Lex Marinos almost stole the show in what was to become his last theatrical performance in Wodonga. or signup to continue reading As father-of-two, Ray, in , Marinos held court at the Butter Factory Theatre stage less than five years ago. Ray was battling dementia and training his goldfish to play the glockenspiel.
The tender-loving relationship between Ray and Phoebe (Emma Jackson) was one of the many triumphs of this show. Best known for his legendary role as Bruno in the 1980s Australian comedy television series , Marinos died on Friday, September 13, after a two-decade-long cancer battle. He was 75.
Thirty years ago Alexander "Lex" Marinos was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the performing arts as an actor. Wagga-born Marinos was one of HotHouse Theatre's founding artistic directors and last appeared on the Butter Factory Theatre stage during November 2019. HotHouse Theatre's team reflected on Marinos' talent and mentorship in the performing arts sector.
"An extraordinary artist, advocate and supporter of HotHouse Theatre, Lex made his mark on the thriving company we are today, from his early role within our artistic directorate, to his glorious and moving final performance on the Butter Factory stage in Suzie Miller's before the world closed down (to a global pandemic)," it said. "A Wagga boy, a consummate artist, a family man. Thank you, Lex.
" In 1996, Marinos was approached to be a founding member of Wodonga's newly-formed HotHouse Theatre, which had re-invented itself after 16 years as the Murray River Performing Group. Writer, director, artistic director, teacher, consultant and Vision Australia Radio broadcaster Chris Thompson said: "When we approached [Lex] in 1996 to be a founding member of the brand new HotHouse Theatre Artistic Directorate, he said 'yes' straightaway - well, almost straightaway. "First of all he asked who'd come up with this stupid idea of a regional theatre company being run by 12 artistic directors instead of one, then he laughed in a way that said this was a challenge he wasn't going to miss out on and jumped right in (along with Roger Hodgman, Chris Corbett, Kim Durban, Marion Potts, Philip Piggin, Alison Stievan-Taylor, Trevor Matthews, Audray Banfield, Meg Simpson and Julianne Long).
"They were exhilarating days when everything seemed possible and Lex's acerbic wit and wisdom, and willingness to have a crack, along with a decent sense of naughtiness and a touch of the s--t stirrer, was a key factor in what made that room tick. "He was a good person to have in a tight spot, a good person to learn from, a good person to hear tell stories, just a good person. Very sad that he's gone.
" Ahead of his final show at HotHouse Theatre on November 5-9, 2019, Marinos told he was thrilled to be back at the Butter Factory Theatre. premiered at Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney during 2017 before hitting the road for a regional tour two years later. "It's [HotHouse] a beautiful theatre and an enterprising company and a regional company, which is important for generating its own shows and bringing in new ones," he said at the time.
"One of the themes of the show is regionalism; it's set in the regions in tough times. "It's great to bring a play to regional areas." Marinos' breakthrough role was as the Italian-Australian character Bruno on the television sitcom from 1980-1984, a milestone moment of representation for non-Anglo Australians at the time.
Speaking about the role in 2021 with the Greek community newspaper , Marinos recalled: "It did provide a focal point for kids who were 'Other', and to see someone representing them on TV became not a responsibility of sorts, but I became aware of it." Marinos appeared in many television programs including 1992's , 2011's (based on the Christos Tsiolkas novel of the same name), (2014) and the reboot of sitcom (2023). DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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