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Featured Member -July 2004

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The Featured Member for July is Keith Devenport.

Born in St Kilda, Victoria in 1923, Keith could hardly fail to be interested in theatre. His grandfather and both of his parents were actors so it was in the blood - although as he also numbers a genuine transported convict among his ancestors there may be more to his blood than meets the eye!

Keith's first introduction to performing came the tender age of 6 when he attended the May Downs School of Dancing. Thereafter he appeared in pantomimes in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. He also won the part of the Bellboy in "The White Horse Inn" when he was seven and a half . He is sure he got the part because the uniform fitted him. In addition he worked on Radio 3LO in Victoria.

A promising career came to an abrupt halt in 1941 when Keith joined the Army. He served overseas for most of the war years, including New Guinea but in 1946 was back on the boards, acting both in Melbourne and Sydney.

A Service Rehabilitation Scholarship enabled Keith to attend the Melbourne University Conservatorium Drama School where he honed his talent further. More work in theatre and radio followed but in 1950 he decided to try his wings in the UK, where he appeared at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon, among many others. Keith can also tell stories about his time in that well known English tradition "Repertory" where he was paid the princely sum of four pounds a week and had to provide his own costumes! Keith was married at this stage and, in 1955 he and his wife returned to Australia when his mother-in-law became ill.

In 1957 he "hung up his greasepaint" and went to work for ICI but maintained his interest through amateur theatre. That's not to say that all professional work went away - he appeared in four episodes of "Bellbird" and did voice-overs and commercials for both TV and radio. After electing for early retirement from ICI he became the Deputy Director of the "Life, Be In It" campaign and the Appeal Director for the Australian Ballet.

It was back to London in 1979 where Keith took the post of Part-time Lecturer in Classical Theatre at the Elliott School of Drama, but he couldn't ignore the lure of applause and also performed in pantomime and various other productions.

After his return to Australian in 1984, a chronically ill wife precluded any professional involvement in theatre but he kept up his involvement in amateur theatre through acting and direction. His wife's untimely death resulted in a move to Perth where, after an initial connection to Harbour Theatre, Keith (fortunately for us) switched his attention to Melville. His directing credits since include "A Touch of Spring", "12th Night" and "The Shifting Heart".

We hope Keith will continue to lend his considerable directing talent to Melville for many years ahead. Thank you Keith!
Footnote: Sadly Keith Devenport passed away on 6 February 2005. He will be sadly missed by his many friends in MTC.