Norman Kaye

Music

Kaye's musical abilities were noticed by A. E. Floyd,^[3] the organist of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, who gave him free tuition in recognition of his potential as an organist.^[1]

Kaye travelled to England and then France to study the organ with Pierre Cochereau at Notre-Dame de Paris and he won a Premier Prix for conducting at the Nice Conservatoire. He returned to Australia due to feeling lonely and homesick. Back in Melbourne, he continued his pursuit of music, including as the acting organist of St Paul's Cathedral.^[1]

Teaching

Kaye was the choirmaster and the music teacher at Caulfield Grammar School, a private school in Melbourne, from 1958 to 1977,^[4] during which time he "[laid] the foundation for [the school's] … high reputation on the world of music [and it was his] enthusiasm and constructive knowledge [that] made choral singing and the playing of orchestral instruments activities of a central rather than peripheral importance to the school."^[5] It was the security of a teacher's salary that allowed Kaye to explore the acting world.^[6]

Acting

With a passion for acting, Kaye began his career playing minor unpaid roles in small theatres, when television was still in its infancy.^[1] He did not however start acting full time until he was in his forties.^[6]

In 1967, Kaye met director Paul Cox, who at the time was a photographer, taking production stills at St Martin's Theatre. He ended up appearing in 16 of Cox's films,^[6] beginning with small roles in Illuminations (1975)^[7] and Kostas (1979), before sharing the lead with Wendy Hughes in Cox's 1982 film Lonely Hearts^[7] which saw him nominated for an AFI Award. He also played the lead in Man of Flowers (1983), this time winning an AFI Award. He appeared in minor roles in many subsequent Cox films, including Innocence (2000).

Other early films in which Kaye appeared included Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and Inside Looking Out (1977),^[7] His film career continued in the 1980s with roles in Buddies (1983) and Unfinished Business (1986).^[7] In 1987, he appeared in mystery horror Frenchman’s Farm with John Meillon and comedy Hungry Heart alongside Nick Carrafa before acting in drama film Boundaries of the Heart opposite Wendy Hughes the following year..^[7] He also appeared in the 1988 documentary Vincent – The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh with Gabi Trsek.

Kaye appeared in film roles well into the 1990s, with Turtle Beach (1992), western Broken Highway (1993) and Exile (1994) both with Aden Young and Bad Boy Bubby (1993) and Lust and Revenge (1996), both alongside Nicholas Hope.^[7] In 1997, he appeared in Oscar and Lucinda with Cate Blanchett and Baz Luhrmann’s musical epic Moulin Rouge! (2001), opposite Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.^[7]

Kaye's television credits included medical drama The Flying Doctors, cult prison drama Prisoner, police procedural series Homicide, crime drama Wildside and miniseries Power Without Glory, based on the historical novel by Frank Hardy.

He also wrote the scores for many films, including Lonely Hearts^[1] and the Burton Pugach documentary Crazy Love (2007).^[7]

Kaye is the subject of Cox's biographical film The Remarkable Mr Kaye (2005), a tribute to their long standing friendship and working relationship.^[8]

Film

Television

As actor

As crew

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