Robert Helpmann

Robert Helpmann was an Australian ballet dancer, choreographer, actor, and director. His career encompassed activities in ballet, theatre, and motion pictures. Helpmann first appeared on the stage in 1923 as a dancer in musical comedy, and then, after seeing Anna Pavlova dance, he joined Pavlova’s company and toured Australia and New Zealand. He remained in Australia for several years as a dancer and actor in the troupe managed by J.C. Williamson. In 1933 he went to London to study and later that year joined the Vic-Wells (later Sadler’s Wells and now the Royal) Ballet under its creator, Ninette de Valois. He became one of the company’s leading men, partnering Alicia Markova and later Margot Fonteyn. When Frederick Ashton, the company’s chief choreographer, was called up for military service in the Second World War, Helpmann took over from him while continuing as a principal dancer. Helpmann danced in the ballet films The Red Shoes (1948), which he also choreographed, and Tales of Hoffman (1950). As a choreographer, he created ballets that were strongly theatrical and often contained elements of violence. Hamlet (1942) was a study in motivation; the ballet began with Hamlet’s death and probed backward into his memories and last thoughts. Helpmann created the leading role, as he did in such other of his works as Miracle in the Gorbals (1944) and Adam Zero (1946). In 1965 he became co-artistic director of the Australian Ballet, a post he held until 1976. Throughout his ballet career Helpmann was active in the theatre, both as an actor and as a producer and director. His first important part came in 1937–38 as Oberon in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and the title role in Hamlet were among the other Shakespearean roles he played. Helpmann also appeared in a wide variety of films including One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), Henry V (1944), Patrick (1978), and the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He died on 28 September 1986 at the age of 77 from pneumonia at a hospital in Sydney.