Paul Paddick

Paul "Paddy" Paddick (b. February 16, 1967) is an Australian actor and singer who has worked with The Wiggles since 1995 as the official portrayer of Captain Feathersword in nearly all videos, television series, and live concert tours. Due to the prominence and popularity of his character, Paddick has become so closely associated with the band that he has sometimes been referred to as "the Fifth Wiggle".
Prior to joining the group, Paddick studied drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and performed with the Victoria State Opera, respectively playing Diesel and the Robber King in their productions of West Side Story and Don Quixote. Paddick also works as a co-principal and occasional guest teacher at the dance and performing arts school Kick Dance and Arts.
Paddick currently lives in Brisbane, Queensland and is married to Charmaine Paddick, who has occasionally worked for The Wiggles as a character actress and dancer. Together, they have two sons, Connor and Felix.
== Career with The Wiggles ==
Paddick first met Wiggles creator Anthony Field in 1995, as his then-girlfriend/fellow West Side Story cast member was Field's tenant. Field would later need a hernia operation and asked Paddick to temporarily fill in for him for five weeks during the Wiggles' tour at the time. During the tour, Paddick played the green Wiggle, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog, and Dorothy the Dinosaur (the latter role being usually played by Murray Cook). Paddick was initially meant to only understudy for Field, but the other members of the band liked working with Paddick so much that once his tour of WSS was over, they asked him to join the group as the new permanent actor for Captain Feathersword. Paddick agreed to join full-time and made his official debut as the Captain in the Wake Up Jeff! video special.
Paddick has also portrayed various other characters besides Captain Feathersword, including often providing the voices of Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, and Santa Claus (at times sharing the former two roles with Jeff Fatt). In addition to performing as an actor, Paddick has also worked as a backing vocalist and songwriter on several of the band's albums and served as co-head writer of The Kingdom Of Paramithi television series.
As of 2015, Paddick has regularly been absent for parts of various live tours, requiring Dominic Field to fill in for Paddick's characters.
== Character Roles ==
* Captain Feathersword (1995-present)
* Wags the Dog (Suit: 1995, 1996-98, 2013; Voice: 1997-present)
* Santa Claus (Voice: 2000-present)
* Dorothy the Dinosaur (Voice: 2001, 2006, 2013-2014, 2016, 2018-present)
* Henry the Octopus (Voice: 2004-present)
* Iggy, Ziggy & Frank* (Voices only during Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas and The Wiggles Movie)
* Life-Saver, Rose Robber (The Wiggles Movie)
* Puppet Captain (Voice during “Wigglemix”: 1998-1999)
* Joey the Crab*, Tom the Purple Trout*, Nancye* (Episode 4), The Yellow Catfish* (Series 1 of The Wiggles)
* Captain's Mum & Dad*, Professor Singalottasonga*, Munchworm* (Series 2 of The Wiggles)
* Poster Performers (Space Dancing!)
* Foodman* (Cold Spaghetti Western, Hot Poppin' Popcorn)
* Lead Singer of The Groovers* (Racing to the Rainbow)
* Mario (The Kingdom Of Paramithi)
* Harry the Elf, Caveman* (Dorothy the Dinosaur Meets Santa Claus)
* Ringo the Ringmaster (Wiggly Circus live tour, some portions of the Asia leg)
* Samson (Baby Antonio's Circus)
* William Shakespeare*, Counsellor Country*, Mr. Funny* (Series 2 of Ready, Steady, Wiggle!)
* Mr Wardrobe (Rock & Roll Preschool Tour!)
* The Singing Barbers* (Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle!)
* Shirley Shawn the Unicorn* (Voice: 2022, Fruit Salad Big Show)
* Wiggly Trivia Announcer* (Series 5 & 6 of Ready, Steady, Wiggle!)
*Was uncredited for the role.
== Album Credits ==
For a full list of songs written and arranged by Paddick, see Paul Paddick Songs
* Wake Up Jeff! - Backing Vocals
* Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas - Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Wiggly Wiggly Christmas"
* The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack - Backing Vocals
* Toot Toot! - Backing Vocals
* It's a Wiggly Wiggly World! - Backing Vocals, Vocals*
* Yule Be Wiggling - Vocals, Co-Writer of "Decorate The Tree"
* Hoop-Dee-Doo it's a Wiggly Party - Vocals, Backing Vocals
* Wiggly Safari - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Cocky Want A Cracker" and "Swim With Me"
* Wiggle Bay - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Dancing In The Sand" and "Zing Zang Wing Wang Wong"
* Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! - Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Calling All Cows"
* Top of the Tots - Songwriter, Backing Vocals
* Cold Spaghetti Western - Backing Vocals
* Santa's Rockin'! - Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Wags Stop Your Barking, It's Almost Christmas Day!"
* Sailing Around the World - Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "Goldfish" and "Brisbane"
* Here Comes The Big Red Car - Vocals
* It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! - Vocals
* Racing to the Rainbow - Vocals, Co-Arranger of "Polly Put The Kettle On"
* Dorothy the Dinosaur - Vocals
* Getting Strong! - Vocals
* Pop Go The Wiggles! - Vocals, Song Arranger
* Dorothy the Dinosaur's Memory Book - Vocals
* You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Vocals, Co-Writer of "The Story Of Thomas The Turkey"
* Sing a Song of Wiggles -Vocals, Co-Arranger of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm", "Rub-A-Dub Dub", "Black Velvet Band", "Polly Put the Kettle On" and "Ride A Cock-Horse To Banburry Cross"
* The Wiggles Go Bananas! - Songwriter, Vocals, Backing Vocals
* The Kingdom Of Paramithi - Co-Songwriter/Arranger, Vocals
* Dorothy the Dinosaur Meets Santa Claus - Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus, Misc. Character Voices, Backing Vocals
* Hot Poppin' Popcorn - Songwriter, Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus
* Let's Eat! - Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Backing Vocals, Writer of "Tom Love-Eatin'"
* Dorothy the Dinosaur's Rockin' Christmas - Backing Vocals (archived recordings)
* Ukulele Baby! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus, Backing Vocals, Co-Writer of "You Can Play the Ukulele", "How Many You Want?", and "Round and Round, Round and Round", Co-Arranger of "La Paloma"
* The Wiggles' Big Birthday! - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus
* It's Always Christmas With You! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Santa Claus, Co-Writer of "It's a Long Way From the North Pole"
* Surfer Jeff - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword
* Celebration! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus, Musician
* Taking Off! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword and Henry the Octopus
* Furry Tales - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Co-Writer of "There Are So Many Animals" and "Here Come The Animals, Two By Two!"
* Pumpkin Face - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword
* Go Santa Go! - Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog, and Santa Claus
* Apples & Bananas - Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Co-Arranger of "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" and "Open, Shut Them"
* Wiggle House - Vocals on "Who's in the Wiggle House?" and "The Boating Song"
* Rock & Roll Preschool - Vocals on "Henry Likes Water", "I Went To The Library", "It's A Tickle Party" and "Ballerina, Ballerina"
* The Wiggles Meet The Orchestra! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog
* Wiggle Town! - Vocals on "Come on Down to Wiggle Town", "Captain's Barnyard Dance" and "Two Strong Men"
* Dance Dance! - Vocals on "Wiggly Party" and "Captain Feathersword (He Loves to Dance)"
* Nursery Rhymes - Vocals on "Three Little Kittens" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep", Backing Vocals on "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
* Duets - Vocals on "I Love To Have A Dance With Dorothy", Backing Vocals on "Monkey Man" (archived recording)
* Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas! - Vocals on "Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas", "It's a Christmas Party, On The Goodship Feathersword", "Go Santa Go", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Great Big Man In Red" and "Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus", Backing Vocals on "Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas", Character Voices on "Christmas Picnic"
* Party Time! - Vocals
* Fun and Games - Vocals
* Choo Choo Trains, Propeller Planes & Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car! - Vocals
* Le James Café - Co-Writer of "Entrez S'il Vous Plait"
* Lullabies with Love - Vocals
* Halloween Party - Vocals, Co-Writer of "Do Do the Robot"
* ReWiggled - Additional Vocals
* Super Wiggles - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Writer of "Put Your Life Vest On"
* The Sound of Halloween - Backing Vocals
*Was only credited for vocals in the North American release of the album.
== Trivia ==
* While studying at WAAPA, Paddick was classmates with actor Hugh Jackman.
* Paddick and Anthony Field are the only two members of The Wiggles' team to appear in every one of the band's television series.
** Paddick is also the second longest-serving member of the team in the band's history, behind Field.
* Paddick is the first person to provide the voice of all the Wiggly Friends (Captain, Wags, Dorothy, Henry and Shirley Shawn)
** He is also the third, and so far most recent, male to have voiced Dorothy, after Anthony Field (during the 1993 Carols in the Domain concert) and her creator Murray Cook.
* Paddick is the second person to play Captain Feathersword to not be a member of the Field family after Jeff Fatt.
* Since 2012, Paddick has also often served as the pre-show announcer for live concerts, relaying general safety advice and other information to the audience.