Vale Bill Hunter -The Big Aussie

I knew Bill Hunter was the future 'face of BHP' after seeing The Dismissal –his portrayal of Rex Connor was a tour de force.

Two years later we were in Karratha and Mt Newman in WA making the first of what would be a mammoth (for the ad industry), thirteen ads for BHP around the nation and around America.

Each ad was written for Bill –all sixty seconds and with plenty of 'space'. Mike Brady had written the score for a TAA pitch years before and we took it over as the unofficial BHP 'anthem'.

But Bill was the heart and soul of the campaign –I wrote every ad but Bill's delivery made every ad believable.

Most were shot by DOP/Director Ian Baker whose eye always captured the romance of even the toughest environments.

Bill was a great storyteller and as such they weren't really ads at all but a sort of Australian Industrial Geographic.

Over three years we spent a lot of time in remote locations and even on board a large bulk carrier –and Bill never complained –in fact I reckon he loved it.

In one ad we had a bloke walk between Bill and the camera as he was delivering a line to make it more 'real'.

Bill wasn't supposed to acknowledge him but he paused, slapped him on the shoulder as he passed and said 'G'day Kenny' and finished the take.

It was unrehearsed, unscripted and unbelievably good –it was Bill.

Like everyone else who ever worked with him, I wish I'd had the opportunity to say 'see ya mate' to a great bloke.

But in the end I have the satisfaction of knowing I got the casting exactly right because more than any conglomerate –Bill Hunter was truly The Big Australian.

Andrew Wilson