Veteran actor Tony Llewellyn-Jones’ early life inspired a lifetime of travel

A self-described “child of the Commonwealth”, veteran actor Tony Llewellyn-Jones’s early life has inspired a lifetime of travel.

Tony Llewellyn-Jones sits in front of a pair of Moroccan doors given to him by his wife. Pictures: Bob Barker

• Who: Tony Llewellyn-Jones is a stage and screen performer who stars as Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady

• Where: Two-storey, two-bedroom house in Bellevue Hill he shares with his wife Virigina Rouse

• Favourite thing: Moroccan doors. My wife found these. They fitted almost perfectly

• Inspiration: In terms of showbusiness, it’s to pursue perfection, never to be satisfied with a given performance. You do your best but there’s always something you want to go back and do better

• Home is: Life is short and it passes by very quickly and you have a few homes. I came to Australia in 1965 but you have a sense you are from somewhere else

TONY Llewellyn-Jones says he is child of the Commonwealth. Born in London in 1949, as a child lived in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and went to school in what is now Zimbabwe.

“My father had relatives there,” the stage and screen performer says. “So for five years I was there at school and then in Australia for four years. I finished my secondary schooling here.”

After studying at NIDA he lived in Melbourne for some time before moving to Sydney.

Tony and his wife Virginia Rouse have been living in their two-storey Californian bungalow home in Bellevue Hill for more than 20 years.

It’s where their son grew up and they’ve filled it with mementos and pieces from their travels.

“We are surrounded by trees,” he says. “They keep us shaded from the sun in summer and sheltered from the wind in winter.

AT HOME WITH GIGI FALANGA

“If you look very hard through the trees you can see a little bit of the harbour.”

From tomorrow, Tony will star at the Opera House alongside Alex Jennings, Anna O’Byrne, Reg Livermore and Robyn Nevin in My Fair Lady, the musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.

Tony plays Colonel Hugh Pickering, the friend of Professor Henry Higgins, who sets out to pass off cockney flowergirl Eliza Doolittle as a lady in polite society.

Tony says he’s thrilled to be working with director Dame Julie Andrews, who appeared on stage in My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle in 1956.

“Here she is, the lady who created the role back in 1956 and who knows it so well working on this production,” Tony says.

“She was there when it was born and now she’s going to give birth to a new Australian production and I’m sure it will be one of the best there’s ever been.”

* My Fair Lady plays the Sydney Opera House from August 28 to November 5.

Photo: This is a reminder of my years in Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe. At the base of this mighty rock my aunt and uncle had a farm. Their home was destroyed in a terrorist raid during the civil war.

Globe and aircraft: This was from a friend who knew about my formative years. Every house should have a globe to remind us we’re all spinning in space. The aluminium plane is a Super Constellation. As a child I used to fly in them, before jets came on the scene.

Shell sculpture This is by my dearly departed friend Paul Cox. One of many created during the year he waited for a liver transplant.

Kipling books One of these is a 1913 edition of Rudyard Kipling’s Barrack Room Ballads. They belonged to author Derek Llewellyn-Jones. Stirling, stirring stuff.

Indian Airways doll: I’ve had this since I was nine years old. I used to fly as an unaccompanied minor from Kuala Lumpur to Salsburg to attend school. This was given to me by one of the Air India staff. I couldn’t believe my luck.

Rocket sculpture This is made of aluminium and brass by sculptor Trefor Prest from Central Victoria and it reminds me of the early space travel. My filmmaker friend Paul Cox, who died only recently, made a film called The Force Of Destiny and the lead character, played by David Wenham, was a metal sculptor.

Canberra photo: This is a 1927 photograph of Parliament House purchased from a photographic shop in Manuka circa 1980. Extraordinary. The building is standing in the middle of the paddock.

Roy Orbison photo: This was taken by Australian photographer Gary Heery and it’s said to be one of the last taken of this great artist. It’s a treasured gift from my wife.