Figurative sculptor in bronze and draughtsman, known for his sculptures of dancers, the female and male nude, portraiture and life-sized busts. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and trained as a classical dancer from a young age, becoming a soloist with the Borovonsky Ballet at 16. In 1956 he moved to Britain, his first engagement being as a principal dancer in Cinderella at the London Coliseum. He also appeared on the stage in On the Town, West Side Story, Man of La Mancha and in numerous television productions. While appearing in films, including The Young Girls of Rochefort, 1967, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968, Merrifield began drawing his fellow dancers. He also began to sculpt, about the time that a cartilage operation made dancing painful, showing sculptures in a West End gallery.