Errol Flynn (1909-1959), actor, was born in Hobart, where his father was a biology lecturer, and spent his childhood in Tasmania, England and Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Michael Desmond 2012
John Flynn OBE DD (1880-1951) was a Presbyterian Minister, founder and superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM).
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 1999
A handsome devil of a mo; sleek; natty; perfectly manicured; alternately rakish and debonair, wicked and agreeable.
Charles Chauvel (1897-1959), actor and film-maker, worked on the sets of Snowy Baker films as a young man, and followed the great action hero to Hollywood in 1921.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017
George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1 portrait in the collection
The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.
Claudia Karvan OAM (b. 1973), actor, grew up in Sydney and made her first film appearances as a ten-year-old.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007
Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.
Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s
Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE (1915–2009), aviatrix, decided she wanted to be a pilot when, at age eight, she saw a plane make an emergency landing on a beach near her home.
2 portraits in the collection