Working on big name Australian TV shows, helping set up ashrams around the world and writing a highly regarded autobiography are just a few life highlights for Victor Marsh.
A resident at St David’s Retirement Living Village in Mount Lawley, the 79-year-old grew up in Perth and went on to live a hippie lifestyle in Sydney and Melbourne for a while in the late 1960s.
Today, his base near the hustle and bustle of Beaufort Street proves a great fit for someone who continues to live a vibrant and creative life.
Victor said he delighted in living at St David’s as it gave him the option to enjoy the company of others or just to do his own thing.
“I can make my own meals, and there’s lots of services and good programs – it’s a safe place,” he said.
In the mid-1970s, Victor’s life took a spiritual turn when he met a young guru and went on to help set up spiritual ashrams across Australia and later, the world.
After training to become an instructor in meditation and dedicating 10 years to being a monk, with half that time spent traveling the globe, Victor moved into the world of Australian television.
He was in front of the camera for educational shows produced by the ABC and subsequently picked up a job as associate producer on the 1970s and 1980s Australian TV staple, Young Talent Time.
“I was in my 30s and it was very busy work as an associate producer, finding new team members and guest acts for the show – we did 52 episodes a year!” Victor said.
During his years on the show, Victor even had a front row seat to an “amazing” duet performance by YTT cast member Danii Minogue and her yet to be superstar, older sister Kylie.
Victor also worked on the hugely popular Beyond 2000 TV series, which showcased technological innovations of the (then) future, and moved to Los Angeles for five years researching stories and setting up film shoots for an American version of the show.
“It was funny being at Paramount studios in the commissary and there would be Star Trek alien characters in full make up eating their lunch,” Victor said.
On returning to Australia in the late 1990s, he went back to university and collected a PhD in writing at age 60, and went on to craft multiple books including his autobiographical work The Boy in the Yellow Dress.
The book traces his life growing up in Perth in the 1950s when he first challenged gender behaviour at the age of three by wearing his mother’s yellow dress, as well as his spiritual awakening and varied career in arts and television.
“It’s been such a zig zag life – people’s identities shift with their experiences,” Victor said.
Looking ahead, Victor continues to write and edit more stories about his life for his next book and hopes to ink a publishing deal soon.
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