Veteran actor, cricketer and long-term Homebush resident, Ron Haddrick, died recently aged 90 years.
He had a long career on stage, screen and radio. He made his stage debut in 1946 at the Tivoli Theatre in Adelaide and in 1953, auditioned and was invited to join the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon, now the Royal Shakespeare Company, which was on tour in Australia. During five seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon he performed with Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft and Michael Redgrave.
He returned to Australia in 1959 and worked with the Trust players in more than 40 productions for the Old Tote Theatre Company in Sydney. He also performed roles with Sydney Theatre Company, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Queensland Theatre Company and Nimrod Theatre Company. He was cast in the original 1977 stage production of David Williamson’s The Club and toured Australia and England with the play. He worked for nearly every major theatre company in Australia and played roles including King Lear and MacBeth. In 1987, he received the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award for Long Day’s Journey into Night and I’m Not Rappaport.
Haddrick’s TV credits are long and significant including Cop Shop, Mother & Son, Underbelly, Water Rats, Home & Away, Cloudstreet, Certain Women, Heartbreak High, Farscape, The Lost Islands, All Saints, Rake, The Informant, The Alice, Dogwoman, GP, Sons and Daughters, Quigley Down Under, A Country Practice, Homicide, Riptide and Hunter.
In 2012 he received the Equity Lifetime Achievement Award fpr his distinguished career in film, television, radio and theatre as well as his commitment to the Actors Benelovent Fund of NSW.
He was awarded an MBE in 1974 and an Member of the Order of Australia Medal (AM) in 2013 for his significant service to the performing arts as an actor and narrator.
Haddrick also represented South Australia three times in the Sheffield Shield from 1951 – 1953.
References
Knox, D, TVTonight, https://tvtonight.com.au/2020/02/vale-ron-haddrick.html posted 14 February 2020.
‘Ronald Haddrick’, Its an Honour database (Prime Minster and Cabinet), https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1147809
Speed, A, ‘Leading man – in art and life’, Equity, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Summer 2012 edition, pgs 14-15
Photo Credit
The photo of Ron and Lorraine Haddrick was provided by Lyn Haddrick 2020.
Strathfield Heritage 
Thanks Cathy. Interesting read. Some trivia may or may not be true. I think he was in an early ad for Trix detergent around 1959/60 It was an ad that was set in a kitchen. I just remember his name being associated with it, probably a piece written in the TV Times that my parents used to buy.
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