Adam Zwar

Last updated

Adam Zwar
Born (1972-01-13) 13 January 1972 (age 51)
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
MediumFilm, television
NationalityAustralian
Spouse Amanda Brotchie (2003–present)
Notable works and roles Alex Burchill on Lowdown
Adam Douglas on Wilfred
The Wedding Party
Rats and Cats

Adam Zwar (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian actor, voice artist, and writer. He is best known for co-creating the Australian comedy series Squinters , Lowdown , Wilfred and creating the critically acclaimed Channel 10 comedy Mr. Black as well as the popular factual series Agony Aunts , Agony Uncles , The Agony of Life , The Agony of Modern Manners and Agony . Zwar also presented and produced seminal cricket documentaries Underarm: The Ball That Changed Cricket and Bodyline: The Ultimate Test which took a forensic look at the infamous 1932–1933 Ashes series between Australia and England.

Contents

Early life

Zwar was born on 13 January 1972 in Cairns, Queensland where he was subsequently raised. His parents bought the family home from actor Leo McKern. Zwar is the son of author Desmond Zwar, who wrote the best-selling book The Loneliest Man in the World about Rudolf Hess. Zwar's mother Delphine was a longtime writer for the House and Garden magazine. [1]

From the age of thirteen, Zwar attended Smithfield High School and Brisbane Grammar School where he captained the cross country team in his senior year. After high school, he completed a journalism degree at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. He subsequently began studying acting as well. He undertook a journalism cadetship at The Cairns Post , and subsequently moved to Melbourne to work for the Sunday Herald Sun . [2]

After some time working at the Sunday Herald Sun, Zwar decided to pursue his interest in the film industry. In 1997 he left his full-time journalism job to work two jobs as a freelance journalist and freelance actor. He performed in theatre, numerous television commercials, as well as guest roles in Neighbours, Blue Heelers and Sea Change. [3] Each year Zwar would save a portion of his income (usually around $A4000 [3] ) and use it to produce a short film. [2]

Career

After guest appearances in several Australian television shows in the late 1990s, Adam co-wrote, produced and co-starred in the short film Wilfred in 2002 and then went on to co-create and co-star in the television series, Wilfred, screened on SBS in 2007. Later that year, he won the AFI Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy. After a second season on Wilfred, Adam collaborated with Amanda Brotchie, to create the popular comedy, Lowdown , which went on to win Best Television Comedy Screenplay at the Australian Writers Guild Awards (AWGIES) in 2010 and 2012. Lowdown would also win Best Television Comedy at the 2013 AACTA Awards.

More recently, he has created the successful Agony series for ABC1, featuring some of Australia's funniest and brightest comedians and social commentators. In 2012, Agony Uncles premiered, followed by Agony Aunts , The Agony of Life , The Agony of Christmas and then in 2014 The Agony of Modern Manners and The Agony of the Mind . In 2015, the series returned with Agony . Agony Aunts won Best Light Entertainment Television Series at the 2013 AACTA Awards. [4]

Adam also co-wrote and co-starred in the movie Rats and Cats , which premiered to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim at the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival [5] and went on to screen at the SXSW Film Festival in 2009. [6] From 2006 to 2010, he was head writer on the AFI Awards screened on the Nine Network, working alongside hosts Geoffrey Rush and Stephen Curry. [7] Zwar's other acting credits include playing Martin Gero in Series 1 of 2 of the Network Ten crime drama Rush , as well as the SBS series Carla Cametti PD , the ABC television movie Valentine's Day , the crime drama Underbelly for Channel Nine. In 2016, Zwar joined the main cast of Foxtel's drama Top of the Lake .

Zwar's other screen-acting credits include both seasons of the Network Ten sketch comedy series The Wedge , Blue Heelers , Stingers , CrashBurn , SeaChange , BackBerner , Foxtel's drama Tangle and MDA . His stage-acting credits include Kissing for Australia, for which he received a Green Room Award nomination, and Cyrano de Bergerac for the Melbourne Theatre Company. [8]

He has also written the plays Kissing for Australia, Primrose Hill , The Inner Sanctum , and The Fall and Fall of Jeremy Hawthorn

Zwar is one of Australia's leading voice-over artists lending his voice to Ford, Australia Post, ISelect, the Herald Sun, Honda, HBA, Boag's, RACV, Bundaberg Rum, AHM and Blackmores.

Personal life

Zwar is married to Amanda Brotchie, the AFI award-winning filmmaker.

Writing credits

YearTitleTypeOther notes
1994The Fall and Fall of Jeremy HawthornPlay
2002 Wilfred FilmShort, co-written with Jason Gann
2005The Inner SanctumPlay
2006–2007 Rats and Cats FilmCo-written with Jason Gann
2008Kissing for AustraliaPlay
2008Primrose HillPlay
2010–2012 Lowdown TV seriesCo-creator with Amanda Brotchie; executive producer; writer - 15 episodes
2007–2010, 2011–2014 Wilfred TV seriesCo-creator with Jason Gann and Tony Rogers; writer - 16 episodes
2012–2015Total AgonyTV series documentaryHost; director; executive producer; writer - 34 episodes
2017 No Activity TV seriesCo-writer with Trent O'Donnell and Patrick Brammall - episode "The Crow"
2019 Mr. Black TV seriesCreator; executive producer; writer - 8 episodes
2018–2019 Squinters TV seriesCo-creator with Trent O'Donnell; executive producer; head writer - 12 episodes

Acting credits

Television

YearTitleRoleOther notes
1998 Neighbours Mark Billings2 episodes
1999–2000 SeaChange Const. George Velos4 episodes
1999–2001 Stingers Reuben/Grubby Kane2 episodes
1998–2002 Blue Heelers Mike Schneider/Arnie Violet2 episodes
2003 CrashBurn TatEpisode "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
2002–2005 MDA Peter Munro5 episodes
2006–2007 The Wedge Various characters48 episodes
2008 Underbelly Gregg HildebrandtEpisode "Team Purana"
2008 Bogan Pride Mr. Laffer2 episodes
2009 Carla Cametti PD HankEpisode "In Sickness and in Health"
2008–2009 Rush Martin Gero2 episodes
2007–2010 Wilfred Adam Douglas/Detective Delaney16 episodes
2010 Tangle Huey Moss2 episodes
2011The Match CommitteeAdam Harrington3 episodes
2011Some Say LoveVarious charactersEpisode "Pilot"
2012 Howzat! Kerry Packer's War Peter McFarline2 episodes
2012 Rake Bob OakleyEpisode "R vs Alford"
2010–2012 Lowdown Alex Burchill16 episodes
2014 Party Tricks Trevor Bailey6 episodes
2015 The Beautiful Lie Comedy HostEpisode "#1.2"
2016 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Herbert JonesEpisode "The Open Road"
2016 The Legend of Gavin Tanner MarshallEpisode "The Legend of Gavin and the New Best Mate"
2017 Top of the Lake Carson4 episodes
2018 Sando Tony's Commercial (voice only)Episode "Family Business"
2019 Mr. Black Jim (Mr. Black's Doctor)Episode "#1.7"
2018–2019 Squinters Radio Announcer/Traffic Reporter12 episodes

Film

YearTitleRoleDirectorOther notes
2000NarcosysOrbitMark Bakaitis
2002 Wilfred Adam Douglas Tony Rogers Short film
2007 Rats and Cats Ben Baxter Tony Rogers
2007Little DeathsDaniel/Toxicman Toby Angwin, Chris Benz (director), Melanie Brunt
2008Valentine's DayBeak Peter Duncan TV movie
2010 The Wedding Party Tommy Amanda Jane
2016 Emo the Musical Principal Stephens Neil Triffett
2021Fraud FestivalRadio Announcer (voice only) Sam Petersen TV movie

Awards and nominations

Works

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References

  1. ↑ "Adam Zwar". IMDb .
  2. 1 2 Natalie Craig (26 August 2012). "Rags to stitches". The Age. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 Katherine Phelps (6 February 2012). "Speaking with the High Flier from Lowdown" . Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "IF Magazine".
  5. ↑ Melbourne Film Festival Archived 15 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Herald Sun story
  8. ↑ Theatre Notes Blog
  9. 1 2 "AFI | AACTA | the Awards | 2nd AACTA Awards | First Winners Announced". Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Home".
  11. ↑ "Australian Film Institute". Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  12. ↑ "AWGIES: 2010 winners | TV Tonight".
  13. ↑ "Nominees Announced for the 2008 AWGIE Awards". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  14. ↑ "Australian Film Institute". Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  15. ↑ The greenroom.org.au web site [ dead link ]
  16. 1 2 "Lowdown wins awards in LA | TV Tonight".
  17. ↑ Zwar, Adam (2021). Twelve Summers (Trade Paperback ed.). AUS: Hachette Australia. ISBN   9780733647383 . Retrieved 18 December 2021.
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