“I remember being in Year <strong>10</strong> and wanting to perform – Strathmore High had a strong production every year, and I was quite keen to be a part <strong>of</strong> it – but it wasn’t cool. I was more into surfing.”
Where are they now? Xxxx Shine 39 Glenn Robbins STORY BY TINA LUTON Strathmore High School 1970–1975 Entertainer Glenn Robbins always wanted to be an actor but spent years avoiding his calling, too scared to try his hand at treading the boards. When he finally “got the guts to give it a go,” it turned out that comedy was his thing – something his teachers would probably agree with. “I think my initial desire was to be an actor, rather than a comedian,” he muses. “Apparently I said to my mum when I was about three that I wanted to be an actor. I remember going to see plays and I was taken to see Barry Humphries when I was <strong>10</strong>. My mother schooled me in that sense by taking me to the theatre, and it sparked my imagination from an early age. At school he admits he was a “pretty average” student who was more at home clowning around than applying himself to his studies. “I wasn’t the brightest student but I never had any trouble with my imagination,” he continues. “In primary school we used to play a game where you had to roll up a piece <strong>of</strong> paper and pretend is was a telescope and tell the class what you could see. Lots <strong>of</strong> kids were a bit shy, but I remember getting quite carried away and the teacher saying ‘Okay, that’s enough, Glenn, thanks…’,” he chuckles. “I mucked around a bit at school but never got into serious trouble. I think everyone remembers that our final year at Strathmore High was a pretty funny year – the guys I hung around with were all funny and we bonded. I still see them now. Bruce Phillips is a guy I met in kindergarten and went to Strathmore Primary School with, and we still hang out and surf together.” While he looks back on his school years with great fondness, Mr Robbins recalls that his first day at primary school was terrifying. “For me, school was always intimidating but incredibly fantastic. The sense <strong>of</strong> community and the sense <strong>of</strong> belonging and mateship was great. It’s funny, but I think we <strong>of</strong>ten take those things for granted. I enjoyed tertiary for the same reason: it was unnerving at first but once you got your groove it was fantastic and I loved it. “I remember being in Year <strong>10</strong> and wanting to perform – Strathmore High had a strong production every year and I was quite keen to be a part <strong>of</strong> it but it wasn’t cool. I was more into surfing but I remember hanging around the show whenever I got the chance, wishing from afar that I had the guts to do it,” he reflects. “I distinctly remember one <strong>of</strong> the teachers giving a speech at some point about how he was going on to greener pastures – he said not to conform but to follow your heart. I knew I had to follow my passion and that speech made me realise that what I really wanted to do was to act,” he says. He enrolled in a drama teaching course at Melbourne State College, figuring that if he didn’t get any acting work he would have teaching as a back-up. “I ended up emergency teaching for about five years and doing stand-up in my spare time,” he says. “I started to develop a lot <strong>of</strong> the characters that I took onto television. Uncle Arthur was probably one <strong>of</strong> the first characters that I ever did. Once I had two or three characters I started hosting comedy nights where I learnt how to be myself on stage.” As a stand-up comedian, Mr Robbins enjoyed performing at popular comedy venues in Melbourne and Sydney, with audiences warming to his naturally dry sense <strong>of</strong> humour and laconic Aussie style. The move into television was a natural progression and he quickly became known as a performer and writer for a number <strong>of</strong> television’s top-rating comedy sketch shows including The Comedy Company and Full Frontal, and became a regular member on evening talk show The Panel. Then Glenn Robbins, pictured second back row on the right, in his first year at Strathmore High School. “I mucked around a bit at school but never got into serious trouble,” he says. Now Glenn as Fountain Lakes butcher Kel Knight with the cast <strong>of</strong> award-winning television series Kath and Kim, and special guest Matt Lucas (centre) from UK series Little Britain. While his Uncle Arthur character remains a favourite among fans, the bumbling Russell Coight from his outback adventure parody All Aussie Adventures, and that ‘big hunka spunk’ butcher from Fountain Lakes, Kel Knight, in the AFI-award-winning series Kath and Kim, have also earned him acclaim. “Yes, they’re all works <strong>of</strong> fiction,” he smiles. “But it’s like that high school teacher once said, it’s all about following your heart.” If you know a past student who’s achieved success, email us at editor@edumail.vic.gov.au
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