John Newman

  • Obituary: John Newman OAM

    John Newman OAM, 30 August 1930–28 July 2024

    Tikki John 2I am delighted to write this article for Theatre Heritage Australia to pay tribute to one of Melbourne’s legends of showbusiness John Robert Newman OAM.

    I only met John Newman once. It was at a function at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 2018. I managed to record a radio interview with him which is attached to this article. I have followed John’s successful career over many years. John Newman passed away peacefully on Sunday the 28th of July 2024 in Melbourne at the age of 94. His immediate family were by his side. 

    John Newman was born in 1930 and grew up in Geelong.

    As a teenager he was performing in non professional shows for the Geelong Musical Society along with Barry Crocker and John’s brother Bill. Bill Newman was later well known for his work in Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music on television.

    John auditioned for JCW and was in the chorus of shows  such as Song of Norway,Annie Get Your Gun and South Pacific. He met Joyce Taylor in South Pacific, John played Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey and Joyce played Ensign Janet MacGregor. They fell in love and married in 1954. Joyce adopted the stage name of Tikki Taylor. They were touring the UK as a comedy duo in a show with The Great Levant and fulfilled their dream of performing at the Palladium Theatre in London. One night they saw a production of a new show called The Pajama Game and Tikki wanted to play the role of “Gladys” who performs in the Steam Heat song. Tikki flew to New Zealand to audition and won the role for the Australian tour.

    John also worked in television and was part of Lady for a Day at HSV7 with Larry K. Nixon and John Darcy who was a fellow cast member in South Pacific. During this period in the 1960’s John Newman produced television shows.

    John and Tikki established a late night coffee house in Exhibition Street in 1962. It was close to Her Majesty’s Theatre and the Comedy Theatre with the idea that theatregoers could drop in for a coffee and chat after seeing a stage show. As the years went by it developed into a very popular successful Theatre Restaurant with Cabaret and Music Hall. The featured artists included Maurie Fields and Val Jellay, Vikki Hammond, Frank Wilson, Margo Lee, Gus Mercurio, Jackie Clancy and many others. I have a memory of a uniformed doorman greeting customers upon arrival—the fun started before you even got into the Theatre Restaurant.

    Robert Morrison from 96.5 Inner FM recalled that the ladies’ rest-room in the Theatre Restaurant had a supposedly nude full-sized portrait of John Newman on the wall with a strategically placed practical 3D fig-leaf on a hinge, and if any curious lady dared to lift it while paying a visit, a bell rang in the show-room alerting all the restaurant patrons to the incident, much to the subsequent embarrassment of the perpetrator. There were lots of laughs at this popular venue.

    Newman Entertainment was established in 1964 and many great business ventures began over the years such as Dracula’s Theatre Restaurant in both Melbourne and the Gold Coast, Cafe Crypt and Crazyhouse.

    Tikki and John were both recognised with the OAM in the Australia Day awards of 1993 for services to the entertainment industry and to charitable organisations.

    Tikki Taylor passed away in 2011 aged 83.

    A month before he died John visited Dracula’s on the Gold Coast and he was thrilled to see audiences laughing, clapping and singing in a venue he conceived. The day he died the flags that adorn the building were flown at half-mast in his honour.

    John was an amazing man, who with his wife built an amazing theatrical family business. I am told that the thing he most enjoyed was entertaining people. 

    His Grandson Luke told me there was a small celebration of John’s life held in the building that housed Tikki & John’s in Exhibition Street Melbourne—now a cocktail bar called 1806.

    Our sympathy is extended to the children of Tikki and John—Paul, Marc and Haydie who lived above the venue for many years. Our sympathy to all the Newman family.

    When I asked John would it be ok to record a chat with him, I never imagined that it would result in me being asked to write this article—thanks to sources, too many to mention.

    RIP John Newman OAM and thanks for the laughs.

    I hope you enjoy the radio interview with John.

     

     

    Photos courtesy of Luke Newman.