In this series, I meet extraordinary Australians...
This is what I do. This is who I am.
It's so exciting to be here.
(LAUGHS)
..who tell me their fascinating stories...
It was like someone had just given me gold.
..while I paint their portrait.
Like, I'd sleep with my bat as a kid.
My challenge is to capture their character...
That's not what you've got the power of the microphone to do.
..and put it on the canvas.
I was born this colour for a reason.
The portrait is theirs to keep, so I want them to like it.
Oh, my God! Heavens above.
Oh, my God! Wow!
Gee! That's incredible!
Wow! Oh, my God.
She's hot! (LAUGHS)
Welcome to Anh's Brush With Fame.
Archie Roach is a groundbreaking musician
and voice for social justice.
After many years on the streets,
piecing together his stolen childhood,
he found his voice,
and with soul mate Ruby Hunter
became one of our most respected songwriters and performers.
♪ Then they took the children away
♪ The children away... ♪
I want to know how his life's ups and downs have shaped his world view.
I hope he catches not just my likeness but my spirit -
who I am.
Archie has so much to give.
He's seen the best and worst of human experience.
He's made a conscious choice to make the world a better place
through his music and actions.
He's a deep soul, reserved but optimistic.
This is what I'll be trying to capture today.
Archie. Hey.
What an honour to have you on the show.
Hello, Anh. I'm a big fan.
Thank you for coming along today.
Thank you.
Take a seat, Archie. Sure.
Can I give you a hand up? Yes, thank you.
So, Archie, you were born near Shepparton?
That's right. You're one of seven children?
You lived with your family until you were three years old.
Do you remember the day they came and took you and your siblings away?
I don't really have much recollection.
I was only about three years old.
Where did they take you?
Went down to Melbourne, to Turana.
That's where they sent the youngest people.
Because I was a toddler,
eventually me and two sisters ended up in a home
called the William Booth Home for Girls.
So, we were sent there, and then eventually to some foster homes.
And what was that like - being sent to a foster home by yourself?
It was a bit scary at first.
We didn't last there very long
before we're sent back to the, um... orphanage, yeah.
Archie was fostered many more times
until being sent to stay with Alex and Dulcie Cox in Melbourne.
Life in the Cox household was very different
to what the 7-year-old had come to expect.
I got up in the morning,
made my bed the way we were taught in the, uh... at William Booth.
Fold my pyjamas up and put them on the end of the bed.
If it wasn't correctly made,
they'd mess it up and make you do it again.
I could hear Mum Cox, Mum Dulcie yelling out to me.
"Archie, are you there?" I said, "Yeah."
Said, "Are you right to come for breakfast?" I said, "Yes, I am."
Still standing there, waiting for them to come in.
And she must have got worried, Mum Dulcie,
so she walked into the room and saw me standing there,
hands behind my back, you know, standing straight.
Just... Yeah. I could notice
there were sort of tears in her eyes
and she walked out and got Dad - Dad Cox.
Mum Dulcie came in and said, "Come here, my boy."
So I walked up to her. Thought something was wrong, you know?
"I hope I made the bed correctly."
Yeah. You know?
She just said, "Listen, all I want you to do in the morning
"is get up, put your slippers on, your dressing-gown and come out.
"Your breakfast will be ready.
"That's all you have to do."
I saw something in her eyes, you know, in her expression,
and in Dad Cox's expression.
It was something I hadn't seen for a good while,
and, uh, I know what that was today.
There was this light in their eyes and it's... it's called love.
Yeah. Yeah.
Wow. (LAUGHS) I didn't think I would get emotional so early, Archie.
(LAUGHS) (CHUCKLES)
A beautiful family.
A beautiful, beautiful man.
Um... I'm going to love him till... till I die.
Archie quickly bonded with the Cox family
and through them would be introduced to a very different culture.
Alex was Scottish and... Yeah.
..he taught you Scottish ballads?
He did.
I listen to some of my favourite... favourite old LPs -
you know, the images that used to conjure up of the Highlands
and... and Scotland,
and this love grew in me for all things Scottish.
(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS)
♪ Roamin' in the gloamin' with a lassie by my side... ♪
I saw a lady play the guitar in church one time
and sing a song.
The tune she used was an old Hank Williams tune
and I was just amazed.
It blew me away.
I thought it was the best thing I've ever heard and seen.
And so I... from then on I, uh... I picked up the guitar.
Yeah. Yeah.
Archie felt so much a part of the Cox family
that he never questioned his identity or sense of belonging
until others did.
A mate of mine who I grew up with in primary school,
he said, "Archie, how come your parents are white?"
And I didn't understand what he meant.
I said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
He said, "Well, you're black."
And I said, "No, I'm not really black.
"I'm pretty brown. A bit darker than the Italian and the Greek kids."
And he said, "No, you're black."
And, uh, from then on, I...
You don't... you don't see yourself as different
until somebody points it out to you.
At that stage were you thinking that Alex and Dulcie were your parents?
I still had a memory... a distant memory of my sisters and, uh...
But they... they just became Mum and Dad,
and I was their son and, uh...
Yeah, there were no two ways about it.
What did you understand happened to your family,
your biological mum and dad?
I came to believe that they'd, uh... they'd perished in a fire.
There wasn't much mention of my siblings, you know?
Except I knew I had two sisters.
In 1970, whilst studying at Lilydale High School
on Melbourne's outskirts,
14-year-old Archie received a letter
that threw his young life into turmoil.
And I opened the letter - the very first thing it said
was, "Dear brother."
Uh... "Mum passed away a week ago."
Wow.
I suppose that's what started me eventually on... on my journey.
I took it home to show the Coxes
and they didn't know what was going on,
'cause they'd been told that my parents had perished in the fire.
It was really bothering me,
so it wasn't long after that that I took off
sort of in search to try to find this woman
and what... what she was talking about.
And it wasn't easy,
'cause like I said, they were... I was really close,
they were really close to me.
A teenage Archie set out on a journey to discover the truth
and soon found himself homeless
and scared on the streets of Sydney.
And if it wasn't for one old gentleman,
an old blackfella whose name was Albert,
I wouldn't have known what to do.
So he took me... he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes
and where to get a feed and where to get a bed if I needed one.
Taught me to bite - biting, which is asking people for money -
or begging, if you want to call it that.
When you left home, you did bring with you your guitar.
It was that valuable to me, the guitar.
Sing a few songs and, um, I was alright.
I know it made me feel... I don't know... safe.
Mm.
It's just something that was part of me.
After several run-ins with the law and being locked up for vagrancy,
Archie moved back to Victoria
to get away from trouble and make a fresh start.
We were up in Echuca. I was sitting in a pub.
A friend of mine came running in
and said, "Archie, quick, we gotta get going.
"We're gonna go up to Mildura."
I said, "How are we gonna get to Mildura?"
He said, "I've got a car."
I said, "Where did you get a car?"
He said, "Oh, I borrowed it.
"My uncle said I could borrow his car for a while
"and we could go to Mildura
"and get a bit of work up there picking grapes."
And I said, "Oh, yeah, I'll be in that."
So I got in the car, but I was a little bit drunk so I went to sleep.
The next minute I woke up with this torch shining in my face.
I go, "What? What's going on?" Yeah.
And it was the police, you know? "Assume the position."
I said, "What's going on?"
"We're arresting you for... and your mate here
"for... for, um... stealing this vehicle."
And I'm looking around for my mate, you know,
and they're talking to him somewhere else.
I could have grabbed him and throttled him.
Yeah. How long did you spend in jail for?
About a year and a half.
What was that time in jail like, being only 15 years old?
I had to learn how to handle myself.
You know, so... Gosh.
..if anybody tried to get funny, I could... I could look after myself.
Did they let you have your guitar?
They had guitars
but they had this old beat-up... old cheap guitar, you know,
that only had nylon strings or... fishing line or something.
(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) For strings.
It was really... really a pretty daggy old guitar,
but it did the trick, you know?
Returning to Sydney after his release,
a night out at an inner-city pub
would result in Archie getting closer to finding out
the truth about his past.
One woman came up, talked to me,
and she said, "Oh, listen, we've seen you around a little bit.
"We just want to know what's your name. What's your name?"
I just blurted out my name. I said, "Archie. Archie Roach."
And she got up and said, "Just wait here."
She walked over to the table and all these girls were sitting around.
One woman got up, she gave me the third degree.
She said, "Well, do you have any brothers and sisters?"
I said, "Yeah."
I knew all my brothers' and sisters' names because of that letter.
"What's your mother's name?"
I said, "My mother's named Nellie."
"What's your father's name? "What's your father's name, then?"
I said, "I'm Archie Roach.
"If you know my name then you know my dad's name,
"'cause I was named after him."
And bang! Didn't see it coming.
She chinned me. She hit me on the chin.
(LAUGHS)
And knocked me off... flying off my chair.
Yeah? I said, "You're a madwoman."
She said, "Nah, nah." She started crying.
Said, "I'm your sister Dianne." Wow.
(LAUGHS)
I mean, after we sort of got over that,
I said, "What did you hit me for?"
She said, "I don't know. I was that shocked."
(LAUGHS)
I said, "I was pretty shocked." (LAUGHS)
"You shocked me right on the jaw."
(BOTH LAUGH)
Archie lost many years searching for who he was,
reconnecting to the culture he was taken from
and learning about the notion of family
that many of us take for granted.
He's considered, with a strong sense of who he is.
He has been through so much,
and it's that life experience that I want to capture.
Archie reunited with another brother and sister in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
They revealed what really happened to his parents.
Poor old Dad.
See, after the kids were gone, were taken off them,
they fell apart.
Poor old people, you know? Mentally and physically.
Dad ended up in Fitzroy.
Homeless. Poor old fella.
Picked up one night and in jail, he got a bit crook,
so he's asking the police, you know,
he's saying, "Look, I'm sick. Could you take me to hospital?"
They just told him, "Oh, shut up, you black so-and-so. Go to sleep."
The next morning he...
..next morning he was passed away.
Excuse me. Sorry.
And, um... never got to know that old fella.
And Mum, well, she was up in a place called Sylvan
picking... picking beans or something.
Never had a chance to get to hospital and she passed away there.
But the thing was that where she passed away, where she was,
you know, it was 30, 40km, uh... from where I used to go to school.
No way.
I just wondered if she'd ever been in Lilydale.
You might have gone past... When I'd been going to school.
And she might have... she would've known who I was if she saw me.
But, you know, didn't want to interfere.
Makes me... makes me sad, mate, you know?
Like, what they endured, yeah.
We got a story... I got so many stories about Mum and Dad,
it's like I knew them anyway through these stories.
That's why we've got stories, I think.
After a stint picking grapes in Mildura,
16-year-old Archie tossed a coin to decide his fate.
It landed him in Adelaide,
where he would meet the love of his life.
This old fella put me up in this place...
..called the People's Palace.
The Salvation Army used to run this place,
as they used to buy these...
..or acquire these old hotels, grand hotels,
and they used to put people up in them
that couldn't afford accommodation.
So I was in there, and the first night,
I remember a couple of people walked out the lift.
One of the people was this... was this, um, young woman.
I thought, "Wow." You know? She was pretty attractive.
(LAUGHS)
And I walked up and asked them... I said, "Oh, hello."
"Yeah, hello. How are you?"
I said, "Oh, good."
"Hey, listen, where do all the blackfellas drink and hang out?"
And she had a... she sort of looked at me up and down
and said, "You want to know where all the blackfellas drink, do you?
"You just follow me, then."
(LAUGHS)
(CHUCKLES) So that's how I met her. Yeah.
Ruby and Archie bonded over their shared experience
as members of the stolen generation.
In 1978, back in Melbourne, they welcomed their first child, Amos,
followed by another son, Eban, a year later.
But the joy of parenthood
was marred by the grim reality of living on the poverty line.
I was forced to look at myself, our lives, you know?
'Cause we... we got two little boys, you know, me and Ruby,
and, uh, we were both still drinking.
We didn't have much in the house or much food in the cupboard
or in the fridge.
There was a soup van that used to come round,
a soup van, and would give people...
She'd take the kids, the boys, down there with her
and they'd have something to eat down there.
And I think she realised there and then.
Said, "Nah, that's enough. I've had enough of this."
You know? "There's got to be something better."
Come back to the flat and said, "Had enough, Archie," you know?
"Can't do this anymore.
"Not to myself, not to my babies.
"I'm going to try and sort myself out."
She took the boys, you know?
That was a big wake-up call for me, you know?
I had to do something about myself, so I did.
And music was the best way, I think, you know, to...
It helped me to get through that.
I found that I could actually sort of start writing songs
about, you know, my experience and how I felt.
♪ And they took us from our family
♪ Took us away... ♪
Archie began performing at folk clubs and country music festivals.
In 1991, his song Took The Children Away
caught the attention of legendary singer/songwriter Paul Kelly,
who asked Archie to open for him at Melbourne's concert hall.
Not long after, he said, "Do you want to do an album, Archie?"
After Ruby convinced me to do it.
Because I wasn't going to do it.
I said, "Nah, don't think I'll do this, Rube."
And that's when she put her hands on her hips
and looked at me and said, "It's not all about you, Archie Roach.
It's like when you watch footy as a kid and you see your heroes.
Like, you know, you realise that when one of us shines, we all shine.
So that's how that ended up, you know?
Ended up from being drunk and homeless
to eventually sort of doing an album, doing Charcoal Lane.
♪ Beautiful, beautiful child... ♪
His debut album would launch Archie's career
and deliver him not one but two ARIA award nominations.
We pull up in the car, me and Ruby.
Cameras going, everybody going, "Hey, hey! Here!"
Because they couldn't see inside the car.
And as soon as we got out and got onto the red carpet,
it just went dead quiet.
(LAUGHS)
So we were walking up the street very uncomfortably
and there was just this silence.
Because no-one knows who you are? Correct. Nobody knew.
But by the end of the night, after winning the ARIAs
for Best New Talent and Best Indigenous Album,
boy, there was lights and cameras and everybody wanted to know me.
I said, "Where we you fellas when we walked up the red carpet?"
Didn't expect it.
After a while, you know - 'cause I'm a pretty private person -
you sort of want to shy away from that spotlight,
but I couldn't.
(CHUCKLES)
Archie's career took off.
He would go on to release more than a dozen albums
and win countless music awards.
He'd also get to share the stage with Ruby,
an accomplished musician in her own right,
as well as some of music's most celebrated acts, including Bob Dylan.
KEVIN RUDD: For the pain, suffering and hurt
of these stolen generations, their descendants
and for their families left behind,
we say sorry.
What did it mean to you when Kevin Rudd said sorry for what happened?
For me it was...
..it was like, you know, this weight lifted off my shoulders.
I walked a bit lighter after that.
Because them two old people I talked about -
my mum and old Archie Roach -
they weren't here to hear that,
so I accepted it on their behalf.
I talk to them every now and then
and my brothers and sisters that have passed.
You know? Dad Alex and Mum Dulcie Cox, I talk to them.
So, I had a chance to accept it on their behalf
and just ask them if that was alright
and, uh... that someone finally, you know, apologised
and said sorry for... for taking us away.
In 2009, Archie and Ruby moved yet again -
this time back to her country, in Victoria's western district.
Less than a year later, Ruby had a heart attack,
collapsing in their family home.
I was one other room and my son, I could hear him cry out, "Mum!"
and I heard this thump and I ran into the kitchen
and she was on the floor.
We tried all that we could to bring her back.
We weren't quite sure what was going on.
Yeah. She passed away.
And then you realise, you know... It was just like that.
'Cause she was up and playing with my granddaughters, laughing.
It was then when I realised that...
..life can be so fleeting, you know?
Like turning off a switch.
She was a good friend, and, uh...
..it was tough.
It was hard.
One of the hardest things. Yeah.
Archie struggled with the tragic loss
but in time found solace in something familiar.
I had to start playing music again
otherwise I just would've, um... disappeared.
I would've just, uh... I don't know what I would have done.
Busy again, picked me up, and, uh... became my deliverance.
Multiple health scares - first a stroke and then lung cancer -
would diminish Archie's quality of life.
The thing about a lot of men -
well, I know for Aboriginal men in particular -
is that we're too tough for our own good.
We'll cry over the most minor things... "I've got a cold!"
(LAUGHS) Or, you know, "I cut myself."
And then we ignore... we ignore a pain in the abdomen.
With the serious stuff, we just go, "Nah, it's nothing."
It took half my left lung.
It's alright now - I'm cancer-free.
What was that like, to face... to face that?
Nah, it was scary.
You know, you think, "Well, is this it?" You know?
Archie, you're now an elder and you're mentoring younger kids.
See, I have a foundation myself.
We hope to work with young people,
but in particular young people in youth detention,
and share with them my own story.
You see their eyes pop open and go, "Archie Roach was homeless?"
"Archie Roach has been in jail?" (LAUGHS)
"Archie Roach was a drinker and a smoker?"
And all sorts of things.
You can make mistakes. I've made mistakes.
You don't have to stay there, you don't have to be trapped
or stuck in that, you know?
You can rise above.
Archie, all that you've been through,
what do you think this thing called life is about?
Trying to make the world easier,
or a bit better, for the next generation.
My mum, dad, my uncles and aunties, they fought and they struggled
so we didn't have to go through the stuff that they went through.
Archie, you've given us some of the most beautiful songs
in... I think Australian history.
Will you sing for us?
Yes. Yes, I will. Yeah.
♪ This story's right, this story's true
♪ I would not tell lies to you
♪ Like the promises they did not keep
♪ How they fenced us in like sheep
♪ Said to us "Come take our hand"
♪ Set us up on mission land
♪ They taught us to read, write and pray
♪ Then they took the children away
♪ The children away
♪ Children away
♪ Snatched from their mothers' breasts
♪ Said this was for the best
♪ Took them away. ♪
Thank you so much for that, Archie.
Nah, that's alright. Yeah.
This is going quite well. I'm quite happy with it.
I'm just going to need a little while longer to finish it off.
Yep. So we're gonna take a little break.
I'll finish this off and then I'll bring you back
and I'll show you the finished portrait.
Sweet. No worries.
Anh has a beautiful presence about him.
You know, very disarming.
It's just like having a yarn with an old friend.
Some subjects were a little emotional
but that's the way it is with me and my life.
Archie Roach is a national treasure.
He has risen above life's challenges
and made his mark on our national conversation.
His story is one of transformation, survival and love.
I want to convey his wisdom and a sense of peace.
I think I'm close.
Let's bring Archie back in and see what he thinks.
Archie, I'm all done.
Come on back. OK. OK, then.
(CHUCKLES)
It's been such an honour talking to you today.
Thank you.
First off, I've made you a bit younger.
I hope that's OK.
(LAUGHS) More than OK, man. (LAUGHS)
Chatting to you today I got a sense of your wisdom,
but also hearing your stories,
a little bit of sadness has crept into the eyes.
Mmm. So with that, I'm gonna ask you
to close your beautiful, wisdom-filled eyes...
..and don't open them until I tell you to.
OK.
OK. Archie, open your eyes.
Whoa!
Dude.
Wow.
It's beautiful.
It's, uh... it's what I was hoping for.
It's very...
It's very moving, bud.
Thank you, Anh. Thank you, Archie.
Beautiful work.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories with me today.
It's been an honour. Nah...
And thank you for doing what you do, Archie.
And, you know, I think the next generation
is going to benefit a lot from everything that you've done.
I hope so. I hope so. I really do.
Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you, bud.
I don't speak unless I've got something to say.
I choose my words carefully.
Uh... he's captured that.
It's great.
Absolutely. It's got it all there.
Especially the eyes. The eyes, they don't lie.
Archie Roach is a man of few words,
but what power those words have.
It was a privilege to spend time with him today.
Next time, passionate, innovative chef Kylie Kwong,
on love, unimaginable loss and staying true.
He said, you know, "It's Wednesday,
"I want you out of the house by Saturday."
He said, "From this moment, I disown you as my daughter."
I need to capture her energy and creative spirit
and put THAT on the canvas.
(GASPS) Oh, my gosh. The beauty spot!
(LAUGHS) That's incredible!