Ross Higgins

Ross Higgins (14 June 1930 – 7 October 2016) was an Australian vaudevillian, character actor, television host, comedian, singer and voice actor. He was best known for his role as Ted Bullpitt in the 1980s television situation comedy series Kingswood Country and brief revival Bullpitt!. He was also a commercial advertiser who provided the voice of animated character "Louie the Fly" in the television ad campaign for Mortein, over a 50-year period (the longest running such ad in Australia) as well as Mr. Pound, when decimal currency was first introduced in Australia.

Career Radio Higgins' entertainment industry career began in 1946, when he took a cadetship at Sydney's 2GB commercial radio station at the age of 16. This led to an on-air announcing position and hosting of breakfast and, later, evening variety shows.

He subsequently joined the ABC working in the Light Entertainment Department. A trained singer, he soon began recording singles which lifted his profile around Australia. His flair for comedy came to the fore in the 1950s when he became a cast member of the very popular The Jack Davey Show. He moved between commercial radio and the ABC, touring the country, hosting and singing with the ABC show band. It was during this period he performed with Peter Dawson, Slim Dusty and Mel Tormé. His radio career reached a peak in the mid-1950s and, when television arrived in 1956, he successfully made the transition, appearing on variety shows, hosting game shows on the 7 Network and in the early 1960s on Singalong and Bobby Limb's Sound of Music on the 9 Network.

Recording Higgins used his vocal talents on thousands of projects during his 60 years in radio and television, including recording the song "Monster Mash" for ABC For Kids Video Hits, and two albums of the classic Australian children's story "Blinky Bill".

Voice over During the 1960s, Higgins consolidated his position as a leading voiceover artist, creating character voices for TV and radio ads and cartoons. His earliest character voice—"Louie the Fly" (an animated fly for the Mortein fly-spray commercials), Mr. Pound

Theatre During the mid-1960s, Higgins worked in theatre, doing several back-to-back seasons at Sydney's Menzies Theatre Restaurant—a popular nightspot where musicals were staged under the direction of Hayes Gordon.

Television Higgins played Rev. Larcombe in two episodes of the soap opera Motel in 1968. He also had guest roles in various series, including Division 4 and Skippy. Throughout the 1970s, he and voiceover colleague Kevin Golsby dominated Australian airwaves. While enjoying this success, another break-through role came in 1977 when he and Golsby were key regular performers in sketch comedy series The Naked Vicar Show. He played various characters in the series, which lasted two seasons. In 1980, a spin-off series based on a bombastic Holden Kingswood driving character he had portrayed in one sketch of The Naked Vicar Show was created. Titled Kingswood Country, the series had a successful five-year run, completing five-and-a-half seasons.

As well as being known as the voice of Mortein's "Louie the Fly", during the 1980s Higgins did TV commercials for one of their main competitors in the Australian market, Pea Beu.

Higgins played a straight dramatic role in the soap opera Richmond Hill (1988). His character, a dour policeman, was the show's main authority figure. The series was cancelled at the end of 1988. In 1992, he starred in the Ten Network's sitcom Late for School (which launched the TV careers of Matthew Newton and Stephen Curry). Higgins' final series saw him reprise the Ted Bullpitt character in the situation comedy Bullpitt! in 1997, which had two seasons on the 7 Network. Kingswood Country has since found new audiences via cable TV, DVD and YouTube.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1977 Dot and the Kangaroo Willie Wagtail (voice) Animated feature film 1984 Epic Voice Animated feature film 1991 The Magic Riddle Philippe's singing voice Animated feature film 1992 Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala The Frogs (voices) Animated feature film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1968 Motel Reverend Larcombe TV series 1969 Division 4 Guest role TV series 1968-1969 Skippy Guest role TV series 1977 The Naked Vicar Show Various characters TV series, 2 seasons 1980 Kingswood Country Ted Bullpitt TV series 1988 Richmond Hill Dan Costello TV series 1992 Late for School Stan Price TV series 1997 Bullpitt! Ted Bullpitt TV series, 2 seasons 2001 Pizza Vietnam Vet TV series, Cameo

Discography Albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositions AUS The Highwayman. Highlights from the Australian Musical Comedy by Eddie Samuels (with Jan Mazurus, Valda Bagnall, Babs McKinnon, Bob Gibson and His Orchestra) Released: 1964 Format: LP Label: World Record Club (7082) - Eddie's Alphabet Released: 1968 Format: LP Label: Parlophone (PMEO 9441) - The Naked Vicar Show (with Noeline Brown and Kev Golsby ) Released: 1975 Format: LP Label: EMI (EMC-2545) - Son Of Naked Vicar (with Noeline Brown and Kev Golsby ) Released: 1976 Format: LP Label: EMI (EMC-2572) 55 The Adventures of Blinky Bill (with Dorothy Wall) Released: 1976 Format: LP Label: M7 (MLX-117) - The Further Adventures of Blinky Bill (with Dorothy Wall) Released: 1977 Format: LP Label: M7 (MLX-167) - Live from The Madge Burrows Room! / The Naked Vicar Show (with Noeline Brown, Kev Golsby, Colin McEwan and Julie McGregor) Released: 1978 Format: LP Label: EMI (EMC-2671) 84

Singles Higgins recorded a 7" single version of "Monster Mash" for ABC Kids (Australia) in 1989.

Personal life and death Higgins and his wife Nadine had four children, including actor Brendan Higgins.

Higgins died of unspecified causes on 7 October 2016, aged 86. He had been ill for some time and had been hospitalized for several weeks.