I had the privilege of having a lovely chat with Monica Hurst who relived memories of her and her late husband Bill's time spent on the set of the hit movie Babe.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Babe, a huge hit taking more than $70 million at the box office in America and receiving a Golden Globe award, had two locals staring in the movie.
Bill Hurst and son Malcolm had two Border Collies spotted by the producers of Babe strutting their talents at a Bathurst Dog Trial. The producers initially offered to buy the two dogs, Gemma and Roy, but we're quickly informed they were not for sale. Instead the producers hired the dogs to play a part in the movie. The dogs in the movie were named Fly and Rex and Bill's dogs were used in the scenes where the dogs were gathering the sheep, Bill was behind the camera working the dogs.
Bill and Monica spent three days at Robertson, in the NSW Southern Highlands, on set while filming took place. Bill even sharing his expertise by showing crew members how to correctly sharpen manual sheep shears. They were paid $600 for their services, but the experience and memories were worth a lot more.
May 11 this year marked 20 years since this event took place. Sadly Bill and the two dogs are no longer with us, but Monica had great pleasure in inviting me into her Stuart Town home to tell me of her memories and to proudly show me Bill's many awards and trophies that he had won at many different Dog Trials.
Until Next Week,
Councillor Marcus Hanney
