Background
Born 9 January 1946, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, he is the son of Scottish immigrants.
Born 9 January 1946, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, he is the son of Scottish immigrants.
He has also directed and produced for theatre companies throughout Australia and for television In the theatre his major roles have included Kostya in The Seagull (Adelaide Festival 1970), Peer Gynt (Sydney Opera House 1975), Mr Mantelini and others in Nicholas Nickleby (Sydney Company 1983-1985), Reverend Parris in The Crucible (Sydney Company 1991-1993) and numerous revues, musicals and variety performances. John Derum was Artistic Director of the Canberra Company, ACT in 1985-1986.
Between 1996 and 1999 Derum was the General Manager of the Independent in North Sydney, charged with overseeing the completion of the restoration and the successful re-opening of that historic theatre.
He has directed more than a dozen rehearsed readings of new scripts and directed Waiting Foreign Gotterson by Sam Atwell for original and return seasons at Newtown in 2008, and Housebound (Crime Scenes 2009). He played Lord Augustus in Oscar Wilde"s Lady Windermere"s Fan (Darlinghurst, 2009), Aidan Turner and David Marsh in David Hare"s The Power Of Yes (Belvoir 2010), and he continues to record a wide range of voice tracks and readings for radio.
Foreign American Broadcasting Company, he hosted more than 200 editions of the national quiz The Oz Game and more than 50 episodes of the Australian music and folklore program That"s Australia. J. Politics Pursuing a lifelong interest in politics, Derum was elected to Blue Mountains City Council from 1995 to 1999 and worked as a political adviser between 2001 and 2007.
He has twice held office in Actors Equity and he founded the actors" support group, Actors Forum.
He was appointed to the Theatre Committee of the NSW Government Arts Advisory Board, and worked on the staff of the NSW Minister for the Environment and AttorneyGeneral and as electorate advisor for three members of parliament.