John Waters

John Waters

John Waters is an Australian actor and singer, born in 1948. He is also known as John Russell Waters and is the son of Scottish actor Russell Waters. As a teenager, he sings and plays bass in the blues band The Riots before moving to Australia.

Acting career

In Australia, Waters takes the lead role of Claude in the 1969 Sydney production of Hair. He then works widely in film and television, with performances as both a character actor and a leading man. His television credits include Rush for the ABC network and All the Rivers Run for HBO. He also appears in the ABC drama Rake as Edgar Thompson and in the Network Ten comedy-drama Offspring as Darcy, the patriarch of an eccentric family.

Waters is part of the 1970s “New Wave” of Australian cinema, appearing in films including Summerfield, The Getting of Wisdom, End Play and Breaker Morant. He also stars in a successful tour of The Woman in Black.

Music and theatre

Waters remains connected to music through theatre. He appears in productions of Godspell, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Little Night Music, Jacques Brel and They’re Playing Our Song, the last of these with Jacki Weaver. He also takes on major stage roles including Henry Higgins, Captain Von Trapp and Fagin.

Glass Onion

In 1992, Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta devise and first perform Looking Through a Glass Onion, later renamed Lennon: Through a Glass Onion. The show is a theatrical interpretation of John Lennon’s life and music and continues to be revived for tours in cities including London, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Liverpool and New York. It becomes one of Australia’s longest-running stage shows.