Billy (Pepper) Crombie

193l – 2/12/1969

Billy Pepper came from Mintabie/ Mount Willoughby and worked for the Rankins at Ingomar and Twins stations.

He met his future wife, Eileen at this time as her father was mining opal at 12 Mile. Later, they met again when Eileen was at Kooniba Mission and Billy was working at Nuntjikompita. They were married at Pt Augusta and made a home there. Billy worked on the railways from Port Augusta, picked stumps on stations on Eyre Peninsula, in shearing sheds and was often called upon by the police for his skills as a black-tracker.

In 1957, he was selected to appear in the film ‘Robbery under Arms” with Peter Finch and later also starred in “The Sundowners” with Robert Mitchum.

By 1961, Billy and his family were in Coober Pedy where another son Mindy was born. While Billy was away working on stations, Eileen would go digging for opal with a crowbar, and Billy too when he was home. Eileen wrote “The big kids would go to school. We’d carry the babies while we were working getting the opal. We had a drum of water all the time in the camp to wash the clothes… … Every Saturday we’d get ready every time for the moving pictures.
Everyone went in the Town Hall near where the Breakaway café is now.
Billy Pepper was a good working man. Made money for the kids all the time. And he was a kind man. …He’d feel sorry and help the kids. He’d feed everybody-he don’t say no”

From “He was a South Australian Film star- My life with Billy Pepper – Tinyma”
By Eileen Unkari Crombie