| Jack
Lee:
Jackie Lee was known around the traps as 'one of
the nicest guys
in the business'.
Jack in his 20's
Born in 1927, he began skating in Sydney
and was, basically,
self taught. Jack's ambition was to be a show skater - and, what a show
skater he became...
Jack's first show - Ice Follies of 1949
The first professional show Jack performed
was Vince Labb's
Ice Follies of 1949, performed at the Sydney Show Ground. He was 22
years
old. Jack recalls the gruelling 27 show days - "every 15 minutes..."
At 27, Jack decided to 'take the world
by storm' and try
his luck at show skating overseas. He arrived in London at the end of
1954
to find he needed a skating title to be accepted into shows. Jack has
memories
of working as an 'egg and bacon cook' at Lions Corner House in
London.
Jack would have had them smiling all the
way...
Happy Jack
There was no stopping Jack - in 1955
he came second
in the British Professional Championship.
Leverage needed in hand led Tom
Arnold,
Europe’s biggest ice show producer, to contract Jack for the 1955
season
of 'Dick Whittington On Ice. Jack was nicknamed 'the human
spinning top'.
Dick Whittington 1955
Indeed, Jack became the British
Professional Champion
in
1956.
 
Winning medal of 1956
Jack reckons, "from there, there was no
looking back."
'Ice Parade of 1956, 'The Spice of Life'
was the
first big show of many to come. This was skated in the Ice Drome in
Blackpool.
Ice Parade of 1956
After about six months, he became a
soloist in Hanns
Thelen's 'Scala Ice Revue', in Germany.
Front page billing
Jack remembers, with his gigglish laugh,
"the audition was
done in a general session."
Jack skated in the 'Casa Carioca Ice
Revue' in
Garmish for 3 years. 
Jack as the devil in 'Hot Ice'
Jack at his best
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A classic Russian split jump
Flying high in a split jump
In 1969, Jack was part of the cast in
the movie 'Hans
Brinkler', filmed in Norway. Jack recalls teaching the main actors to
skate.
Jack and 'one of the girls'
Jack, leading male actor and his sister
Out on the frozen lake
From 'Hans Brinkler', Jack went on to South
Africa
and, his last show was with Reg Parkes in New Delhi, India.
Jack
spent a total of 17 years abroad.
Jack remembers Jacqueline Du Bief
to be an influence
in his skating. He said when his character was 'Jack Frost',
"she
taught me how to act."
Jack tells the story of performing with Allain
Giletti,
the World Champion of the time. Allain was known as a prankster and
created
all sorts of mischief, playing tricks on people. Jack warned Allain if
he didn't stop he would throw him out of the change room. As you could
expect, there was another prank - water in the face powder. All were
shocked
at, the placidly known Jack, when he threw the World Champion out of
the
change room.
On return to Australia after an
illustrious show career
abroad, Jack earned the respect of all that knew him as a top coach in
Sydney as well as continuing his name as a top show skater with Pat
Gregory.
Jack and Marj. Adagio number.
He taught many top skaters and his
expertise excelled in
spins, like the 'cross-foot' and 'corkscrew' spins and show tricks,
like
the 'butterfly', 'stars', 'piston rolls', 'Arabians', 'split jumps',
Russian
split jumps' and the like. Presentation skills were paramount to
Jack.
Jack 5th December, 1998.
Jack now lives a life of luxury, in
retirement, on the
Central Coast at Erina, NSW.
If you would like to contact Jack contact APSA by
e-mail; APSA
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