Barry Humphries Humphries was living near Bondi and while out walking one day he had a chance meeting with an elderly man who had a high, scratchy voice and a pedantic manner of speech; this encounter inspired the creation of another of Humphries' most enduring characters, Sandy Stone. In September 1957, Humphries appeared as Estragon in "Waiting for Godot", in Australia's first production of the Samuel Beckett play at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne directed by Peter O'Shaughnessy who played Vladimir. In 1958, Humphries and O'Shaughnessy collaborated on and appeared in the "Rock'n'Reel Revue" at the New Theatre in Melbourne where Humphries
John S. Beckett conducted it. (). The group performed in England during the sixties and seventies and made many recordings, which are still available. In addition to being a keyboard player, John Beckett played the recorder and viol. He also composed much avant-garde music for the experimental dramas aired by the BBC's Third Programme. For his cousin, Samuel Beckett, he composed music for two of his works, his mime "Act Without Words" and his radio play "Words and Music". By 1961 John Beckett was involved in a serious car accident in Ireland, in which he broke his two arms, a hip and an