Vincent Ball(I)

His first film job was as a "swimming double" in Die blaue Lagune (1949). The leading man of the film, Donald Houston couldn't swim, so Ball doubled for him, in scenes entirely shot in the studio tank. He later said his chief memory of the film was being constantly reminded by director Frank Launder to keep his face turned away from the camera - and that he'd been unaware that for water to not appear cloudy on-screen, it had to be ice-cold.

All my life, I wanted to be a cowboy in films. I was born in Wee Waa, N.S.W., where my father was a linesman for the railways. Then we moved to Moree, where there was a film matinee every Saturday. For sixpence I could sit there and worship Tom Mix and all the other marvellous Western veterans until I nearly burst. For ninepence you could get the additional thrill of a hot pie. gravy and peas at the local café. I'd been riding a horse all my life because we had one to pull the sulky. Most of the time the poor thing was carrying me.