Biography

 

Pinewood Fresh II was born on October 19, 1922 at 12:43pm to laborer Pinewood Fresh I and fruiterer Annabelle Fresh. He weighed 11lbs, 3oz, which is extremely heavy for a baby. Unfortunately his mother passed away giving birth to Pinewood and as his father, Pinewood Snr, was serving a lengthy sentence in the Darlinghurst Gaol, on an armed robbery charge, Pinewood was placed in St. Stanislaus Orphanage where he stayed until he was 12 years old.

 

 

In January 1935, at age 12, Pinewood, or Pine as he had come to be known, visited a traveling circus, St. Leon’s, which was passing through town at the time. He was in awe of the extravagance and vibrancy of the circus atmosphere, and took quite a liking to the camels, an animal which he had never seen before. At that moment, Pine decided that he wanted to be apart of this environment, or at least own a camel of his own. After the show, Pine snuck under the tent where the camels were contained to get a closer look and if possible to touch an animal that seemed so strange to him. As Pine attempted to untie one camel, a man with a strange accent grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet.

 

The man was Elijah St. Leon, the great lion-tamer from Israel, and owner of the circus. Feeling guilty, Pine expressed how amazing he thought the circus was and that he desperately wanted to be part of it. After some small reservations, Elijah agreed, only under the condition that he would consult his guardians. Pine pleaded his case extremely well for a 12 year old and soon enough Sister Patrick and Sister Stephenson agreed, perhaps because of the fact that this Leon character claimed to be a saint.  That day, Pine joined the St. Leon circus as a laborer and stagehand, just like his father. It was the proudest day in his somewhat disappointing existence, and to celebrate he wrote his father a long letter. Over the years he had written numerous letters to his father, but had never received a response. Not phased that he probably wasn’t going to get a response from his father, he sent it anyway, knowing that by just letting his father know was satisfaction enough.

 

 

Pine worked hard as a laborer, but he found that his seemingly over-confident, borderline- arrogant personality was starting to make him question his position in the circus. Over the years he had befriended one of the dominant male camels, Sam, and spent a lot of time teaching him tricks which in turn entertained many of the fellow performers in the circus. He felt a new exhilaration for making people laugh and smile. So, at some time around June 1937, at age 14, Pine consulted Elijah about finding a new job in the circus. Over the two and a half years that Pine had traveled with the St. Leon circus, Elijah had been like a father figure to him as Pine began losing faith in his relationship with his real father, Pinewood Snr. Elijah always had useful, appreciative advice for Pine. So, it was at this time that Pine began work as a circus clown, and also included Sam in his performances, bringing joy and entertainment to visitors the country over.

 

 

However this didn’t last too long as on the 17^th August, 1939, Pine was informed that the St. Leon Circus was going to be shut down, due to restrictions imposed upon circus activity in the wake of World War II. In a fit of disappointment and a need for companionship, Pine enlisted in the army and was dispatched to Borneo on 22^nd December 1939. During the war, Pine fought as a tank driver. He made very few friends in the army because of his confrontational attitude and strong opinions. Fellow soldiers were not impressed by his tendency to over-exaggerate things and his constant arrogant rants. One friend he made however was an Italian private serving in the Australian army, Frank Dolmio.

 

 

Frank Dolmio II was a descendent of Italian immigrants who moved to Australia around the turn of the 20^th century. Frank was supposedly the grandnephew of Alfred Leggo, who was famous for once being the neighbour of Al Capone, and also the Godfather of Leggo’s Pasta Sauce. Frank had plans to establish his own pasta sauce company once he left the army in the Inner-west suburbs of Sydney, the most influential and dangerous environment for Italian cuisine in the southern hemisphere. 

 

 

Frank found Pine’s antics extremely amusing, and Pine found Frank’s knowledge of Italian cuisine very engaging. It helped Pine keep his mind off the un-appetising rations which they were served on the frontline. It wasn’t all that bad for Pine though, as he took quite a liking to the small juice-boxes which were included in the rations. One could even say that he had a kind of obsession for them. When other soldiers were trading for cigarettes, Pine was stocking up on Juice-boxes, drinking an unhealthy amount per day. This led to Pine receiving his first nickname, Juicebox, which would stick to him like snot to a nostril.

Pine returned home from the war to Australia on 3^rd June 1945, at the age of 23. Shortly after, he joined Frank in search of job opportunities. Soon after arriving, he realized there was inadequate financial support and limited opportunites for veterans, and in order to find shelter he sought refuge squatting in an abandoned factory. Ironically, the factory had previously been used for manufacturing those juice-boxes in army ration kits that Pine loved so much. For a short period, Pine benefited from the small stock that still remained in the building, even though he wasn’t sure how old the stock was. When his food source had subsided, and his hopes for a job expired, Frank convinced Pine to join him as a part-time criminal in the Inner-city underground. Pine himself had come from a long line of ancestors who were criminals, dating back to the first Fresh descendents who came to Australia as convicts on the Second Fleet. Frank had connections with some of the influential members of the Sydney underworld, and offered to share his knowledge and experience with Pine, which he had no choice. Pine’s personality perfectly suited life as a criminal and he made his living though armed robbery and fraud.

 

 

Over his many years on the street, Pine contributed to only a few successful crimes, the majority of the time, his arrogance and blatant disregard for the dangers of getting caught causing him to spend quite a lot of time behind bars in the Darlinghurst Gaol, the same gaol Pinewood Snr had spent many years at before being transferred to Rozelle Mental Hospital. The amount of time Pine had been spending in the gaol suggests that perhaps he enjoyed the idea of experiencing what his father had years before.  The more acceptable reason though suggests that Pine was not the greatest criminal, even though he liked to talk himself up.

 

 

It is unknown what happened to Pinewood Fresh II after the Summer of ’57 and ’58, so I have made it my mission to find out. This biography section will be sure to grow in the near future so stay tuned.