Colin Petersen looks back more than 50 years to the launch of his film career as Smiley- the cheeky young Australian boy from the bush.
The 1956 film character of Smiley, the young and loveable boy from the bush, has become an icon of the Australian personality. Colin Petersen was the nine year-old from Kingaroy who won the lead part and became an overnight film star. Within a few years he went from child screen sensation to international rock n’roll drummer with the Bee Gees. In this two part feature Colin, who lives at Reesville on the Blackall Range, told HT editor Michael Berry about the highlights of his remarkable career.
COLIN PETERSEN grew up like many a country boy in the 1950s – plenty of space, the odd scrape and many boyhood adventures. He lived in Kingaroy until the age of seven when he moved to Margate, close to Brisbane. Colin was loved by his parents, particularly his mother who was always quick to further the progress of her talented son.
Colin Petersen, complete in his Smiley costume designed by his mother, at the film premiere in London in 1956.
“Lots of boys had dancing lessons in those days,” says Colin. “We followed stars like Fred Astaire and Bo Jangles and I started tap dancing; just beating out a rhythm with my feet, and I think that’s why I started to play the drums. Dad found me an old drum on a stand and a cymbal. I had been playing the drums and tap dancing in concerts about three years before the Smiley film came along.
“It was in 1956, and I was nine. My mother read in the Courier Mail that auditions were being held all around Australia for the character of Smiley in this new feature film. She said to me, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do this Colin.
“I was so into the drums that it hadn’t occurred to me to be an actor. Her thinking was, you’ve been a tap dancer on the stage, you’ve done these concerts and you’re used to an audience. I think you can do this.
“So I went along with Mum on the tram to the audition at a New Farm cinema. There were hundreds and hundreds of kids. It was a big deal in those days. I went in all dressed up in a Terylene suit, long socks, shiny shoes and tie and my scrap book of concert performances.
The poster for the 1956 Cinemascope movie, Smiley, which made Colin Petersen an instant star. Despite impressive English stage actors such as Ralph Richardson and John McCallum, Colin thought that Chips Rafferty was the most natural actor in the film.
“The director, Anthony Kimmins, looked at my scrapbook but kept going down the line of boys. I thought that’s it and I went outside to Mum. She said, ah well Colin, it wasn’t meant to be. We went on the tram to my grandmother’s house and I got out of my Sunday suit and put on a pair of shorts. I was in bare feet playing marbles on the dirt floor under the house.
“For some reason, later in the afternoon, I decided to go back to the cinema to see what was happening. So, I got back on the tram and then walked down the alleyway beside the cinema. Suddenly the director came out of a door and lit up a cigarette.
“I stood there, dirty knees and old shorts and he didn’t recognise me from our first meeting. But he looked at me for a long time then asked if I would like to audition for the part of Smiley. I said yes and we sat down on the steps and he opened up the script and, for about half an hour, I read the Smiley part and he played the other parts. Then he asked me my name and phone number and he told me he would be flying me down to Sydney in a couple of weeks for a screen test. And that was it. I think he’d already made up his mind.
“So, I got on the tram again and went back to my grandmother’s place and I told Mum where I had been and what was going to happen. She was surprised at first but then said to me, well Colin it’s fate. It was meant to be. “My mother wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. She would present the character of Smiley at the screen test. She was a dress maker and she got an old pair of jeans and cut them off and carefully frayed the bottoms. The braces were her invention and the hat she bought from an old age pensioner for ten shillings and she put a hole in it. The only thing she didn’t get right was the shirt. Because the film was to be shot in technicolour Smiley needed a colourful shirt and she had given me an old grey shirt to wear.
“ Mum was a dress maker. The braces were her invention and the hat she bought from an old age pensioner for ten shillings and she put a hole in it. The only thing she didn’t get right was the shirt. Because the film was to be shot in technicolour “ Colin Petersen
“Mum dressed me exactly as she thought Smiley should look and the shirt was the only thing they changed. So I flew down to Sydney for the screen test looking like an urchin, and Mum even made sure my feet were dirty.”
Colin Petersen won the part of Smiley and, accompanied by his mother, the ten year old novice actor joined the location shoot around Camden in NSW.
“Chips Rafferty was a delight to work with,” says Colin. “I think Chips was the most natural actor to rehearse a scene with. Most of the other actors like Sir Ralph Richardson and John McCallum came out of an English theatrical background and to me, as a small perceptive child, I thought they weren’t really letting go.
“Chips was such a natural actor that there were magical moments I remember with him, when what we were doing seemed so effortless. It was as if time had slowed down and I had plenty of time. It was such a positive feeling that you knew what you were doing was good.
“Mind you, there was no way my mother would allow me on the set unless I had thoroughly learnt my lines. At night time when we had finished going over the script for the following day, she’d say to me, OK Colin now I will play Smiley and you play Mr Rankin. And she would make sure that I could play the other role as well as my own.
“I just loved doing the job and was not thinking that I might be a star at the end of it. I just enjoyed it.”
The Smiley feature was a hit in the UK and Australia. Colin’s youth and natural performance won over audiences and the British media. With hindsight, Colin has come to appreciate the character of that young boy who was very much a reflection of himself.
“Smiley is an iconic character in that he presents a mindset at a time and a cultural setting with people and values that will never be recaptured… a time of innocence… a bit of larrikin, a sense of fair go, avoidance of pomp and ceremony and a wariness of authority.”
Colin and his mother set off for London to see if they could capitalise on the success of Smiley. They hired an agent and Colin started school.
Two films followed, The Scamp in 1957 with Richard Attenborough and A Cry from the Streets in 1958 with Max Bygraves and Dana Wilson, (the star of Shiralee with Peter Finch).
“I was offered Tiger Bay, the film that Hayley Mills eventually did. But Mum thought I was entering a period of my life where that childlike appeal had gone. She told me I was going into my ‘awkward years’ and I wouldn’t be offered any more films. So she pulled the plug on my film career.
Colin Petersen (centre)as a six year old tap dancer in 1950s Queensland
But it wasn’t a big deal for me. A lot of school mates would give you a hard time and I would get into fights because they resented me being an actor.
We came back to Australia and I managed to get through my teenage years. I was really only a pseudo delinquent, but always trying to be one of the boys. My parents eventually sent me off to boarding school – Ipswich Grammar School. That’s when I took up the drums again and eventually met Maurice Gibb.”
PART TWO (June): The second ‘life’ of Colin Petersen when he becomes a member of the Bee Gees and is thrown back into London of the Swinging Sixties.
July 30th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Hi Colin
You are a great drums and a lovely man
October 4th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I was searching for Shiralee and found this article on “Smiley”. I had no idea you were from Kingaroy and Margate Colin. A drummer for the Bee Gees also. Is Dana Wilson still with us? She seems to have disappeared into obscurity, by choice I’m sure. Interesting article to read, good one.
December 27th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I remember watching Smiley in the early 60s when it first came out. I now have it on DVD and sitting back with a cold beer and watching it again is like stepping back in time.
January 19th, 2012 at 12:13 am
HI colin when I saw you playing the drums with the Bee Gees I
reconised you straight away and was 99.9 percent sure you were
SMILEY. Now Ive read this Ive got the 0.1 percent I needed.You
were great as SMILEY and bring back great memories.We are about
the same age. Good onya mate good luck and health for the future
Fr Chris
April 19th, 2012 at 9:57 am
Hello to Smiley and Smiley fans
When I was a kid in a small country town (1 picture theatre), I saw the film Smiley 6 times when it was showing there. There were so many kids going to see that movie that the theatre management used to put a limit on the sale of children’s tickets so he could take advantage of selling the more costly adult tickets.
Would anyone out there know how I could obtain the DVD or Video tape of Smiley movie ? I have “Smiley Gets a Gun” but I want to show “Smiley” to my grandchilren.
I would appreciate your assistance.
Contact me on [email protected] Thanks
May 11th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
patto
got your old email add from pj, you better give me some mail
lenny ex g/coast.
July 14th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
I must have been about 10 years old, when my parents took me to see Smiley. He was my first crush. From then on I wanted to go to Australia to find this adorable boy. My desire to go there faded when I turned15. It was Beatle Mania, there was plenty of other crushes! I never forgot his name or the movie. What an interesting story of how he became a star. So surprised that he became the Bee Gee’s drummer too.
October 15th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Hi all!
My connection with Smiley dates back when I was 10 years old in the island of Mauritius.
Smiley was pivotal to make me call Australia Home.
Guess what Mates I watched smiley in French. I watched it at least ten times.
I was infatuated about Australia (still is) through Smiley The Country Towns, the Outback and above all its people encapsulated my heart.
I was so into Australia that many times I got into trouble for day dreaming about good old Oz in the classroom.
At 15 after conning my brother, made the announcement to our parents that we were to immigrate to Australia
At 17 send in our application, and on my 18th birthday got the pleasant letter of acceptance, my brother was only 17.
On November 5 1966 we finally arrived in Australia the land of my dreams.
Every day since, I have been living my dream, married 3 beautiful kids (adults) and soon 4 grandchildren.
10 years ago I was having a conversation with one of Australia’s icon Terry McDermott who I have known for a while through our local church in Belgrave I mentioned to him of Smiley being my reason for coming to Australia. Surprise! Surprise! Terry had a small part in the film, he was one of the young men coming out of the local pub before the search for Smiley; I informed Terry if he spoke it would have been in French.
My hope is one day to catch up with Smiley may be on my next walkabout trip my travels may take me to meet Colin Petersen (the icing on the cake).
Am trying the best I can to be a great Aussie by: * Working hard * Give everyone a fair go *And above all take No Bullshit.
Harry Rayeroux Tecoma Vic.
December 28th, 2012 at 8:51 am
Hi Colin, was aware of your Bee Gees connection, but not the fact about Kingaroy and Margate. I have lived in the Redcliffe shire since 2006 and adore the place. Apparently they are dedicating a laneway and putting up a statue in honour of the Bee Gees, in the centre of Redcliffe in February 2013, as the boys lived in both Margate and Scarborough when they lived here. (Strangely last night their old house in Margate was burnt by fire, no injuries thank goodness)and Barry will perform 2 shows in Brisbane in February also.
You and your mum seem to have a great positive “give it a go” attitude and that kind of attitude will always take you to interesting places, i.e. your travels etc.
Wish you the best for the future and I must agree you really were an adorable little boy!
Kat
December 28th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Hi Colin, I went to Chermside State School in Brisbane. I remember you attending Chermside School after you had made the film Smiley. I still don’t think I have seen Smiley. I was from a large family and movies just didn’t fit into our budget. I remember the day you started at the school and you were welcomed by the headteacher on the morning assembly (parade in those days) He told us all that you used to go to Humpybong State School and that you had made the movie Smiley. You are about 2 years older than me so other than seeing you around the school, I have no actual contact with you. I was aware of the Bee Gees connection but didn’t know what had happened to you since. Robyne
January 16th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
could colin CONTACT WAYNE in regards to early history i think my dad [deceased] sold COLIN his first set of drums etc.i was told you attended humpybong school a few other details i have it would be
appreciative for a return email
thanking you
wayne ph.0459329200
January 24th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
Hi Colin, I have had and interest in you since I was quite young, our grandmothers were sisters and my mother always had a close interest in all family members. I saw Smiley and Mum responded to an add for your replacement for Smiley Gets a Gun, for my brother John, who had the same colouring as yourself, unfortunately living in Far North Qld. as we did the letter of acceptance for a screen test came too late, I remember it still. We continued to follow your career, other films and of course your drumming, I knew of your associoation with the Bee Gee’s and I remember being told of you being chosen to play on the Brisbane tarmac to welcome a famous Americam drummer to Australia, I can’t remember his name now but I feel he may have played in the Dorsey band. I lost contact with what happened to you after the Bee Gee’s other than to know that you had become a painter. Regards Helen
February 15th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
I was at Warwick Central State School when Colin Petersen came to our school after the release of Smiley. It may have been a school fete. Our first brush with fame, there was also the visit of Princess Alexandra. I wonder if he will turn up to the unveiling of the Beegees statue in Redcliffe.
February 17th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
Hallo, Colin! My best regards to you from Germany. If I was 17, I was enjoyed for the Bee-Gees-musik. And I was very sad, as you and Vince had to left this group. Now, 45 years later, I read, that you never gave up to sing and write music. I am happy because this good news and I wish you a long life full of luck and music.
And I wish you a fine 24. March!
All the best
Marie
March 14th, 2013 at 5:17 pm
Hi Colin
I remember you from 10th Ave days when you were the drummer for Max & The Impacts.
Those were the days lol.
Take Care
Sharane
March 25th, 2013 at 9:09 pm
Hi Colin, have just been sorting through some old photos and found one of you with me and my sister whilst we were appearing in the
Pantomime “Jack and Jill” Melbourne Vic. 1956-1957
April 3rd, 2013 at 9:41 pm
I much enjoyed Colin,your performance as Smiley in that one film (how I wished there had been more!)which I saw in Perth, Western Australia. I had read all the Smiley novels (by author M.Raymond) as a lad in UK. They had delighted me by their commonsense appreciation of colourful and sun-bright Australian bush life —so very different from post world war dismal cold Britain— and, mid fifties mindset, looked forward to seeing all the Raymond stories in new Australian movies. I thought you perfect in the role.
May 19th, 2013 at 7:47 am
For some reason suddenly thought about this film as I have now and again over many years. I loved it when I was a child. I never realised until I googled Colins name that he drummed for the Bee Gees. What a talented guy.