James Parbery

James Parbery was born in Melbourne, Victoria during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. He wrote and directed his first play at the age of six but the script was deemed to be too risqué and it was banned. James performed in numerous school productions in high school including the part of Jud Fry in the musical 'Oklahoma' in which he accidentally torpedoed off the stage into the audience during the death scene. James was no stranger to dicing with death as he had been selling newspapers at busy intersections since his early teens. After completing high school James studied graphic art, learnt to play guitar and joined a band. He was expelled from college and worked as a draftsman during the construction of Melbourne's Rialto Towers and Shell House, then as an animator's assistant for Second Banana Films before joining the bi-centennial tall ships First Fleet Re-enactment voyage from England to Australia (1987-88). This voyage led to a lifetime association with sailing ships which ultimately introduced him to the world of live action film making. James spent several years sailing the world as a shantyman/crew member aboard tall ships including a passage to Europe and America via Cape Horn. The sea helped to inspire his artistic and musical talents. He exhibited work in Australia, New Zealand and Britain and his band 'Jimmy Parbuckle & The Reeelers' performed at numerous ports of call in Europe and Australia. After settling in Sydney James studied fine art at the Julian Ashton Art School, worked aboard the tall ship 'Bounty', experimented with spherical perspective, designed and promoted a proposal for a new Australian flag, obtained marine certification and skippered numerous types of vessels including ferries, tugs and sailing ships. He worked as an illustrator, recorded two albums with 'The Reeelers' and made his foray into the film industry as a sailor in _Robinson Crusoe (1997)_, stunt double for Ishmael in _Moby Dick (1997)_ and as Captain Gilbert in the two part television series _The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (2004)_. In recent years James was employed by a Sydney tall ship company to write, develop, direct and perform pirate shows, historical tours and theatrical corporate team events while also managing a crew and sailing the ships on Sydney Harbour. Buoyed by his impromptu acting successes, and having finally raised enough money to study, James decided, in 2010, to pursue his childhood dream. He enrolled at the Actors Centre Australia and launched his acting career in June 2014. Since then James has performed in over a dozen films, played multiple lead comedy roles in a series of online adverts and short plays, appeared on prime time television with his band 'Jimmy Parbuckle & The Reeelers', won two Best Actor awards for live theatre and played a lead role in the musical 'Tommy'.