Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Teachers College and featured in the theatre productions School for Scandal and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll with Kerry Dwyer in 1964.
The group was officially formed in 1970 and then set up a theatre in a former pram factory in Drummond Street, Carlton.
He was known for his ability to dress up and parody a wide range of political figures, both on television and in live solo theatrical performances (i.e.
In July 2008 he resurrected his caricatures of Australia's former prime ministers in a live production of No Country for Old PMs: An Evening with Max Gillies at the Noosa Longweekend festival.
[1] Gillies stated in an interview with The Courier-Mail that he and co-writer Guy Rundle were watching the then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, for a possible new caricature in a new production being developed.