Bill Kerr

Bill Kerr was born on 10 June 1922 in Cape Town, South Africa, to an Australian performing arts family. He grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, where he started his career as a child actor on radio and film. He served in the Australian army during the Second World War and toured with his friend Peter Finch. He moved to Britain in 1947 and became a popular performer in variety shows and radio comedy. He was best known for his role as Hancock's Australian lodger in Hancock's Half Hour, where he displayed his deadpan delivery and laconic humour. He also appeared in several films, such as The Dam Busters (1955), The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963), The Night My Number Came Up (1955) and Gallipoli (1981). He returned to Australia in 1979 and continued to work as a character actor on television and film. He died on 28 August 2014 at the age of 92 from natural causes¹.