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The Art of the Theatre : Helmut Bakaitis single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 The Art of the Theatre : Helmut Bakaitis
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Helmut Bakaitis is an actor, writer and director. He arrived in Australia at the age of six in 1950 on board the Wooster Victory, a special vessel for displaced persons. His parents fled Lithuania in 1943 in fear of the advancing Russian army, and during their journey, Helmut was born in the town of Lauban near Dresden in Germany, (it became Luban and is now in Poland). Bakaitis spent his first five years in transit camps run by the UN in Germany and Austria, as his father worked as a translator.(1) In Australia as a boy Bakaitis found life difficult. He was persecuted because of his name and his accent and as a result, he immersed himself in books and movies. He would sneak off from home in Bankstown on Saturdays to go to the cinema on his own. When his mother discovered he had watched Those Redheads From Seattle she banned him from the movies. But a few years later his parents purchased the Pacific Milk Bar next door to the Kings Cinema in Balmain. As a teenager he would dash in to the movies and rush out again five minutes before interval in order to help serve milkshakes and coffee to the cinema patrons.' (Introduction)

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  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Players : Australian Actors on Stage, Television and Film Anne Pender , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2016 10628863 2016 selected work biography

    'The Australian theatre, television and film industries are dynamic and creative in ways that could never have been imagined half a century ago. Since the 1950s these industries have expanded and demonstrated extraordinary vitality. Our vibrant Australian performing arts industry would not exist in its current form without the creative contribution of actors. Actors are the public face of the performing arts, carrying the immediate responsibility for the success of each show. Yet they are sometimes left out of theatre history. It is the actors, and often the characters they play, that we remember when we recall a favourite television program, film or play, long after we have seen it. It is the actors who make a play or a television program credible, enjoyable and memorable. The aim of the essays in this series is to document and interpret the specific contributions of actors who have worked in Australia for most of their lives, in order to understand their artistry and their world. The actors profiled in these pages came to maturity in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. They have shaped our ideas and our identity.' (Introduction)

    St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2016
Last amended 16 Jan 2017 13:33:38
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