It wasn’t until I was 60 years old that I finally found out why my parents called me Bud, rather than my real name, Charles. Although it had been a much-discussed topic in the
Tingwell family for decades, my mother had never come clean. After she died, an uncle finally told me the truth. When my mother was pregnant, she had been teased by some friends at the
Coogee Surf Club, asking "What's budding in there?" It became "How's the bud?" and finally "Bud".
"I rather liked Charles. But I also love the ordinariness of Bud."
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| Bud Aged 6 Months |
Bud and Baby Brother Barry |
I was born in Coogee, in Sydney, a big surfing beach. It was far more down-market in those days than it
is today. Mum and Dad were great. Dad was tall and slim and Mum was far more beautiful than I realised. So I think they were a pretty good-looking couple. During the Depression years,
Dad lost his job and he used to pretend to go to work, so things must have been much tougher than I realised at the time. But maybe everybody, somehow, "Made light of their worries," as
they say.
Looking back, I suppose the cinema, or the 'pictures', as we probably called it, was very, very important to us, or to me. I loved the magic of what movies could do. I loved film and
radio. Dad said, "Look, why don't you apply for this job?" "Cadet announcer / panel operator wanted for leading Sydney commercial radio station, 2CH." So
I applied and they offered me the job, making me the youngest radio announcer in Australia.
Every year we had a Christmas party at home in Coogee. Simple affairs, friends of Mum and Dad’s and growing numbers of school friends. One year in particular, I opened the door
and there she was: a dark-haired, hazel-eyed sixteen year old vision called Audrey Wilson. I was dazzled. I can’t remember if I said to myself that this was the girl I was going
to marry, but I do know I fell for her quickly and decisively. I don’t remember much about the Christmas party that year except that I tried to be where Audrey was for most of it.
Somehow, slowly but surely, Audrey and I became boyfriend and girlfriend. Soon after, I went away to the air force. But before I left, I asked her ‘Will you wait for me?’ She
said … ‘Oh yeah, of course.’ And so, we got engaged.
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