Bob MacKinnon Australia

Born
1900 in Australia
Died
1956 in Australia
Age
55-56 years
Credited for

writing

editing

Also known as

Robert MacKinnon

Bob MacKinnon (pen name)

Robert Graham Addison MacKinnon (birth name)

AusReprints

Bob MacKinnon [by George Finey ?] (1922)

Biography

MacKinnon sought to volunteer for service during the first world war, but was not accepted, probably due to his age. His older brother Roger had enlisted in 1916.

By 1916, he was part of the J.C. Williamson theatre company. The absence of a main cast member in 1918 provided this 'promising youngster' a feature role in The Bing Boys are Here review at Her Majesty's Theatre (The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March 1918). The following year, he was with the J.C. Williamson Company in Melbourne (The Daily Telegraph, 13 November 1919). He probably continued as a live performer into the 1930s.

During this period, he also acted in several black and white silent films, including The Man from Snowy River (1920) for which he was also assistant director, The Gentleman Bushranger (1921), While the Billy Boils (1921), Silks and Saddles (1921) which was renamed Queen of the Turf in the US, and A Rough Passage (1922).

In 1922, on a bet of £50 with a US visitor, MacKinnon took up the challenge of copying US Locklear's feat of hanging from the under-carriage of an plane at 3000 feet (Smith's Weekly, 25 March 1922).

After this time, MacKinnon spent years as a jackaroo. He worked on station properties handling sheep and cattle, and was a capable horseman (The Australian Women's Weekly, 9 June 1945).

By 1944, he had returned to Sydney and scripted Missing, a film to raise funds for the Victory Loan produced by Ken G. Hall (of Dad and Dave fame) for the Department of Information, focused on prisoners of war in the Pacific (The Sun, 13 April 1944).

MacKinnon subsequently returned to Sydney and became a prolific author of novels and radio plays. He claims to have dictated to two secretaries at once, producing 15,000 words a day and 1.5 million words a year (People, 2 August 1950).

In the mid to late 1940s he was a staff writer for Sydney radio station 2GB, creating a range of syndicated serials such as 'Sporting Blood' (1945-1946), 'Jackeroo Joy' (1946-1947), 'The Woodleys' (1946-1952), 'Kookaburra Stories' (1946-1949), 'My Son, Tom' (1948-1950), 'Silks and Saddles' (1948-1949) and 'The Dark Stranger' (1949-1950). He wrote some 600 scripts a year (The Sun, 9 August 1946).

Up until 1950, MacKinnon wrote many novels for Frank Johnson, particularly about horse racing. Sales of his monthly Sporting Novels exceeded half a million copies yearly. A short-lived magazine in 1950, Bob McKinnon's Racing and Sports Magazine (spelling uncertain), appears to use his reputation for its branding.

MacKinnon was an amateur jockey and his father, Dr. R.R.S. MacKinnon was an honorary surgeon for the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) for more than 30 years (The Sunday Herald, 15 May 1949). He also professes to been an "amateur jockey, shearer's rouseabout, station manager, jackeroo, pioneer aviation barnstormer, and aero acrobatic star (first man to perform wing-walking in Australia)." (The Rogue (Sydney: MacKinnon, 1950))

Around 1950, he formed his own publishing company, Mackinnon Publications. The 'Spotlight on Sport Series' was a effectively a continuation of Johnson's 'Sporting Novels'.

Showing items 1 to 10 of 26

Australian printings by date (Try a search for more information)    
Sporting Blood (Frank Johnson, 1947) (1947)
Sporting Blood
Pulp novel: Prose story
Queen of the Turf (Frank Johnson, 1947) (1947)
Queen of the Turf
Pulp novel: Prose story
Bidgee Bob's Brumby (Frank Johnson, 1947) (1947)
Bidgee Bob's Brumby
Pulp novel: Prose story
Knights of the Pigskin (Frank Johnson, 1947) (1947)
Knights of the Pigskin
Pulp novel: Prose story
Son of Bidgee Bob (Frank Johnson, 1948) (1948)
Son of Bidgee Bob
Pulp novel: Prose story
Happy Jack the Last of the Straight Backs (Frank Johnson, 1948?) (1948)
Happy Jack the Last of the Straight Backs
Pulp novel: Prose story
Photo Finish (Frank Johnson, 1948?) (1948)
Photo Finish
Pulp novel: Prose story
Gamblers Luck (Frank Johnson, 1948) (1948)
Gamblers Luck
Pulp novel: Prose story
When Whips Are Crackin' (Frank Johnson, 1948) (1948)
When Whips Are Crackin'
Pulp novel: Prose story
The Strapper (Frank Johnson, 1948) (1948)
No title recorded
Pulp novel: Prose story

Status

Created

  • 6 Apr 2018

Last updated

  • 8 Apr 2018