He left school at 14 to do a few odd jobs before taking on a trade as a butcher around the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
The other character was an amateur boxer turned seaman/waterfront worker, William (Doogza) Davis, an underworld hard man.
After work they would "grab drinks at the early opener at Kings Cross and swap stories" while Barrett jotted down the occasional note.
A montage of these stories and the continuing life experiences of these two uniquely Australian individuals are what appears in the Les Norton series.
[2] Barrett died at Terrigal, New South Wales, on 20 September 2012 after a long battle with bowel cancer.