Sir Robert Helpmann
Portrait of Robert Helpmann in London circa 1945
Born	9 April 1909(1909-04-09) Mount Gambier, South Australia, Australia
Died	28 September 1986 (aged 77) Sydney, Australia

Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE (9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian dancer, actor, director and choreographer, Born Robert Murray Helpman, he added the extra 'n' to avoid his name having 13 letters, at the suggestion of Anna Pavlova, who was a devotee of numerology. ^[1] He was born in Mount Gambier and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, South Australia. The Helpmann Academy in South Australia, a partnership of the major visual and performing arts education and training institutions in South Australia offering award courses for people seeking professional careers in the arts, was named in his honour. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... ... For the song, see South Australia (song). ... is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the sixth-largest country in the world, the only country to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A theatre director is a principal in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a play by unifying various endeavors and aspects of production. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... For the Olympic gymnast, see Anna Pavlova (gymnast). ... Look up numerology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mount Gambier is the second most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, the capital of the State. ... Prince Alfred College (also referred to as PAC, Princes and in sporting circles, The Reds) is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, near the CBD of Adelaide, South Australia. ... For other uses, see Adelaide (disambiguation). ... For the song, see South Australia (song). ... The Helpmann Academy was formed in 1994 as a partnership of the major tertiary arts training institutions in South Australia. ... Education in the performing arts is a key part of many primary and secondary education curricula and is also available as a specialisation at the tertiary level. ...

Early years

From childhood, Helpmann had no desire but to be a dancer. This was an unusual ambition in provincial Australia of the 1920s. In a 1974 interview he recalled that he was taught the moves and dances of a girl because his dance teacher had no prior experience teaching boys.

In the Margot Fonteyn biography, he is described as being dark haired, pale, and having large dark eyes. Helpmann had a younger sister Sheila Helpman, and a younger brother Max, or Maxwell Helpman, and he welcomed them both into his theatrical world, both of them becoming part of it like audience members and then becoming involved into his style of work as actors themselves. Margot Fonteyn in 1948. ...

Helpmann was an odd sort of child, because he loved to dress up in his mother's clothing, and disliked his days at school. Instead he placed acting and performance ahead of education in his world. His mother, who was tormented by her family members because of her ambitions to perform, encouraged her son, as did his father, who saw that Helpmann had such a confidence and drive in him to do so. Helpmann was destined to become a sensation because of his energetic teenage years and odd but fantastic personality.

Career

In 1926 he joined the touring dance company of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Helpmann later recalled that the introduction came via his father, who was on a business trip to Melbourne where he met Pavlova who was dancing there. For the Olympic gymnast, see Anna Pavlova (gymnast). ... This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre (also known as The CBD). ...

"Cinderella" ballet.

In 1927 Helpmann first appeared professionally, in Sydney, but opportunities to dance at any serious level in Australia were limited. In 1933 he went to London and joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (which later became Sadler's Wells) and later the Royal Ballet. He was principal dancer from 1933 to 1950. While he was not among the ranks of the great male dancers, he was certainly highly accomplished. Here he formed his great professional partnership with Margot Fonteyn. Together they created many roles in ballets choreographed by Frederick Ashton, including a comical pantomime-style ballet of "Cinderella" with Ashton and Helpmann creating the roles of the ugly stepsisters for the ballet. Image File history File links Cinderella-ballet-Ashton-Helpmann. ... Image File history File links Cinderella-ballet-Ashton-Helpmann. ... Cinderella ballet — features Antoinette Sibley as Cinderella and Anthony Dowell as The Prince, with Frederick Ashton and Robert Helpmann as the two Ugly Stepsisters (DVD cover) This version of the Cinderella ballet, using Sergei Prokofievs Cinderella music, and re-choreographed by choreographer Frederick Ashton, is a comic ballet. ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Poster for the Royal Ballet performance of Swan Lake at the Lyric Theatre in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Australia The Royal Ballet, is based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England, and is the leading ballet company in the United Kingdom. ... The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera The English National Opera (ENO) is Londons second opera company, after the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. ... The Royal Ballet, which is based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, is the leading ballet company in the United Kingdom. ... Margot Fonteyn in 1948. ... Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (September 17, 1904 - October 18, 1988) began his career as a dancer but is largely remembered as a choreographer. ... For other uses, see Pantomime (disambiguation). ... Cinderella ballet — features Antoinette Sibley as Cinderella and Anthony Dowell as The Prince, with Frederick Ashton and Robert Helpmann as the two Ugly Stepsisters (DVD cover) This version of the Cinderella ballet, using Sergei Prokofievs Cinderella music, and re-choreographed by choreographer Frederick Ashton, is a comic ballet. ...

The highpoint of Helpmann's career as a dancer was the Royal Ballet's tour of the United States in 1949, with Fonteyn and Helpmann dancing the leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty. The production caused a sensation, which made the names of both the Royal Ballet and its two principals; public and press alike referred to them affectionately as Bobby and Margot. Although Helpmann was past his best as a dancer, the tour opened doors for him in the United States as an actor and director. Sir Edward Burne-Jones painted The Sleeping Beauty. ...

Later career

In the 1940s, as he passed his peak as a dancer, Helpmann turned to production and to acting. He produced his own ballets — Comus (1942), Hamlet (1942), Miracle in the Gorbals (1946), Caravan (146), Adam Zero (1946) and The White Devil (1947). He performed roles from Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival and at the Old Vic theatre company in London, playing the title role in Hamlet two years after having danced the same part. He also appeared in many films, including the two Powell and Pressburger ballet films The Red Shoes (1948), for which he choreographed the opening sequence, and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). He co-directed with Rudolf Nureyev and played the title role in the ballet-film Don Quixote (1973) which was produced in Melbourne. One of his most recognized screen roles was that of the sinister Child Catcher in the family classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), his performance in the film rating in Empire magazine as among the 100 most frightening ever filmed. Another family film he starred in was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972), in which he portrayed the Mad Hatter. Shakespeare redirects here. ... The Stratford Festival of Canada is a summer-long celebration of theatre. ... The exterior of the Old Vic from the corner of Baylis Road and Waterloo Road. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Powell and Pressburger were a British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers. ... Helpmann, Shearer and Massine in The Red Shoes. ... This article is about the film. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article is about the fictional character and novel. ... This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre (also known as The CBD). ... Richard OBrien is the Child Catcher from the premiere cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Flemings book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. ... Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Emap Consumer Media since July 1989. ... Alices Adventures in Wonderland is a 1972 British musical film based on the Lewis Carroll novel of the same name. ... For the Batman supervillain, see Mad Hatter (comics). ...

In 1965 Helpmann returned to Australia to become co-director of the Australian Ballet. Since he was gay and flamboyant, his arrival in what was at that time a very conservative country caused some consternation. Australians were proud of his international fame, but not sure what to make of him personally. He did not endear himself with the comment: "I don't despair about the cultural scene in Australia because there isn't one here to despair about." Australian Ballet is a leading Ballet dance company in Australia. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ...

His most significant contribution to the development of theatre in Australia was his time with the Australian Ballet. Here he joined Peggy van Praagh at the helm of the fledgling company, as her co-director until 1974 and sole director until 1976. He produced ballets including Sun Music, Elektra and The Merry Widow. This was not his first encounter with The Merry Widow - he had directed a production of the operetta in His Majesty's Theatre in London in 1944, with Madge Elliott as "Anna" and Cyril Ritchard as "Danilo". In the 1930s he had also danced in a production with Gladys Moncrieff as "Anna". Dame Margaret Peggy van Praagh, DBE, OBE (b. ... Australian ballet star Sir Robert Helpmann obtained permission from the Léhar Estate to create a ballet based on The Merry Widow operetta. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Cyril Ritchard was born December 1, 1897 in Sydney, Australia and died December 18, 1977 in Chicago, Illinois. ... Gladys Moncrieff (1892–1976) was an Australian singer born in Bundaberg, Queensland. ...

The avant-garde nature and sexual overtones of much of his work unsettled many Australians. His most controversial work was the production of the first fully Australian ballet, The Display (1964), with music by Malcolm Williamson. This used the courtship dance of the lyrebird as a metaphor for Australian male attitudes. Helpmann dedicated the ballet to his friend American actress Katharine Hepburn, who wanted to see a male lyrebird dancing during her visit to Australia in 1955. The novelist Patrick White wrote the scenario, but Helpmann disliked it intensely. It was rejected, causing a furious row between these two extremely opinionated artists. Both the subject matter and the presentation of the ballet were well in advance of Australian tastes at the time. Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson CBE, AO (November 21, 1931 – March 2, 2003) was an Australian composer. ... Species Menura novaehollandiae Menura alberti A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, most notable for their extraordinary ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. ... Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress of film, television and stage. ... For the football player, see Patrick White (football player). ...

In 1965 he was named "Australian of the Year" and he was knighted in 1968. By the 1970s, Australia had grown used to Helpmann's flamboyant persona. His appointment as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival from 1970 to 1976 was well-received. People of Melbourne honoured him as their 1974 King of Moomba.^[2] The Australian of the Year Awards commenced in 1960. ... For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). ... The Adelaide Festival of Arts is an arts festival held biennially in South Australian capital of Adelaide. ... For the fictional creature Moomba from the final fantasy series, see http://en. ...

In 1981 Helpmann worked with the Australian Opera, directing Alcina by Handel, a production later re-staged with Joan Sutherland in the title role. In 1983 he celebrated his sixtieth year in theatre with involvement in productions in the three main auditoriums of the Sydney Opera House: in the Concert Hall he directed Anson Austin and Glenys Fowles in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette for the Australian Opera; in the Opera Theatre he re-choreographed The Display for the Australian Ballet; and in the Drama Theatre he starred for the Sydney Theatre Company in the world premiere of Justin Fleming's play The Cobra. Helpmann's portrayal of the elderly Lord Alfred Douglas, reflecting bitterly on his notorious youthful relationship with Oscar Wilde, was unforgettable. Alcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... Dame Joan Sutherland OM, AC, DBE (born November 7, 1926) is an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the bel canto revival of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Categories: Stub | 1818 births | 1893 deaths | Opera composers | Romantic composers | French musicians ... Roméo et Juliette is a symphonie dramatique, a large scale work in French for mixed voices and orchestra, by French composer Hector Berlioz. ... The Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is one of Australias most well-known and notable theatre companies operating from the Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House. ... Justin Fleming (1953- ) is a playwright and writer. ... Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945) was a poet, a translator and a prose writer, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ...

Before his death in Sydney in 1986, he did work on a short family cartoon film, Don Quixote of La Mancha, where he provided the voice of the main character Don Quixote. This article is about the fictional character and novel. ...

His obituaries in the Australian media were suitably laudatory, but also reserved. The country paid him the highest final recognition it could by honouring him with a state funeral in Sydney, the eulogy calling him "a genius, an outstanding communicator of unique inspiration and insight. He asserted his rights to pursue a path that improved the quality of life of the nation, and defeated the common herd of detractors."

A blunt obituary in The Times in London, which characterised his appearance as "strange, haunting and rather frightening", and portrayed him as "a homosexual of the proselytizing kind" whose impact upon a company was "dangerous as well as stimulating", created fresh headlines in Australia.^{[citation needed]} The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ...

A play about Helpmann has been performed in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Personality

According to the novel based upon the life of Margot Fonteyn, Helpmann is characterized as being a very hard man, but also a very kind one. Fonteyn said herself that out of all her partners, Helpmann was her favourite. He was also extremely confident and always pushed Fonteyn to her highest potential, and it says that Helpmann would stand up to anyone, that he could look into the face of the devil himself and laugh.

Personal life

In 1938, Helpmann had met a young Oxford undergraduate while fulfilling an invitation to dance at the university. Immediately drawn to the handsome and intelligent Michael Benthall, the pair formed a relationship that was to last for 36 years until Benthall's untimely death in 1974. The couple lived and often worked together quite openly for the time. Although devastated by the loss of his longtime companion and collaborator, "Sir Bobby" continued to act, direct and produce with his legendary theatrical flair until his death.^[1]

Further reading

• Kathrine Sorley Walker, Robert Helpmann, An Illustrated study of his work, 1957
• Elizabeth Salter, Helpmann : The Authorised Biography of Sir Robert Helpmann, 1978
• Frank Van Straten, OAM, "Helpmann: A Knight To Remember"
• Anna Bemrose,"A Servant of Art: Helpmann in Australia", PHD Thesis, 2003, University of Queensland.
• Tyler Coppin, "Lyrebird: Tales of Helpmann", A play
• Mary Helpmann, "The Helpmann Family Story 1796-1964", 1967
• Caryl Brahams, "Robert Helpmann (Choreographer)", 1943
• Gordon Anthony, "Studies of Robert Helpmann", 1946

References

External links

• Robert Helpmann at the Internet Movie Database
• The Helpmann Awards The Australian Entertainment Industry Association's annual awards are named in Helpmann's honour.
• Robert Helpmann (1909-1986) - Australia Dancing
• A Dash of Helpmann - NLA News
• Frederick Ashton's "Cinderella" ballet
• Josef Weinberger: The Creation of The Merry Widow Ballet
• "The Display" (1964) - Australia Dancing