Remembering John McCallum…

The Brisbane Times today features an obituary to Queensland-born producer and actor John McCallum, who passed away earlier this week.

“Few people have been as active in the hurly-burly of show business as John McCallum, who worked on several continents and over seven decades,” it notes.

“He lured the maverick British director Michael Powell to Australia to film Nino Culotta’s They’re a Weird Mob (1966) for JCW; it was a runaway success in Australia. Then, with Lee Robinson, he set up Fauna Productions and launched the Skippy phenomenon, which ran to more than 90 episodes and a spin-off feature.

“He was involved in other popular Australian TV series, including Boney in the 1970s, acting in some episodes; he directed, produced and wrote the mining-boom film Nickel Queen (1971), starring Withers as a Kalgoorlie pub owner; and, for his own company, produced the troubled Attack Force Z (1982), with the future stars Sam Neill and Mel Gibson.”

Meanwhile, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper also acknoweldges his passing, noting, “The idea for Skippy came to McCallum in 1966, as he and Googie Withers were packing up after a holiday at the Australian beach resort of Pittwater. It had struck him that Australia was the only country on earth with indigenous kangaroos, and when a producer friend, Lee Robinson, came up with the notion of the adventures of a boy and a kangaroo, McCallum sank $5,000 into a pilot show.”

Source: Brisbane Times