Lee RobinsonOAM (22 February 1923 – 22 September 2003) was an Australian producer, director and screenwriter who was Australia's most prolific filmmaker of the 1950s and part of the creative team that produced the late 1960s international hit television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
Biography
Robinson was born in Petersham, New South Wales and left school aged 12. He worked at the Daily Telegraph as a copy boy, and wrote short stories prior to the war. He first entered film as a member of the Australian Army History Unit[1] where he filmed Australian troops in Rabaul and East Timor.[2] His commanding officer in the History Unit was the author and screenwriter Jon Cleary.[3]
Robinson had known actor Chips Rafferty from writing radio serials for him. Together with George Heath they formed a company called Platypus Productions with the goal of producing Australian films that Robinson would direct and Rafferty could appear in. The Australian Government put a £10,000 limit on any non-essential Australian company, forcing them to make their first film The Phantom Stockman (1953) for that amount.[5] The movie was a success, launching the career of Robinson discovery Victoria Shaw and Robinson found out that modestly made films with good advertising made their money back.[6] He also felt that a film with an unconventional setting should have a conventional story line.
Rafferty and Robinson then formed a new company, Southern International Productions, and made the popular King of the Coral Sea (1954), which marked the feature film debut of Rod Taylor. This was followed by Walk into Paradise (1956), an Australian/French international co-production which American showman Joseph E. Levine acquired for American release and shrewdly retitled Walk into Hell. The film became the most successful Australian film up to that time.[7] In 1959, he was also asked to film a series of Sydney rock concerts, later released as Rock 'n' Roll, which today provides a rare record of early Australian rock performers.[8]
He became involved with Waratah Productions making Adventure Unlimited.[9]
Fauna Productions
With feature film production drying up, Robinson moved from directing and writing to producing. In 1966 he formed Fauna Productions with John McCallum to produce the television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Robinson had been advised that a children's show would sell well globally.[10] Robinson was inspired by Flipper, changing the dolphin into a kangaroo.[11] The series was filmed in colour before Australia had colour television. Robinson directed a feature film of the series called The Intruders (1969) or Skippy and the Intruders.[citation needed]
Throughout the 1970s, he concentrated on television production. In the early 1980s, he returned to feature films, producing two films based on the activities of Z Special Unit during World War II.[citation needed]
Personal life
Robinson and his wife, Gwenyth, remained together from their marriage in 1940 until her death in 1968. They had five children.[12]
^"Railroad Out". The Sunday Times. Perth. 11 March 1945. p. 10 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO "THE SUNDAY TIMES". Retrieved 30 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
