the western banks of the Lachlan River, from the town of Cowra, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. History Erambie was operated by the New South Wales Government as ...

, near

Cowra, New South Wales Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

, in 1929.

Career

In the 1960s, he appeared on a number of teen TV shows, and also toured with

Jimmy Little James Oswald Little, AO (1 March 19372 April 2012) was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher, who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales. Little started his professi ...

's All Coloured Show. Williams had recorded a number of albums by 1963, and had also acted in two films made for television. One of these was ''

Burst of Summer ''Burst of Summer'' is a 1959 play by Oriel Gray. It won the 1959 J. C. Williamson's Little Theatre Guild Award, and was later adapted for radio and TV. It was Gray's last produced play. Plot In 1955, racial tensions erupt in a small to ...

'', as Charlie (1961; based on the stage play by

Oriel Gray Oriel Holland Bennett (26 March 1920 – 30 June 2003) known by pen name Oriel Gray, was an Australian dramatist, playwright and screenwriter who wrote from the 1940s to 1990s. The major themes of her work were gender equality and "social and po ...

), and he subsequently appeared in the television series ''

Wandjina! ''Wandjina!'' was an Australian children's science fantasy television series produced by ABC Television and first aired in 1966. Its story, inspired by Dreamtime mythology of the spirit ancestors of the Kimberley region of north-West Australia ...

'' and in two episodes of ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

''. Williams' brother is musician Harry Williams, who sung in a musical duo with Wilga Munro (later his wife, known as Wilga Williams), and also with their band the Country Outcasts. Claude also played with the Country Outcasts, touring with them throughout New South Wales and Victoria. Williams was a keen advocate for Aboriginal people, as a member of the

Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs The Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs (FAA), formerly Aboriginal Affairs Association, and nicknamed "the Foundo", was a community organisation for Aboriginal people in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia between 1964 and 1977. It published an occ ...

as well as the

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), founded in Adelaide, South Australia, as the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) on 16 February 1958, was a civil rights organisation which ...

(usually known by its acronym

FCAATSI The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), founded in Adelaide, South Australia, as the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) on 16 February 1958, was a civil rights organisation whic ...

Recognition

*2002: Posthumous

Deadly Award The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

, for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Music

Personal life and family

In 1957, he was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be s ...

at famous country singer

's wedding. With his wife Hazel, he had a son and a daughter, Claude and Avril. His son is basketball player Claude Williams, who, on his appointment as head coach of the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

, became the first and only Aboriginal basketball coach, and is an inductee of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Hall of Fame. He is

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

to Harry Williams, the first Indigenous soccer player to represent the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated ...

at a World Cup, in 1974. He lived in Sydney with his family, until his death in 1983 of a

urinary tract infection A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects part of the urinary tract. When it affects the lower urinary tract it is known as a bladder infection (cystitis) and when it affects the upper urinary tract it is known as a kidne ...

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1961) *''

The Sergeant from Burralee ''The Sergeant from Burralee'' is an Australian television play written by Phillip Grenville Mann. The play was also broadcast by the BBC and screened for West German television. It was turned into a radio play in 1970. Mann then adapted it into ...

'' (1961) *''

'' (1966) *''

Top Mates ''Top Mates'' is a 1979 Australian TV mini-series.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford University Press, 1996 p241 Synopsis The series centres on two boys, Paul Jackson and Brett Towers. Paul starts attending a ne ...

'' (1979) *''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Candy Australian musicians Australian actors 1929 births 1983 deaths Indigenous Australian musicians