Grills first foray into of entertainment came as part of the musical comedy duo 'Tex and Lucky’, performing around Melbourne at parties, clubs and the
Hawthorn Town Hall, before he successfully auditioned for the 1948 Revue with the
Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne. He later moved with the show to the
New Tivoli Theatre, Sydney. He would change his material to suit his audience, stating: "Some people know me as the dirtiest comic in the business... but others know me as a man who never drops even a mild four-letter word." In 1957, Grills, together with musician
Geoff Mack started a variety show at the Hotel Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, eventually touring the show nationally, under the name ‘Carols Varieties’ for six years. On one occasion in
Adelaide, Grills had done a show and needed to get a taxi. He had put on a big
houndstooth-checked sports jacket and was carrying a suitcase. The taxi driver looked at him and asked where he had been wrestling. Lucky had to set him straight and let him know he was not a wrestler but a comic. For the rest of the journey, Grills had to listen to the driver telling old jokes. During both the Korean and Vietnam wars, Grills travelled over to entertain Australian troops stationed there. He also did three hundred weeks in a migrant education programme called
You Say the Word, where he played the owner of a factory. "It was designed to show newcomers to
Australia how things were done and to teach them
English", he explained. Prior to his role in
Bluey, Grills played other parts in several
Crawford series, but "oddly enough, despite my bulk and appearance, never once have I been asked to play a heavy". It was a guest role in
Matlock Police that brought him to the attention of producers for the role his best known role of 'Bluey' Hills in the television series
Bluey in 1976. He was sent a script page, read it and duly went to the audition. Within ten days he knew he had the part. Grills' other notable credits include the biopic
Caddie (1976) with
Jack Thompson and
Jacki Weaver, crime action drama film
Money Movers (1978) and comedy drama musical
Starstruck (1982). He also starred in children's film
Molly (1983) alongside
Claudia Karvan and long running TV soap opera
Home and Away (1988). He played minor roles in
A Country Practice, 1987 war miniseries
Vietnam alongside
Nicole Kidman and the film
Fast Talking with
Steve Bisley. Grills was reintroduced to a younger generation in a recurring segment of the early 1990s comedy series
The Late Show called
Bargearse, a humorous re-dub of
Bluey. He also made three in-person appearances on the show, including singing as a member of a
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young parody band and in character as Bluey protesting the last episode of
Bargearse. Following his film and television career, Grills toured with
Stan Zemanek’s travelling cabaret show in the 1990s, often joined by singer and comedian
Jan Adele. He is often credited as being the last touring vaudeville performer in Australia and frequently performed two shows a night, seven days a week throughout Australia and internationally. Grills released his autobiography "Just Call Me Lucky" in 2003. ==Honours ==