Norman James Kaye (17 January 1927 – 28 May 2007) was an Australian actor. He was best known for his roles in the films of director Paul Cox.
Early life and education
Kaye was born into a tough childhood in
Great Depression Melbourne, as one of four children. His father was an injured, poor Boer War veteran, his mother suffered from mental illness, and both parents were distant.
Kaye was taken in as a child by the Norton family, who provided him with a safe haven from the hardships at home.
Kaye won a scholarship to study at Geelong Grammar School. His parents both died early, his mother in a psychiatric hospital.
Career
Music
Kaye's musical abilities were noticed by A. E. Floyd,
[ Chappell, W.F., "Floyd, Alfred Ernest (1877–1974)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, 1981.] the organist of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, who gave him free tuition in recognition of his potential as an organist.
Kaye travelled to England and then France to study the organ with Pierre Cochereau at Notre-Dame de Paris and he won a Premier Prix for conducting at the Nice Conservatoire. He returned to Australia due to feeling lonely and homesick. Back in Melbourne, he continued his pursuit of music, including as the acting organist of St Paul's Cathedral.
Teaching
Kaye was the choirmaster and the music teacher at Caulfield Grammar School, a private school in
Melbourne, from 1958 to 1977,
[Webber (1981), p.268.] during which time he "laid the foundation for the … high reputation on the world of music and enthusiasm and constructive knowledge that made choral singing and the playing of orchestral instruments activities of a central rather than peripheral importance to the school."
[Webber (1981), pp.255–256.] It was the security of a teacher's salary that allowed Kaye to explore the acting world.
Acting
With a passion for acting, Kaye began his career playing minor unpaid roles in small theatres, when television was still in its infancy.
He did not however start acting full time until he was in his forties.
In 1967, Kaye met director Paul Cox, who at the time was a photographer, taking production stills at St Martin's Theatre. He ended up appearing in 16 of Cox's films,
Other early films in which Kaye appeared included Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and Inside Looking Out (1977),
Kaye appeared in film roles well into the 1990s, with Turtle Beach (1992), western Broken Highway (1993) and Exile (1994) both with Aden Young and Bad Boy Bubby (1993) and Lust and Revenge (1996), both alongside Nicholas Hope.
Kaye's television credits included medical drama The Flying Doctors, cult prison drama Prisoner, police procedural series Homicide, crime drama Wildside and miniseries Power Without Glory, based on the historical novel by Frank Hardy.
He also wrote the scores for many films, including Lonely Hearts
Kaye is the subject of Cox's biographical film The Remarkable Mr Kaye (2005), a tribute to their long standing friendship and working relationship.
Personal life and death
Kaye was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease prior to 1997. His inability to memorise scripts for the film
Innocence led to the end of his collaboration with Paul Cox, as well as the end of his career in 2004. Kaye was in the advanced stage of the disease at the time of his death in Sydney on 28 May 2007. He had enjoyed a 35-year relationship with the opera director
Elke Neidhardt, and she was by his side at his death.
Legacy
In 2007 a retrospective CD, The Remarkable Norman Kaye, was issued by Move Records.[ News – Move Records]
Filmography
Film
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| Also known as The Killing Beach |
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| Short film |
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| Short film |
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| Final film role |
Television
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TV play |
| TV play |
| Shannon | TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| TV play |
| 3 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| TV play |
| 1 episode |
| 11 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| 18 episodes |
| 3 episodes |
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| Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| TV movie |
| 1 episode |
| 4 episodes |
| Miniseries |
| 2 episodes |
| TV movie |
| 6 episodes |
| Anthology series, 1 episode |
| Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| TV movie |
| Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| Miniseries |
| Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| TV movie |
| Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 5 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Anthology series, 2 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 1 episode |
| 1 episode |
| Season 1, episode 1 |
| Season 3 |
| TV movie |
Theatre
As actor
As crew
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| Melbourne Little Theatre |
| Emerald Hill Theatre, Melbourne |
| St Martins Theatre, Melbourne |
| Musical Advisor |
| Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC |
Awards and nominations
See also
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List of Caulfield Grammar School people
External links
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Obituary in The Age, 31 May 2007, by Fabian Muir, Elke Neidhardt's son whom Norman Kaye helped to raise.
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Muir, Fabian. "Norman Kaye, Artist and Composer", Move Records, Obituary as reproduced from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2007.
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Portrait of Norman Kaye (1989), Photographer Angela Lynkushka, Collection of the National Library of Australia.
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