Harrold Gemmell ('Harry') Kippax, AO, was a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald for the largest part of his working life. He was the Herald's literary editor from 1965-1968 and was theatre critic for both the Herald and Nation. (For the latter he wrote under the by-line 'Brek'.) He covered politics and wars in Europe and Asia, the United States and other parts of the world. But he also made a second career as a theatre critic and reviewer. In 1959 he began writing theatre reviews for the critical periodical Nation, first on the early plays of Patrick White and the struggles of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. From the mid-1960s on he became the authoritative critic of the Herald and covered the rise of the State theatre companies. 'He spotted the talent of the young John Bell and Robyn Nevin, Mel Gibson and Judy Davis; and the promising playwright David Williamson. ... He was eclectic in his taste, uncompromising in his standards, and thunderingly judgmental about the interpretation of the classics. But behind the stern exterior lay a romantic heart that yearned for something transforming. When he found it his praise knew no bounds.'
(Major source and quotes: backcover of A Leader of His Craft : Theatre Reviews by H. G. Kippax, ed. and intr. by Harry Heseltine (q.v.), 2004.)
