John E. C. Appleton

John Edward Corby Appleton (20 October 1905 – 13 September 1990) was an Australian theatre and radio director and actor prominent in the 1950s.

Born in Walham Green, England the oldest of eight children of an English father and an Australian-born mother, Frank and Irene, he was educated at Fort Street Boys' High School. He joined the Sydney Evening News as a journalist but after six years was sacked for supporting striking workers. During this time he had been taking night classes at Julian Ashton's art school and started a small business painting 24-sheet posters for billboards.

In 1928 he joined the Sydney Players Club, where his father was active, initially as an actor then producer, generally referred to as "Jack Appleton". He then joined Doris Fitton's Independent Theatre, where he gained further experience as actor and producer.

At least partly because of his horsemanship, he was engaged to play Dan Kelly in the 1934 film "When the Kellys Rode", which failed to find a distributor. In 1936 he joined radio 2GB's "B.S.A. Players" (from 1938 known as the "Macquarie Players"), which led to further employment with 2GB. There he teamed up with Jack Davey and together set up an independent production company as his producer and announcer.

In 1940 he was engaged to fellow Independent Theatre actor Sheila Carter (1918–) They married and by war's end had one child. He spent the war years with the RAAF firstly with the American 19th Bomber Group, planning the secret Hobert (spelling?) airfield in Northern Australia, then as Intelligence Officer with 75 Squadron for 14 months. He was then involved in a group organising escape lines from New Britain, followed by a stint with MI9. His radio production company continued to grow. One notable client, from 1947 to 1949, was Robert Menzies' Liberal Party.

He was appointed Supervisor of Children's Programmes for ABC Radio in 1952. By this time he was married with three daughters. He took a very hands-on approach to the running of the Children's Session, including persuading Ruth Park to write him a part, "Tabby Cat", in the Muddle-Headed Wombat serial. He was outspoken on the damaging effects of TV on children's minds. With his conservative outlook and RAAF demeanor, he was treated as an outsider by the governing clique of the ABC. He retired in October 1970.

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