Bell, John, 1940-

John Anthony Bell, actor, director and founder of the Bell Shakespeare Company. In 1964 he won a scholarship from the British Council, and spent five years in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He returned to Australia in 1969, and spent a year teaching at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. In 1970 he became the co-founder and Artistic Director of Nimrod Theatre Company. In 1990 he formed the Bell Shakespeare Company, performing and touring his own productions of Shakespeare's plays. He received an OBE in 1978 for his services to the Performing Arts, and was awarded an Australian Artist's Fellowship from the Australia Council in 1993.

Anna Volska was born Anna Maria Dobrowolski in Warsaw, Poland. She graduated from NIDA in 1962, and acted with the Old Tote Theatre Company for two years. Anna met John Bell in 1963 when they were both acting in The Cherry Orchard. They married in 1965 and Anna travelled to England to join John in Stratford-on-Avon, where she played minor roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was a co-founder of Nimrod Theatre, and directed several productions there, including As You Like It with her husband. She performed leading roles in many plays, including Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing and The Seagull. She won a Logie for her role in the TV series Beyond the Legend.