Vincent Ball

Early life and marriage Vincent Martin Ball was born in the town of Wee Waa, New South Wales, on 4 December 1923, one of eight children

Ball married Sydney actress Doreen Harrop in 1949; she was also his elocution teacher and taught speech therapies. They had three children and reside at Chittaway Point, a suburb on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

Military service Ball left his job with the Australian division of the now defunct British firm General Electric Company after the Second World War broke out and, after military training in Canada, became a wireless air gunner with the Royal Australian Air Force, serving in Britain.

He was working as a bricklayer, when he then won a scholarship to study drama at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Having moved to Stowting, Kent, he appeared in supporting and uncredited film roles in the UK for the next two and a half decades. He was a juvenile lead in the TV films Rain Before Seven, Barnet's Folly and Nitro, before moving into slightly larger parts in films such as A Town Like Alice, Robbery Under Arms, Sea of Sand, and Danger Within. In 1969, he played Cecil Carpenter in Where Eagles Dare, alongside Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

His television credits in Britain include Gym Teacher, Jenkins, Compact, Man in a Suitcase, The Troubleshooters, Dixon of Dock Green, and a recurring role on the long-running UK soap opera Crossroads.

Acting career in Australia Ball who was then living in Canterbury, Kent, He was soon very busy acting in films, theatre and television.

Ball is best known for his work in Australian films and television series, including film roles in Breaker Morant, Phar Lap and Muriel's Wedding. His credits in Australian television serials include Cop Shop, The Sullivans, The Young Doctors, The Flying Doctors, Grass Roots and All Saints. His many roles in Australian mini-series or made-for-television films include Against the Wind, and the epic Anzacs.

In 2014, aged 91, he came out of retirement briefly to play a Second World War veteran named Tom Knight, in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, whom series regular Alf Stewart (played by Ray Meagher) meets in hospital. The scenes went to air during April 2015, just before Anzac Day.

Publications (selected) Title Year/Release Publisher ISBN

Filmography Film

Television