Bruno Zimmermann

Bruno Zimmermann is a long time local to Mount Lawley and owner of the Astor Theatre which is a family run business. Bruno started his career as a photographer and owned a business in Germany before moving to Australia, where he had a photography shop on Beaufort Street in Mt Lawley.

The Zimmermann’s bought the Astor in the 1990’s to prevent it from being demolished, they ran it as a Cinema for a few years, before they realised they would lose everything if they kept going with it. They decided to change into a mixed entertainment venue, with live music, dance and comedy being their main focus. The last film to be shown at the Astor was the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, which was a free event for the community to celebrate the end of an era.

Bob Geldof spoke at an event at the Astor, run by the Jewish Society as a private event, as Geldof’s Grandmother was Jewish with links to the community in Menora. It was a talk on his Live Aid program, about feeding the world and stopping hunger. This was a sold out event and probably helped inspire the Zimmermann’s to consider moving away from Cinema into live entertainment, because this event filled the Astor to capacity.

The Zimmermann’s worked to get the Astor State Heritage listed, in 1998, and have been working to embrace adaptive reuse for the building while keeping its heritage intact, like putting in the ice cream parlour at the side of the building.

The Zimmermann’s run the Astor as a family business with everyone being involved. Bruno Zimmermann had a photography business in Germany and in Perth on Beaufort Street and arrived in Perth with 12,000 pounds in 1965 from selling his business in Germany. The Zimmermann’s have been very successful with their ventures in Perth and leave a legacy with their work at the Astor.