Ross Higgins, Australian actor, Died at 86

  Actors

Ross Higgins was born on June 14, 1930, and died on October 7, 2016.
He was an Australian vaudevillian, character actor, television host, comedian, singer and voice actor.
Ross was best known for his role as Ted Bulpitt in the 1980s television situation comedy series Kingswood Country.
His entertainment industry career began in 1946, when he took a cadet ship at Sydney’s 2GB commercial radio station at the age of 16.
Which led to an on-air announcing position and hosting of breakfast and, later, evening variety shows.
He was a trained singer, Ross soon began recording singles which lifted his profile around Australia.
Higgins’ flair for comedy came to the fore in the 1950s when he became a cast member of the very popular The Jack Davey Show.
Higgins moved between commercial radio and the ABC, touring the country, hosting and singing with the ABC show band.
This was during the period he performed with luminaries such as Peter Dawson, Slim Dusty and Mel Tormé.
Higgins’ radio career reached a peak in the mid-1950s and, when television arrived in 1956, he successfully made the transition, appearing on variety shows, hosting game shows (7 Network) and in the early ’60s on Singalong and Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music (9 Network).
Ross Higgins had an on-going role playing a priest in early Australian soap opera Motel in 1968, and taking guest roles in various series including Division 4 and Skippy.
For most of the 1970s, Higgins and voice-over colleague Kevin Golsby dominated Australian airwaves in the voiceover field.
He played a straight dramatic role in the soap opera Richmond Hill (1988).
He used his vocal talents on thousands of projects during his 60 years in radio and television, including recording the song “Monster Mash” for ABC For Kids Video Hits, recording an album of himself reading the classic Australian children’s story “Blinky Bill”.
He was ill before his death.
Ross Higgins passed away at 86 years old.