Mark Mitchell: A Bewdiful Life

Mark Mitchell: A Bewdiful Life

Mark Mitchell plays Lazar Wolf in the new production of Fiddler on The Roof. But he is best known to Australian audiences for his television characters. He took time out to talk to Coral Drouyn

Not many people in show business can lay claim to creating something that becomes recognisable to every person in Australia, with language that enters everyday use and stays long after we’ve forgotten where it came from. An obvious one is Barry Humphries with Dame Edna and her catch phrase “Hello Possums”. In a world of political correctness, today actor Mark Mitchell would never be allowed to create his iconic character Con the Fruiterer, and  ‘Bewdiful’ and ‘Cuppla Days’ wouldn’t be part of our language.

“It would definitely be seen as racist now,” Mark says, “but that was never the intention. I based Con on two Greek greengrocers who had a stall at Glenferrie markets. They were perpetually happy, always willing to chat about their families, thrilled to be part of Australia and I always saw Con as a celebration of our ethnic diversity. It was a tribute, rather than a send-up.”

Though we all assumed that Con was in his fifties, with his wife Marika (also Mark) a ‘Cuppla’ years younger, Mark was barely thirty when his alter egos sprang to life.

These days Mark has to save Con for special events, and yet he’s currently playing a Russian Jew in Fiddler On The Roof, opening in Sydney this month.

“Con was a fruiterer, Lazar Wolf is a butcher,” he tells me. “It seems I can’t get away from retail, ethnicity, and food. Not bad for a Sydney boy of Welsh extraction. But I love every role and I’m glad to be working.”

Actor, comedian, recording artist, music theatre star, voice over artist, motivational speaker, King of Moomba:  Mark can lay claim to all of these, with “Con” actually making a record, ‘A Cuppla Days’, which charted, briefly, yet he never initially saw his career being in entertainment. “Perhaps I was too scared, or too traditional, too average, to think that far outside the box. When I got my degree at Uni, teaching seemed to be the most obvious profession.”

He taught for five years before moving into copywriting at an ad agency.

“It was the contacts I made in advertising that made me think perhaps I could go that one step further. It was the early eighties, TV sketch comedy was having a revival, and I was lucky enough to be allowed to experiment alongside some terrific talents.”

Those talents included Maryanne Fahey, Ian McFadyen, Glenn Robbins and Kim Gyngell; all of whom became better known for their character roles rather than their own personas.

“We were called comedians, but really, we were observational character actors who did comedy. I could never do stand up as myself. Putting on the character is like putting on a mask. It allows me to say and do things that the real Mark Mitchell probably wouldn’t ever do in public. A character is a costume, a protective barrier between you and the audience.”

Mark discovered that something else was also a costume, a mask to protect himself, his weight.

“Yes, I was a big boy - oh let’s be honest, I was fat. And though there’s a stigma attached to that, there’s also a different set of expectations. You can be loud, irreverent, over the top, and you can get away with things you would never get away with if you were worrying about appearances. Con had a rich laugh, his belly wobbled (I never think of it as MY belly) and somehow that was okay; he became more real, more endearing. I hid behind that….an actor in a fat suit which just happened to be my body.”

His weight also served him in television shows like Round the Twist and SeaChange.

Yet, remarkably, Mark did lose about 30 kgs when in his late forties.

“I was playing Mr Bumble in Oliver! at the time, and it was a challenge with a fellow cast member. I concocted special healthy recipes and I was probably a pain in the bum when I was at home, but it was great while on tour. Everyone said I looked great, and I felt terrific, but something very strange happened. My sense of timing was off kilter….I no longer looked right for Con and so I didn’t feel right either. My ‘fat suit’ was gone and that meant I had lost my costume. It was a very weird experience…like identity theft in a way.”

Mark continued to perform stand up as Con, but the crunch came at one special corporate event.

“No-one recognised me as me,” he said. “As I was leaving I heard a man say to his wife, ‘That bloke is the best Con the Fruiterer impersonator I have ever seen, apart from Mark Mitchell,’ and I thought – am I still me?”

Mark also lost other roles because casting agents were expecting an overweight, jovial looking bloke, not a trim, taut and terrific blonde Adonis (“Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch”).

“The work just dried up. I had an image I was so closely associated with, people just couldn’t make the leap to something else. I wanted to stay healthy but I knew I’d have to start putting the weight back on. I think I’m funnier because I feel more comfortable. As soon as my body suit started growing again, so did the work. It’s clearly just who I’m meant to be.”

Mark did suffer a health scare a year ago when a routine blood test signalled the onset of the dreaded ‘C’ word - cancer. Despite being conscientious about checkups for all the male health issues, nothing was detected, except by chance.

“I had no symptoms, I passed the physical probings with flying colours, yet I had cancer. I was floored. Only the blood test gave any indication, so I urge other men not to take physical examination as the only yardstick. Get periodic blood tests. Please. It’s an insidious thing that has no respect for your body. The doctors offered me all kinds of options, but I have a strong, if slightly left of centre, belief system. I somehow knew it wasn’t my time to go. So I said operate, get rid of it so I can get on with my life.”

Mark opted for surgery and recovered well,though the follow up treatment did lead to even more weight gain.

“It’s a small price to pay for being here.”

By Autumn of 2015 he felt well enough to get back to work.

“I was getting restless, and then the offer of Fiddler came along and, naturally, I jumped at it. I’ve been an Anthony Warlow fan for so long. He’s a Superstar in my eyes, and I knew I could bring something special and a little bit different to the butcher role. It’s an amazing cast and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I love to sing, probably a bi-product of my Welsh Heritage. It’s practically obligatory to sing if you’re Welsh, but apparently I’m very loud. I’m told it’s particularly problematic during church services, especially funerals. There’s me belting out the hymns ‘fortissimo’ and getting digs in the ribs from my wife and other family members. That can be a bit deflating.” He chuckles at the unintended pun.

I wondered if he would ever consider reprising Con in a new television series. He thinks before answering.

“Look, I’ve learned never to say never, but it’s a different world now, different restraints, different attitudes. I do worry sometimes that comedy is slipping away from us – being given dark and political overtones where once it was done with real affection and tongue in cheek. We also have to face the fact that there aren’t that many comedy writers any more, and we’re all aging.”

I ask if there’s anything he’d like to do, that he hasn’t yet done.

“I’m grateful for every day in this business,” he says with sincerity. “It’s all good. I’m thrilled to be working, especially in a musical as iconic as this one. I know my limitations so don’t ever ask me to play Tevye…and don’t ask me to get up on that roof and fiddle!”

Mark Mitchell is the quintessential character actor, a thoroughly charming and disarming man who deals with whatever life throws at him. He doesn’t feel he’s missed anything, and if he did, you can bet Con would dismiss it with ‘Dus’n Matta’.

So far it’s been a ‘Bewdiful’ life – and there’s more to come.

Originally published in the March / April 2016 edition of Stage Whispers.

Photos with Anthony Warlow in Fiddler on the Roof. Production image, photographer Jeff Busby, rehearsal image, photographer Jim Lee.

Click here for our Fiddler on the Roof gallery and video.

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