Prominent Australian actor, director and theatre lecturer Charles (“Charlie”) Little died on 25 May, aged 83, after suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

A dashing, charming man, who was passionate about theatre and entertainment, and loved nothing more than chatting about it for hours with friends and colleagues, Little was born in Griffith, NSW on 27 January, 1943. He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he was one of the early intakes.

Jennifer Hagan and Charlie Little in Hedda Gabler at the Old Tote, 1967

Immediately after graduating in 1963, he performed at Sydney’s influential Old Tote Theatre Company in The Fire Raisers, The Playboy of the Western World, Hamlet (with John Bell in the title role) and The Ballad of Angel’s Alley.

After performing for companies in Sydney, Tasmania and Adelaide, he returned to the Old Tote in 1967 to perform in The Homecoming, The Imaginary Invalid, The School for Scandal and Hedda Gabler.

In 1968, he was cast in the Australian production of Mart Crowley’s controversial, landmark play The Boys in the Band, which centres on a group of gay men. Little played Emory, a flamboyant interior designer.

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