Ernie Bourne


Ernest Alfred Bourne was an English Australian actor, an entertainer and comedian best known for his regular roles on television and theatre

Early life

Bourne was born in Dorset, England and raised in Yeovil, Somerset where his mother ran a boarding house following the early death of his father. Leaving school and home at the age of 14, Bourne worked in a cafe before joining the British Merchant Navy during World War II, where he became interested in acting after appearing in a pantomime, he would appear regularly in English pantomime and in many stage productions in Bristol, before migrating to Australia.

Immigration and Career

He emigrated to Australia in 1952, initially settling in Geelong joining the Geelong Musical Comedy Company and later moving to Melbourne. In the 1960s, he was loved as a series of pantomime-style villains on Australian television such as Sir Jasper Crookley, and multiple similar baddies in Adventure Island including Sir Cedric Sneak, Captain Crook, Chummy Chums and Miser Meanie's sidekick Fester Fumble.
Throughout the 1970s he was a staple of Crawford Productions police dramas in a variety of character roles. In the 1980s he played prison chef Mervin Pringle in Prisoner and garage mechanic Rob Lewis in Neighbours.
He also appeared in a series of television commercials for a retail sportsgear outlet as an older man who is perpetually laughed at by a young blonde man for spending too much money on his gear elsewhere. He has a daughter Sally Bourne who is also an actress and is best known for appearing in the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Death

Bourne was married to Claire Bourne, he died on 21 January 2009, aged 82, at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.