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| Peter
John Birt Davies |
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| Biography |
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Born Sept 1946, to Major John Birt and
Mrs Winifred Davies of Reading Berks, UK.
1948 Moved briefly to Calcutta, India, back to the UK 1949 and then
to Australia in 1952.
Lived in Albury until 1961 where mother was involved with the local
theatre and had two weekly radio programmes on 2AY. The major highlight
of those years was being awarded Best and Fairest of the
8_ stone grade at the annual Rugby carnival.
Moved to Mornington and survived school to 5th Yr Leaving Certificate
(Yr 11). Went on to work for a small advertising agency in Collins St.
and played as a founder member of the Mornington Soccer club on weekends.
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Attended RMIT First Year Advertising
in the initial year of that diploma course. With pens, inks and a typewriter,
designed, wrote and produced the first magazine/programme for the Brooklyn
Speedway, from a small flat in South Yarra.
Did a modelling course at that place in Collins Street and
some photographic and catwalk modelling including the opening of Chadstone
(or the extension - approx 1966).
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Worked for TAA (now part of Qantas),
mailing services, printers and the government until 1966 and took off
along the east coast spending some months as a labourer, roof painter,
and more until returning to the Public Service (to make some money).
Left the Education Dept at the end of 1967 and by February 1968 had
reached Portiguese Timor and was on a cargo boat enroute to Singapore.
Several months later in London selling clothes in Carnaby Street and
Wardour street (opposite the famous Marquee Club). Then worked as a
computer operator on an English Electric KDP8, the size of a house,
at the Bank of London and South America.
Returning to Melbourne via North Africa and Milan in 1969 with a new
partner,
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A member of the board of directors for a Mercedes
commercial
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after accidentally becoming a leather
worker in Kabul, Afghanistan, became the founder and co-owner of EARTH
Leather, in Glenferrie Road Hawthorn. Here the works of L Ron Hubbard
were discovered and continued to play a major role in life and the lives
of many friends.
A year later, after reviving the relationship, it was overland back
to London where Earth2 was set up.
The Isle of Wight Festival saw Jimis last gig.
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Peter plays a hippie drummer in a commercial for
Link Communications
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A few weeks later with the relationship
listing badly - busted! And a week later on surfacing from the bleakness
of HM Prison Brixton, into the crispness of a London Autumn the headlines
read Jimi Dead!
1971 was not a good year and the affair finally failed with almost soap
opera crescendo.
EARTH 3 Leatherworks was born in New York in 1972 in a barge moored
near the Bayonne bridge which joins New Jersey to Staten Island and
looks like a minature Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Spent 18 years as a hippie leatherworker from 1969 in the
middle east and Melbourne, then London,
1972 in New York and California. Enjoyed a few weeks in San Francisco
accidentally taking part in a Disney shoot in Sausalito,
the hippie mecca of cool, just across the the Golden Gate bridge, and
Los Angeles hanging out with film editors and crew between contracts,
even spending time with a younger Harvey Keitel.
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Spent Election night in Hollywood watching
the rise of Nixon and the fall of McGovern.
Returning to Australia in December saw the news-stands announce How
Labour Won!. An era was over. The baby boomers were standing up
to be counted, those that could stand up anyway, and those not too stoned
to count.
Back in Melbourne in 1973 Ayisha, daughter to Tracy and the first of
four children, arrived.
EARTH FIVE eventually happened and became one of Australias best
known leatherwork shops, often doing the hats, bullet belts, and assorted
gear for movies and TV series, as well as supplying retailers
as far afield as Perth and Queenslands Far North Coast.
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In 1980 Ayishas mother, Tracy,
died.
In 1981 Meg and I were privileged to be married at the home of Kate
Ceberano and in 1982 Meg gave birth to a son, Simeon, number two.
During the next 9 years Naomi and Natasha arrived.
1987 saw the passing of my father, the wonderful John Davies, Major,
storyteller and gentleman.
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A haggard seaman on Moby Dick
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The novelty of leatherwork had worn
off and the cloudiness of the 60s and 70s had finally evaporated
into a clear day. It was back to publishing and advertising
and
something else.
Art Director and Designer for the Australian Guitar Journal was a good
start and the graphic design and publishing business was going well.
The Australian Music Teacher magazine soon followed and life was pretty
busy.
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A psychiatrist in street theatre
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Ayisha had left school with her VCE
and gone on to a Film and TV course. Simeon played football and Naomi
was a dancer and as a ten year old had appeared with the Australian
Ballet.
Meanwhile, somewhere the thespian lurked, and while watching A
Chorus Line something inside clicked, albeit very quietly. What
was it with the younger years around my parents, their talk of the theatre,
their superb voices and mothers radio shows, the brief stint in modelling,
occasionally making the props for movies and even wandering around Hollywood
almost thirty years ago?
Naomi went for an audition one day and while waiting
to pick her up the casting agent said, Would you like to go onto
our books? and took a couple of photos.
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That was July 1994 and in August there
was the call to be in the Mercedes Benz TVC. With no agent to advise,
a suit was bought in a hurry, the first suit for over thirty years.
It felt really good.
Then there was the sleazy flamenco guitarist in the Video Retailers
Association advert.
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A singer friend said get an agent,
heres the number!
By Monday the potential agent had seen the VRA ad and loved it.
In November played the role of Einstein at the opening of
the New Museum Complex.
Each week there are rehearsals for Truth, Lies and Six Old Men,
a play by Jason Cavanagh, to open in Feb 2001.
And December 2000 was two weeks as the Santa Claus at Victoria Market!
Learning to say Merry Christmas in Norwegian, Turkish, Swedish,
Spanish, Italian, German, French, Japanese, and an assortment of other
languages was more than half the fun.
I havent given up my day job. (Ive just forgotten what it
is.)
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Fergus the Fox from Lost: Black Earth
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You can contact Peter through Super Nova Management
at
66 Prospect Hill Rd., Camberwell, 3124
Phone: +61 39882 9797, Fax +61 3 9882 9796
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