Robert Helpmann and Frederick Ashton as ugly sisters in "Cinderella". Chor. Sir Frederick Ashton | Passionballet

Robert Helpmann lived a life – or maybe several lives in one. The boy from Mount Gambier studied with Anna Pavlova, then followed his star to London, where he acted with the Old Vic (as Oberon opposite Vivian Leigh as Titania in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’) and danced with Sadler’s Wells Ballet (partnering Margot Fonteyn). He directed and choreographed for the stage and acted in films, including ‘The Red Shoes’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, in which he made a memorable villain as the Child Catc

Robert Helpmann, Heather Ripley, Adrian Hall & Sally Ann Howes in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) Helpmann began his career on stage in Australia before joining the Vic-Wells Ballet (later The Royal Ballet) in London, where he became one of its leading male dancers and choreographers. | Old Hollywood