John Wood

'The mind of an artist, the body of a labourer' is the way a CES vocational guidance officer described John Wood in the 1960s - and promptly sent him off to start a job as a brickie's labourer! While they're words John has never forgotten, he's certainly proven them wrong. Born in Melbourne in 1946 into a working class family, acting was just not something anyone did professionally. While he obviously had a natural talent, John's passion for acting saw him fail his secondary school Leaving Certificate. At 16, he landed a role in the school production of The Fish, a farce by Yves Gabrol. Unfortunately the play was at his old school, and John put so much time into the production that he neglected to sit for his final exams at his new school! Convinced he needed a 'real job', John joined the Victorian Railways as a clerk. Thankfully his ex-English teacher, John Ellis, returned from overseas and, with wife Lois, formed the Melbourne Youth Theatre, a drama group for people under 26. John pe