Barry Crocker – The Last of the Entertainers Book Review

Can you picture (no pun intended) a little boy from the bush—Geelong in Victoria, Australia, actually—who finds a Kodak Brownie box camera in his grandpa’s magnificent dark brown oak wardrobe and instantly falls in love with the art of taking photographs. Little did he know at the time that he would one day be at the other end of the camera as a world-famous ‘all-round entertainer’ rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities on the planet.

So, how did Barry Crocker go from aspiring photographer to entertainer extraordinaire? There are no spoiler alerts here, so you’ll have to read his autobiography, Last of the Entertainers: A Star-Studded Story Across Sixty-Five Years of Television, Stage, Screen and in Recording to find out the juicy gossip.

But let’s start with an introduction to whet your appetite.

Barry Hugh Crocker AM was born on the 4th of November 1935, and lays claim to being The Last of the Entertainers—Australian entertainers that is. He is an Australian Gold Logie-winner, a television personality, singer, storyteller extraordinaire, comic, and a variety entertainer who can dance a jig or two—maybe I should say could dance a jig or two. Sorry, Barry, but since you’ll be turning 90 this year, it might be time to slow down, yeah?

The impression I got of Barry after reading his autobiography, Last of the Entertainers, was that ‘slow down’ wasn’t in his vocabulary. His passion and hard work earned him many awards—one of the most prestigious being the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1987 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to the Australian entertainment industry.

Reading the Last of the Entertainers was like sitting down with a good friend and have them pour out their heart and soul to you, sprinkled with good humour and an engaging storytelling style that’s as smooth as silk to read. Barry gives an honest insight into the highs and lows, personal triumphs encountered in showbiz, the pitfalls, disappointments, deceptions, and misconceptions.

If you’re a whippersnapper reading this, pay attention. Even though times have changed, especially in the entertainment industry, the wisdom gained from Barry’s experience is worth its weight in gold. Lessons such as taking the good with the bad, making decisions based on integrity, dealing with the unexpected, the uncontrollable, and the disappointments that come with working in showbiz.

For the rest of us in our silver-haired years, you’ll enjoy the stories of the many celebrities Barry met during his showbiz journey—stars such as Frank Sinatra, the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Priscilla Presley, Lady Diana, and many more who have sadly now left this earth.

While the list of Barry’s credits is very long, here are the main highlights of his sixty years on television, stage, screen and recording:

• Awarded 33 Gold Records
• Two Entertainer of the Year Awards
• Four Logies (including the Gold Logie for Most Popular TV Personality)
• Four Mo awards; one ‘Sammy’ and a ‘Penguin’ award
• Singer of Australian TV series Neighbours between 1985 and 1992
• Honoured with a This is Your Life tribute from the Nine Network

Feature Films

• International Star status for his role as Barry McKenzie in the feature films, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and Barry McKenzie Holds His Own

Television

• Host of The Barry Crocker Show on Network Ten
• Host of Barry Crocker’s Sound of Music
• Six years as host of Seven Network’s Carols in the Domain
• Compere of three ITV variety specials and three Eurovision specials for the BBC in London

Cabaret Performances

• Seasons at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, The Bonsoir in New York and the Talk of the Town and Palace Theatre in London
• Participated in a concert for UNICEF at the UN Headquarters in New York with Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge, directed by Sir Robert Helpmann
• Appeared in Telethons in Australian and the three in the US hosted by Jerry Lewis

Theatre Performances

• Lead role as Jerry Ryan with Michelle Lee and Tommy Tune in the American production of See Saw
• Role of Scapino in J.C. Williamsons Scapino
• Lead role in Mothers Day (Social Security) with June Salter and Katy Manning
• The Australian Tour of Barry Crocker’s Banjo—a one man show tribute to Banjo Patterson
• The role of Frank in Educating Rita (with Katy Manning)
• The Narrator inThe Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Role of Paddy O’Malley in the Australian musical Eureka from 2005 to 2007
• Role of Lazer Wolfe in Topols Fiddler on the Roof
• Donny Destry Australian film Razzle Dazzle

Author of Autobiographies

• Bazza – The Adventures of Barry Crocker published in 2003
• Last of the Entertainers: A Star-Studded Story Across Sixty-Five Years of Television, Stage, Screen and in Recording published in 2023.

That’s only a snippet of what Barry managed to pack into sixty years of television, stage and screen performances, and song recordings. It’s a tough business where survival depends on your willingness to reinvent yourself, take calculated risks, budget for the lean times, expect that dreams can be crushed, not fall victim to your insecurities, be proactive in finding the next gig, and rise above it all to perform another day. Barry takes you on a backstage tour of the showbiz world of yesteryear—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Barry is a legendary entertainer who leaves a legacy, that will be passed on to new generations, as one of Australia’s much-loved entertainers. The little boy with the brownie box camera had no idea he would photograph some of the most iconic entertainers on this planet. Many of the photographs in his autobiography were taken by him—no, not with the Kodak Brownie box camera—I think.

Barry’s book, Last of the Entertainers: A Star-Studded Story Across Sixty-Five Years of Television, Stage, Screen and in Recording, can be purchased by clicking this link.

Don’t forget to leave a review!

I was very honoured to get the thumbs up from Barry who read my novel, When The Glitter Fades, and had this to say: