Interior view of Wests Theatre, Hindley Street, showing the lobby. The motion picture Porgy and Bess is advertised as screening.

The son of Australian cricketer Clarence ‘Clarrie’ Grimmett and Elizabeth Egan, Vic Grimmett was born in Melbourne, and moved with his family to South Australia when he was nine months old.

Vic attended Rostrevor College and joined the Engineering and Water Supply Department before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942. He captained Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster bombers over Europe and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1945.

On his return to Australia he returned to the E&WS but soon realised that this wasn’t the life for him, so he turned to his hobby of photography, hoping one day to become a professional. He worked as a professional photographer from 1953 to 1993.

Vic donated his extensive collection of approximately 250,000 negatives, along with the rights, to the State Library of South Australia in 2014. The collection spans almost every aspect of life in South Australia, from royal visits, politics and weddings to the arts, sport and debutantes.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use. 
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