Russell Smith: The man behind Count Homogenized...

Selwyn Toogood is still remembered as Mr It’s in the Bag, despite a broadcasting career which ran more than 50 years. Karyn Hay is known as Ms Radio with Pictures, despite being reborn as a radio host and award-winning novelist. And Russell Smith will be forever associated with milk-mad vampire Count Homogenized, despite a long career acting on stage and screen.

In this ScreenTalk, Smith talks about:

• How audiences greeted Count Homogenized with admiration, terror and profanities
• Mad Count encounters with cows, live on Telethon
• Count Homogenized’s birth at the hands of children’s TV producer Kim Gabara, on late 70s show A Haunting We Will Go
• Hanging upside down in a telephone box as the star of It is I Count Homogenized
• The unvarnished, unpasteurised truth over rumours the NZ Milk Board were the power behind the Homogenized throne
• Smith’s time on pioneering comedy series A Week of It
• Voicing truck-driving hippie Tussock on puppet tale Woolly Valley
• His delight at playing 'arsehole cop' Bernie Gregory on police show Shark in the Park
• Directing children’s shows Mel’s Amazing Movies and The Nosey Parkers

This video was first uploaded on 14 February 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview - Ian Pryor. Camera and Editing - Alex Backhouse