Above: Gil Perkins in a minor role as a policeman with (left) Tyler McVey [1912-2003] and (right) Chuck Courtney [1930-2000] in Teenage Thunder 1957. Author’s Collection.

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The Five Second version

Gil (Gilbert) Perkins must have been amongst the busiest Australians working in Hollywood’s golden era, even if the nature of his work – usually as a stuntman – meant he was less well known than his contemporaries. Interviewed late in life by Tom Weaver, he claimed that he may have worked on 1500 features and in several thousand television episodes.^[1]Weaver (1996) p210 The more realistic estimates from the IMDB – 220 acting roles and over 150 appearances as a stuntman – are still impressive.^[2]In Nicolas Barker’s 1999 obituary for Gil, he was named “the Stuntman’s stuntman”- able to do anything

Perkins was born in inner-city Melbourne in 1907.^[3]and not in “Northern Australia” or Queensland as is often claimed By 1928 he had followed his dream to act in movies, and without any significant Australian acting experience, he had gone to California to try his luck. At the end of a long career, he died there in 1999. Apart from the volume of his work, he stands out as a unique figure for other reasons. He returned to Australia at least six times for extended visits to see his family – possibly a record for an Australian working in Hollywood at the time. He became active in the Screen Actor’s Guild and the smaller Hollywood Stuntmen’s Association – industry associations designed to protect and advance conditions for workers in the film industry.^[4]Perhaps coincidentally, two other expat Australian actors Snub Pollard [1889-1962] and William H O’Brien [1891-1981], were active in the Screen Extras Guild at this time, later absorbed into SAG

Perkins is also notable for his willingness to provide commentary on what it was like working in film in Hollywood’s “golden era”. He was interviewed numerous times later in life, and spoke with a candour often missing from popular actor biographies of the era.

The photo at left shows Gil in about 1962 ^[5]and wearing a toupee. Daily Mirror(London) 24 Nov 1962, p9

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Born at the family home in Fergie Street in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy in August 1907, Gilbert Vincent Perkins was the second son of Frederick and Emily nee Buck. Frederick Perkins worked for the shipping agency Mullaly & Byrne at the time.^[8]Victoria, Birth Certificate: Gilbert Vincent Perkins 26646/1907 Within a few years the family moved to one of Melbourne’s seaside suburbs, settling down at 101 Park Street, Saint Kilda West, only one street from the beach.^[9]Australian Electoral roll, 1921

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Left: Gil Perkins birthplace – the cottage at 38 Fergie St, in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy.
Right: the Perkins family home at 101 Park St, near West Saint Kilda beach. (the slate roofed home on the left). [Click to enlarge]^[10]Author’s collection</figcaption></figure>

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Although famous for giving frank interviews about the movie business in later life, Gil Perkins was noticeably vague about his own childhood – where he lived and went to school. There is, for example, no evidence that he ever lived in “northern Australia” as he once claimed. There has also never been a “Malvern Technical School”- a school that he said he attended – instead it is more likely he completed his schooling at South Melbourne Technical School, not far from Park Street, quite possibly in some aspect of engineering. He acknowledged his father did not approve of his emerging interest in the theatrical business, and had hopes he would work in the motor business or be an engineer.^[11]Barker, 1999

Much has been made of Gil Perkin’s 4 months as a deck hand on a freighter plying the South Seas at the age of 18 (1925) – in fact he told this story himself as as early as 1933.^[13]The Herald (Melb)13 Dec 1933, p12 However this experience appears unrelated to his decision to emigrate to the US several years later, and might instead be evidence of his father using his shipping connections to get his son some worthwhile life experiences. If he really did run away to sea in 1925, it did not dramatically undermine his relationship with his parents or siblings, as he returned to Australia to see them repeatedly, over the rest of his life.

This writer has the sense that Gil Perkins loved “a bit of a yarn” – in the best Australian tradition.^[14]<span class="footnote_tooltip" id="footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_25