Charles 'Bud' Tingwell was one of Australia's best-loved actors. His career spanned over fifty years, from glamorous post-war Hollywood, to London in the swinging sixties, to some of Australia's favourite film and stage productions. That a man can star in two films as widely separated by time and distance as The Desert Rats (1953) and The Castle (1997) is surely a sign of extraordinary longevity and talent. Yet there is much, much more to Bud than his long list of acting credits. Before he ever established himself as an actor, he served in Europe and North Africa in World War II as a fighter pilot with the RAAF. But above all he is Bud the family man, a loving husband and father. This is Bud's story - as wise, funny, captivating and endearing as the man himself.