Bud Tingwell on playing Churchill

Antipodean Andy · Nov 12, 2008

Missed the show unfortunately. Would have liked to watch it but was on two weeks ago. Most, if not all, of Tingwell's recce flights were in the Med flying out of Egypt etc.

Bud Tingwell on playing Churchill, and meeting Menzies | Herald Sun

BUD Tingwell has played many characters in his 85 years, but he had a particular thrill taking on Churchill, a man he first imitated 60 years before.

Rumours of Charles ‘‘Bud'' Tingwell's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Yes, he recently had heart valve replacement surgery and it's true he's had other health battles over the past couple of years, but the 85-year-old sounds positively sprightly as he chats about his role as former British prime minister Winston Churchill in the drama documentary Menzies and Churchill at War.

In the past fortnight alone, he says, he has acted in two student films, been to Perth for a screenplay reading, attended a NIDA conference in Sydney, introduced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra, and given a talk for carers in Melbourne.

He's also doing the final proof of a book, Charles ‘‘Bud'' Tingwell's War Stories.

‘‘One day they'll (filmmakers) wake up and say, ‘He's got bloody old and sick a lot in recent years','' Tingwell says with a laugh.

‘‘A director mate of mine rang to say he'd heard from someone that I was dying. I suppose once you get to my age, you get close.''

Casting Tingwell as Churchill is a nice piece of irony.

He was renowned for his wicked impersonations of the British prime minister when he was a young Spitfire pilot stationed in England during World War II.

Tingwell did long-range photographic reconnaissance operations for the Australian Air Force -- photographing enemy targets before and after bombing raids -- and used his impersonations to blow off steam after the dangerous missions.

‘‘I remember imitating Churchill, Menzies and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the mess at night when I was about 19,'' he recalls. ‘‘We were all rude about him (Churchill), especially if we'd had a few beers.

‘‘It (being cast as Churchill) is a bit like being asked to play God. You don't get those parts. I thought, ‘What a wonderful fluky thing to be available to do this'.''

The documentary, which features voice-over veteran Matthew King as Menzies, centres on four months in 1941 when Menzies went to London to try to convince Churchill to bolster the defence of Australia against a feared attack by the Japanese.

Finally privy to Churchill's wartime cabinet meetings, Menzies was shocked to find Churchill surrounded by unquestioning yes-men and making rash decisions which had catastrophic results for Australian troops.

When things turned nasty for the Allies in North Africa and Churchill favoured action in Greece rather than helping Australia by fortifying Singapore, the pair became embroiled in an argument over the strategic direction of the war.

‘‘It is easy to understand Churchill's block against anyone coming in to interfere in what he was doing,'' Tingwell says.

‘‘He knew that the Germans were waiting to attack and here comes this bloke from Australia saying, ‘We want a lot of planes and troops because we reckon Japan might attack us'. The
Japanese hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour yet so Churchill could be forgiven for saying, ‘Get stuffed, we have bigger problems'.''

The filmmakers had access to Menzies' diaries and home movies.

Tingwell spent weeks poring over the wartime prime minister's speeches: ‘‘If you're in my age group, you can't not know a lot about Churchill.

‘‘He was a strange bloke. He wasn't popular with all sorts of people, including his own colleagues in the House of Commons.

‘‘But he was really forthright with what he wanted and is credited with sort of winning the war -- though I'm not sure he did it all.''

And Bud Tingwell met Robert Menzies ‘‘three or four times'' after World War II and says it was disconcerting working with documentary castmate Matthew King because King looked so much like Menzies.

‘‘As a junior radio actor, before I joined the air force, I was very conscious about the way he (Menzies) spoke,'' Tingwell says. ‘‘I was intrigued by his posh pronunciations. To me it was as phony as a two-bob watch.

‘‘Then when I met him (the first time), the war was just over and I was doing a movie somewhere.

"He came and visited the set. He was an aloof so-and-so. It was like meeting someone from the royal family.''

Menzies and Churchill at War, PG
ABC1, Thursday, 8.30pm
Historical doco drama
Duration: 1 hour
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