John Unicomb

Unicomb was the eldest son of Morris Britain Unicomb (born 14 July 1900) and Beatrice Mary Unicomb, née Warburton (died 11 August 1990) of Dulwich Hill, New South Wales, who encouraged the development of their sons' vocal talents.^[1]

He had early successes in elocution and recitation competitions in eisteddfods.^[2] He started an Arts course at Sydney University but abandoned his studies for a career in radio drama.^[3]

Unicomb began acting as a child with ABC Radio's Children's Session in 1936.^[4]

Unicomb played Terry O'Riordan in Chauvel's 1949 film Sons of Matthew, becoming friends with John Ewart, whom he knew from his days working on the ABC Children's Session.^[5]

In 1951, Unicomb had a small part in the film Captain Thunderbolt,^[6] played Oswald in a well-reviewed^[7] King Lear for John Alden and, famously, an athletic Hamlet^[8] in Robin Lovejoy's production at Sydney's Metropolitan Theatre.^[9] On the strength of his performance in Hamlet, Unicomb won a place in Ngaio Marsh's company, touring New Zealand.^[10]

Unicomb relocated to the United Kingdom, to further his acting career.^[11] Around 1956, he appeared (as ‘father’) alongside wife Fernande Glyn (as 'mother') in Dennis Driscoll's Off the Deep End, for the Colwyn Bay Repertory Theatre in Wales.^[12]

In 1958,^[13][14][15] the pair returned to Australia, where they appeared in several productions together. In mid-1959, Unicomb appeared with Glyn as part of J. C. Williamson's Shakespeare Company in a Melbourne production of The Merchant of Venice in Melbourne.^[16] The following year, they appeared in a regular radio comedy, Mr. and Mrs. – as part of Omnibus on Sydney's 2GB.^[17]

In late 1962, both Glyn and Unicomb had lead roles together, alongside David Hutcheson and Martine Messager in another J. C. Williamson’s production, a play adapted from Marcel Achard's L'Idiote, called A Shot in the Dark,^[18] a French comedy which ran for nearly four months in Sydney and Melbourne.^[13] In late 1964, the pair were again cast together in the satire, How the West Was Lost.^[19] Around 1965, Unicomb and Glyn were guest stars together on The Mavis Bramston Show.^[20] Unicomb later worked as a comedian.^[11]

Unicomb moved to Tasmania,^[21] where he worked in theatre for four decades as an actor, director and theatre manager.^[22] In 1972, he founded the Tasmanian Theatre Company in which he worked as actor, manager and executive director until 1986.^[21] He was appointed general manager of Hobart's Theatre Royal the same year, a position he held until his retirement in 1994.^[21] Unicomb continued to work as a freelance actor, publicist and manager after this time, and regularly conducted guided tours of the Theatre Royal.^[21]

Unicomb met a theatrical milestone in 2010, when he marked his 600th performance, playing the lead role of Aegeon in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, as part of the inaugural Shakespeare Festival at University of Tasmania, Hobart.^[23][4]

An audio recording of Unicomb's theatre recollections is held by the National Library of Australia in Canberra.^[21]

Unicomb met actress Fernande Glyn when they were playing lead roles in rival Shakespearian productions in Sydney.^[24] A year later, the couple relocated to London, where they were married in their first few weeks there.^[13][24] Wedding guests included Leo McKern and Ralph Peterson.^[25]

The couple remained in the UK for six years, spending the first two years in London, working in stage, radio, and television.^[24] They welcomed son Michael around the end of 1953,^[26] after which time, they bought a caravan and toured England, Wales, and Scotland with theatrical groups.^[24]

Unicomb and Glyn returned to Australia in August 1958, where their second son David was born about six years after Michael.^[13] By the end of the 1960s, the couple had divorced.^[27]

Unicomb met his second wife, actress Gillian, starring opposite her in a stage production of London Assurance. Together they relocated to Tasmania.^[28]

Unicomb was involved in the protests against Australian involvement in the Vietnam War.^[29]

Unicomb died in 2012,^[21] at the age of 834 after a short battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife Gillian and three sons.^[22]