Brian Rooney (actor)

Last updated

Brian Rooney
Born (1972-11-02) 2 November 1972 (age 51)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Occupation
  • Actor
Years active1988–present

Brian Rooney (born 2 November 1972) is a Northern Irish-born Australian actor with film, television and stage credits. He is best known for his childhood television performances, in particular the part of Michael Winters in G.P. . He appeared in the children's television productions of The Ferals as Leonard, and Spellbinder as Alex Katsonis. [1] [2]

Contents

Career

Rooney first appeared on Australian Television on Network Channel 10 in Adelaide, South Australia on the Grundy Television show, Pot Luck. He sang Take My Breath Away , but lost to Roy Handley, who performed the Acker Bilk song, Stranger on the Shore . Both Handley and Rooney were told by the show's celebrity judge, Adelaide based TV and radio personality Anne Wills, that they should try acting as they had the "face for television". Consequently, Rooney auditioned with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a role on G.P. .[ citation needed ]

Rooney began his career playing the street-wise urchin Gavroche in the Australian stage production of Les Misérables. Soon after, he went on to play the character Tommy Franco, alongside Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr., in the 1989 feature film The Punisher . [2]

As a child actor, Rooney became best known on Australian television during the early 1990s for his long-running role of Michael Winters in the ABC-TV series G.P., [3] and as Brendan Maloney in the 1991 miniseries Brides of Christ . [4] He has appeared in a number of television films including The Rogue Stallion (1990), The Phantom Horseman (1991), and Pirates Island (1991). [5]

More recently Rooney played the role of Cedric in the 2001 children's television series Escape of the Artful Dodger . In 2010, he guest starred as the character Jones in Rescue: Special Ops (Season 2, Episode 12). [6]

Filmography

Film

TitleYearRoleNotes
The Punisher 1989Tommy FrancoFeature film
Pirates Island 1990Feature film
Charcoal1999KevShort film
The Great Gatsby 2013Clerk - Probity TrustFeature film

Television

TitleYearRoleNotes
Rafferty's Rules 1988Tommy1 episode
G.P. 1989-95Michael WintersMain role (seasons 1–3)
Recurring role (season 4)
Guest role (seasons 5 & 7)
133 episodes
The Rogue Stallion 1990Wayne GarrettTV film
Brides of Christ 1991Brendan Maloney Miniseries
2 episodes
Pirates Island 1990JimTV film
The Phantom Horseman 1991TobyTV film
Mission Top Secret 1991JimTV film
The Ferals 1994–95LeonardMain role
Spellbinder 1995Alex KatsonisMain role
Big Sky 1997Jigger1 episode
All Saints 1998Robbie Watson1 episode
Kings in Grass Castles 1998J. W. (aged 19)Miniseries
1 episode
Murder Call 1999Nero1 episode
Escape of the Artful Dodger 2001Cedric1 episode
Rescue: Special Ops 2010Jim Jones1 episode
Tricky Business 2012Hamish Kelly1 episode
The Moodys 2014Benji1 episode
Mr Inbetween 2021Dan1 episode

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References

  1. Profile, Australian Television Information Archive website; retrieved 10 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 Brian Rooney profile, imdb.com; retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. Australian Television Information Archive G.P.. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  4. Brides of Christ profile, Australian Television Information Archive website; retrieved 10 August 2010.
  5. TV Australia – Sons and Daughters to Sylvania Waters Archived 6 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine , memorabletv.com; retrieved 10 August 2010.
  6. Brian Rooney profile Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , www3.showcast.com.au; retrieved 10 August 2010.