This issue it gives us great pleasure to bring you an interview with one of the few male stars of Prisoner...James Smillie, known to millions as lawyer Steve Wilson, who failed to capture the heart of Karen Travers.  James enthusiastically spilled the beans to us one evening before treading the boards at London's Savoy Theatre.  So sit back and enjoy a good gloat over Grundy (like we did) as we give you an insight into life on the set of Prisoner, and the lowdown on one of its stars.

James Smillie began life in a tenement in Glasgow's Hawthorn Street, and ended up becoming an international star of stage and TV.  At the age of ten, his family emigrated to Australia where James began his extremely diverse career.  His first time in the spotlight happened in Perth, where he sang as a boy soprano with the symphony orchestra.  At the time there were no established drama schools over there so, in keeping with the majority of actors there, he learnt his trade through the Australian Broadcasting Commission as a radio actor.  He then graduated to the stage and TV.  As regular host of Crackerjack, James tells how the scripts were flown over from England.  "I had to cross Lesley Crowther's name off the script and substitute my own."  What an achievement.

In 1972 James came to England and launched his career over here, notching up parts in Z Cars, General Hospital and The Generation Game.  In 1979 the Australian government requested that people wishing to retain their Aussie citizenship  should register over there by a certain date.  As James' career was taking off, he didn't particularly want to go but felt he ought to.  So off he went with his wife and children, and arrived one day before the deadline, with not many prospects of work.  However, he soon landed a thirteen week contract with Prisoner playing Steve Wilson, the lawyer.  At the time Prisoner had not long begun but each episode broke new ground in TV and was storming up the ratings.  In James' own words: "It was the best set I have ever worked on, although not the most highly paid.  Grundy employed a strange method of payment for the cast which involved splitting each episode into four, and paying each actor according to how many quarters they appeared in.  Therefore, a character such as Steve Wilson would only appear in one quarter, whereas say someone like Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Jackson) would be needed in the majority of scenes, therefore increasing her salary."

Monetary matters apart, James has nothing but praise for Prisoner.  "Apart from me and Barry Quin (Dr Miller), the rest of the cast were women - and the atmosphere was terrific.  There was absolutely no bitchiness on the set.  The ladies (as James fondly refers to the cast) were great fun, and we had many laughs between takes and I made many friends."

Re-patriation over, James returned to England with his family to settle down and resume his career - but was invited back to Australia a few years later, to play the part of Dr Dan in Return To Eden.  While he was there Prisoner was ending its run and James was offered a part, but not as Steve Wilson.  "I was outraged.  I said I had never heard of anything quite that ridiculous.  The Prisoner audience were extremely loyal and would have remembered Steve Wilson, therefore making a mockery of it all."  James declined the offer.

Return to Eden ran for 22 episodes which, although hugely popular throughout the rest of the world, flopped in Australia.  James' co-stars were Rebecca Gilling (ex-Young Doctors) and Peta Toppano who, as Karen Travers in Prisoner, James had played opposite to before.  James remains great friends with Peta, as well as Patsy King (Erica Davidson) and Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Jackson), and has promised to try and enlist them to get in touch with us.  After making Return to Eden, James came back to England once more and walked straight into the biggest break in his career.  Denis Quiley was retiring from his role in the musical La Cage Aux Folles and James was offered the part.  The show was running at the London Palladium, a theatre James would "walk over hot coals to perform in".  The story was centred around two middle-aged gay men raising a teenage son together, while running a club in St Tropez.  The soundtrack from the show spawned a chart hit for Gloria Gaynor, whose disco version of 'I Am What I Am ' (the show's tearjerker) went straight into the top twenty.  However, three weeks after James took over from Denis Quiley as leading 'man', the show closed.

"I was horrified," said James.  "The reason we closed was because of a slump in bookings due to the AIDS scare, which was ridiculous.  I am very definitely heterosexual but had no qualms about the show.  'La Cage' reflected a totally monogamous relationship, full of honesty, integrity, charm and humour.  If anything it's a very anti-AIDS show."  After the heartbreak and anger over 'La Cage', James signed up in another West End musical, Kiss Me Kate, which has just finished a successful run at London's Savoy Theatre.  Despite being an RSC production, James has yet to encounter fellow Aussie actress at the RSC, Penny Downie.

"There is a certain snobbery within the acting profession, where some productions are looked down on by the more 'serious' actors," said James, "but personally I believe the best actors amongst my profession started out in Prisoner."

We will drink to that, James!

[Taken from the H-Block Herald - September 1988]
 

Return to previous page

Return to main page