Biography
Veteran Australian actor John Ewart began his career promisingly at age four, playing 'Dopey' in a 3XY radio production of 'Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs'. After numerous radio shows and theatre performances, at 18 he impressed legendary filmmaker Charles Chauval and was cast in his film debut as the youngest son in The Rugged O'Riordans (1949). When television launched in Australia in 1956, John hosted a live children's show on Channel 2 Sydney during its first week, which ran for eight years.
He also appeared on variety programs like The Barry Crocker Show (1966), as well as panel games and quizzes. Alongside his extensive film and television work, John enjoyed great success on stage, performing in numerous productions for companies including the Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, The Old Tote, Independent Theatre, Phillip Street Theatre, Metropolitan Theatre, and Comedy Theatre Restaurant. Notable plays included 'A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down', 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane', 'Don's Party', 'Behind the Curtain', and 'Tribute'.
In 1975, he starred in The Last of the Australians, Crawford Productions' first sitcom and the first Australian sitcom filmed before a live studio audience. Although John appeared in many Australian television shows, he longed for success in film. He acted in over 30 movies—more than Errol Flynn and many of the era's leading stars.
In 1982, John celebrated 50 years as an actor at the Hilton's Cliveden Room, surrounded by friends including British actor Robin Nedwell and a distinguished group of Australian film and TV colleagues. At the time, he was well-known for his ongoing role in The Restless Years (1977). He remarked that he had done everything except the circus.
In 1983, John starred in the Australian Christmas classic Bush Christmas (1983) alongside a young Nicole Kidman in her first feature role and John Howard. However, the film he remained most proud of was The Picture Show Man (1977), co-starring his friend the late John Meillon, Rod Taylor, and Judy Morris. For this role, John won the 1977 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor. He hoped the film would launch an international career and tried his luck in Hollywood but returned disappointed yet undeterred. Over the next three years, he made eight more films, including the critically acclaimed Newsfront (1978), along with numerous TV appearances.
In 1978, while starring in the television series The Truckies, John was hospitalized at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney with severe hepatitis. Doctors gave him a 50% chance of survival. He lost two stone during his illness but recovered within a month. Due to liver damage, John had to give up drinking.
At age 62, in 1991, John was diagnosed with throat cancer. In a TV Week interview following major surgery, he said he coped with the illness by laughing a lot. In his final weeks, doctors advised him to leave his Sydney home and return to hospital. With only hours to live, a marriage celebrant was arranged, and he married his longtime partner Jane Fennell. Fennell was known to a generation of Australian children as Miss Jane on the children's show Mr. Squiggle and Friends (1959). Her father, veteran actor Willie Fennell, was John's closest friend. Jane had known John since she was 15, and he became a close confidant after a severe car accident caused her career-ending facial injuries. Though surgery restored much of her appearance, she never returned to the industry.
After John's passing, Australian actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell made a financial gift to John's former school, Scotch College in Melbourne, to honor John's contributions to the entertainment industry. John is survived by four children and four grandchildren.
