Rory
O'Donoghue (Thin Arthur)

Age: 56

What's Good About Rory

Rory O?Donoghue has done many things in his life from the character ?Thin Arthur? in Aunty Jack to endurance athlete, this is one very talented bald man and proud League member. He is just about to embark on a live Aunty Jack tour and just squeezed this piece in between his schedules.

Although Rory is probably remembered most for his teaming up with Grahame Bond in the Aunty Jack series, Rory is a very talented musician and entertainer in his own right. Bond says in an interview with James O?Loghlin that he teamed up with Rory due to his musical ability and Bond?s lack of it at the time but he also was a very funny person. Rory and Bond have also been responsible for many TV ads since the series and have also written soundtracks for some films as well as appearing on regular radio spots such as Nude Radio on 2JJ in 1975 with Bond and Gary McDonald as Norman Gunston.

Anyway, from the man himself, we better let Rory have his say;

From one of the original longhairs of the 60?s I now enjoy the smooth, clean feeling of the ?nude nut?. I?ve enjoyed a life in showbiz since the age of 12 and over the years have done many exciting ?gigs?. In the 70?s we had a hit with ?The Aunty Jack Show? in which I played the character Thin Arthur amongst others, working alongside the likes of Grahame Bond (Aunty Jack), Garry McDonald (Norman Gunston) and John Derum. I was also an original cast member of ?Jesus Christ Superstar? at The Capitol Theatre in Sydney. Since that time I?ve done numerous stage shows and some more TV as well scoring music for film and TV. I?m currently leading my own quartet on vocals and guitar, composing for various ensembles and holding musical director and tutoring positions in two private schools in Sydney.

I compete in major triathlon and long distance running events both in NSW and interstate and therefore spend many hours training each week. The smooth head is a real bonus in these races?.lean and mean with a clean sheen. I turned 56 in May. Hey, once you go bald, you?ll never go back!!

Bald Man Q&A

I remember the character and Aunty Jack theme but was just a bit young to have watched the series. What or who got you into theatre at such a young age and could you describe the part that your character Thin Arthur played in this landmark Australian comedy?

I played the Artful Dodger in the original Sydney season of Oliver at the age of 12 and then was one of the Trapp family in Sound of Music. These were my first professional roles. I?ve always been involved in music and theatre as both my parents were professional opera singers in London where I was born. Came to Oz at age 7. Thin Arthur was the essential balance to Aunty Jack; the softer, whimsical, musical foil to Aunty Jack?s violent, fascist, golden-glove reign of terror. We played plenty of other characters in the show but these were the title characters so to speak.

I read a James O?Loghlin interview that you did with Graham Bond. Given your musical background, I got the impression that you wrote the theme for Aunty Jack. Is this so and if so can you describe the process of creating a song that is probably etched in the minds of most of us who are post 40 years in age?

Grahame and I were writing lots of film music and the AJ theme was actually written originally for a segment in a film about drug problems with young people. It was an instrumental piece played on the oboe and it had this haunting melody which worked well with the idea we had for this anthem-like theme for the AJ show.

Gary McDonald played ?Kid Eager? in the series. Now he is a fellow bald man. Do you still keep in contact with him and what do you think would be the chances of getting him signed up? He is actually in our Hall of Shame on the web site in his Norman Gunston persona. Do you think he would take offence to this or see the joke? Maybe we could recruit you guys for a bald man?s TV pilot??

Haven?t seen Gary for a long while. He keeps pretty much to himself these days. He
has actually been a bald man for as long as I?ve known him. He?s one of the originals. The Hall of Shame is a great place for Gunston to be and I?m sure Gary would agree. Have to check with Gary?s agent re any TV pilots.

You may make a lot of bald guys feel guilty with your level of fitness at age 56. Have you always been into keeping yourself physically fit? The stereotype would have us believe those involved in artistic pursuits are not really interested in high level physical pursuits. Has competing in fairly physically demanding events such as marathon and triathlon always been part of your lifestyle or is it a more recent direction in your life?

I?ve always been good at sport but never this fit. I discovered I was allergic to gluten 6 years ago and that discovery gave me the energy and the capacity to do the things I do now. It?s quite an amazing story and one which takes a lot of space to tell. Sure, a lot of musos lead the late-night life which I did for many years, and that makes it tricky to be heavily involved in any demanding sport programme. These days I balance my music work with a heavy training routine and it works great.

What are your goals in marathon/triathlon and what are your proudest achievements in either event? Considering the training regime required to improve times in either discipline how do you balance your work commitments with your teaching commitments.

My goal in any race is to beat my previous time. For example since 2001 I have run the annual Mt Wilson to Bilpin Bush Run, a 35 km cross-country race through the fire trails of the Blue Mountains. First time I did 3h 59m and last year I ran 3h 27m. I had PB?s this year in the State Triathlon Championships and the SMH Half-Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon and I won my age-group in a couple of the Star City Triathlon races. I?m looking at the Ironman Triathlon next year but a national concert tour which I?m involved in may clash with the actual race date which would be very tricky. I?ll do a couple of Half-Ironman events this year however to qualify in case the schedule changes. I teach 5 days a week from 7:30am till 2pm so I have time to train in the afternoon, particularly in summer with daylight saving. Weekends I do the long sessions.