George Cann Jr

From the moment he was born in 1927, George Cann Junior was surrounded by snakes. In the 1938 video Fangs of Death, you can see George playing with pythons and blue tongue lizards.



Service on HMS Kanimbla during WW2
George joined the Australian Navy when he turned 18. He joined on 7 August 1945, and eight days later on August 15 the Japanese Imperial Forces surrendered. George was assigned a role as a nursing orderly private on the HMS Kanimbla. Between 1945-1948, HMS Kanimbla transported British Commonwealth Occupation Forces back and forth between Japan and Australia, and also repatriated Australian soldiers and POWs from the Pacific.

From father to son
When his father passed away from a stroke in August 1965, George and his brother John agreed to continue the tradition started by their parents.
In the movies
George Cann Junior and John Cann not only spent their time educating people about reptiles and doing weekend shows. They also appeared on television and supplied reptiles for movies and tv shows. One of George's most memorable cameo appearances was in the 1990 movie Quigley Down Under, starring Tom Selleck and Alan Rickman.

George continued to perform the show on alternative weekends with John for 36 years until his untimely death from asbestos-related mesothelioma in 2001. He was 73 years old.