Paul "Paddy" Paddick (b. February 16, 1967) is an Australian actor and singer who has worked with The Wiggles since 1995 as the primary 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", a name also given to original founding member Phillip Wilcher.
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 1993, 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 5 weeks during the Wiggles' tour at the time. During the tour, Paddick played the blue 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 fill in for Field during the 5 weeks, but the other members of the group liked working with Paddick so much that once his tour of WSS was over, they asked him to join the group full-time as the new permanent actor for Captain Feathersword, which Paddick agreed to do, with the first Wiggles video officially featuring Paddick in the role being 1996's Wake Up Jeff!.
Paddick has also portrayed various other character roles 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 the majority 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 (1993, 1995-present)
- Wags the Dog (Suit: 1994, 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)
- Various Reoccurring Characters in The Wiggles (TV Series 1):
- Occasional Guest Characters in The Wiggles (TV Series 2):
- 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 (some portions of the Wiggly Circus live tour)
- Samson (Baby Antonio's Circus)
- Occasional Guest Characters in Series 2 of Ready, Steady, Wiggle!:
- William Shakespeare*
- Counsellor Country*
- Mr. Funny*
- 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 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! - Co-Arranger of "This Old Man", "Murray Had A Turtle", "English Country Garden", "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush", "See-Saw Margery Daw", "Two Fine Gentlemen", "There Was A Princess", "The Grand Old Duke Of York", "The Farmer In The Dell", "Ring-A-Ring O'Rosy", "Oranges And Lemons", "Jack And Jill" and "London Bridge", Vocals
- 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 - 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", Vocals
- 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
- Rock & Roll Preschool - Vocals
- The Wiggles Meet The Orchestra! - Vocals, Character Vocals for Captain Feathersword, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog
- Wiggle Town! - Vocals
- Dance Dance! - Vocals
- Nursery Rhymes - Vocals, Backing Vocals
- Duets - Vocals, Backing Vocals
- Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas! - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Character Voices
- 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 on the album's accompanying video.
**Was only credited for vocals in the North American release of the album.
Trivia[]
- While studying at WAAPA before joining the Wiggles, Paddick was a classmate of famous 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.