George Raymond

Born George Reynolds Reid in Hurstville, Sydney, to Bernice (Reynolds) and George Albert Reid. Attended Auburn primary school and began violin lessons aged eight which led to his early career on the Tivoli circuit in Sydney as a comedy/musical variety act. George enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce in 1942, based at Lithgow, before being discharged on compassionate grounds in 1945. In the post-war years George established his long career as an entertainer with an uncredited role as a pilot in Ken G. Hall's 1946 adaptation 'Smithy' of the life of Australian aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith, also known as 'Southern Cross'. Moving from Sydney to rapidly booming coastal town of Surfers Paradise in the late 1940's George established himself as a popular cabaret act at Bernie Elsey's Surfrider Hotel and Tiki Village while also touring with Tex Morton's shows in rural Queensland and NSW. In the early 1960's George relocated to Sydney where he became a regular on the Sydney club circuit, travelling to Vietnam in 1970 to perform shows with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1973 George played the fiddle track in the chart-topping song 'Goondiwindi Grey' recorded by his friend and colleague Tex Morton. George had roles throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in various films, TV commercials and series such as Whiplash (1960-61), Certain Women (1973-77), A Town Like Alice (1981) and Heatwave (1982). George died at Gosford on the NSW Central Coast at the age of 83 leaving his wife and two daughters from his second marriage.