Gerard Maguire

Last updated

Gerard Maguire
Born (1945-09-25) 25 September 1945 (age 78) [1]
Australia
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1969–2008
SpouseJane Alsobrook (1980–2022; her death)

Gerard Maguire (born 25 September 1945) [1] also credited as Gerard McGuire, is an Australian actor, producer and screenwriter best known for his role in Prisoner as Deputy Governor, Jim Fletcher. Often appearing on Australian television police dramas and soap operas throughout the 1970s and 80s, he is also one of Australia's top voice actors, voicing numerous commercials and narrations during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Contents

Early life

Maguire was born in 1945 [1] and began acting during the late 1960s, shortly after graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art with a Diploma of Dramatic Art. Out of 3,000 applicants, he was one of 15 students to complete the program. [2]

Career

Early career

After minor one-time roles on the television series Riptide and The Link Men , Maguire made his feature film debut in The Demonstrator with Joe James and Irene Inescort. In the film, he portrayed university student Steve Slater whose political differences with his father Joe Slater, a Federal cabinet minister, result in his leading a series of protests disrupting his father's activities in organising an international conference. The film was considered a commercial failure. Following this he starred in the film Country Town (1971) [3] Country Town was a feature film spin-off from Australian Broadcasting Corporation soap opera Bellbird .

In the late 1960s and the 1970s, he was a guest actor on drama series Dynasty , Ryan , and on police procedural series Matlock Police , Homicide , Division 4 and Cop Shop . Joining the Melbourne Theatre Company, he also performed in Going Home at St. Martin's Theatre on 11 March 1976. That same year, he starred with Tom Oliver and Kate Sheil in David Williamson's A Handful of Friends at the Russell Street Theatre in Melbourne. [4] [5] Maguire went on to supporting roles in the television miniseries Luke's Kingdom and the film Mad Dog Morgan . In 1978 he was part of the cast in the first public performance of Kenneth G. Ross's important Australian play Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts, presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 2 February 1978. A late arrival during the first season of Prisoner, Maguire joined the cast in mid 1979 as Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher and eventually became the only main male character during his three years on the series. Maguire eventually left during the show's fourth season in early 1982. During his last year with the series, he appeared with Prisoner co-stars Colette Mann and Val Lehman in Kitty and the Bagman (1982). [6]

During 1983, Maguire starred as Dr. John Rivers in the television series Starting Out . As one of the school's tutors and the father of the disfigured Michelle (Rowena Mohr), his time on the series dealt with his guilt over his daughter's accident while dealing with his unhappily married wife Yvonne (Suzy Gashler). [7]

After the series' cancellation, Maguire made a guest appearance on Special Squad and had supporting roles in The Surfer and Alice to Nowhere before returning to the stage in 1986 to perform in David Williamson's Sons of Cain which ran for five-months in London's West End. In 1987, was a television presenter for Ground Zero and appeared in one episode of The Flying Doctors during the next two years. Maguire also appeared during the final season of the soap opera The Power, The Passion as a police investigator and ex-boyfriend of one of the central characters, Ellen Byrne Edmonds (Olivia Hamnett). [8]

Producing and writing

While producing a film adaptation of a novel during the mid-1980s, he replaced the screenwriter originally working on the screenplay. Contacted by Columbia Pictures, he flew to California to discuss the project, he met producer and then Senior Vice-president Jane Alsobrook. He soon began a romantic relationship and Maguire ended up staying in Los Angeles for the next several years. In 1993, he and Lance Peters co-wrote Gross Misconduct , later directed by George T. Miller and, the following year, wrote Seduce Me: Pamela Principle 2 and was the script supervisor for Tunnel Vision . He was also involved in acting workshops with actors such as Jon Voight among others.

Return to Australia

In 1995, he moved back to Australia with Alsobrook when she accepted a position as president of Australia's largest independent film production and distribution company, REP. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Maguire appeared in the television movies Heart of Fire, The Fury Within and The Finder as well as the guest appearances on the television series Water Rats , Murder Call and All Saints . He became a voice actor, eventually narrating hundreds of commercials and, in 1995, was the voice of Titanium Man in the series Iron Man . During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, he was the announcer during the diving events.

Return to USA

Following the September 11 attacks, Maguire moved to the United States allowing his wife to be closer to her family in Sedona, Arizona. Although continuing to be involved in a number of film projects with his wife, he also became involved in local theatre agreeing to appear in theatrical performances with the Canyon Moon Theatre Company and, in April 2002, appeared as the narrator in Side By Side By Sondheim at the Old Marketplace in West Sedona. [2]

Maguire continued working as a voice actor during the next several years via the internet. After a five-year absence, Maguire made an appearance in the 2007 independent film Brothel .

As of 2013 Gerard lives in Arizona.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleType
1969 You Can't See 'Round Corners Terry (uncredited)
1971 Demonstrator Steven Slater
1971 Country Town Phillip Henderson
1972 Crisis Television film
1976Secret DoorsTelevision film
1976 Mad Dog Morgan Rutherford
1979 Burn the Butterflies Television film
1981Prisoner in ConcertJim FletcherTelevision film
1984The BodyguardLawyerShort film
1986 The Surfer
1987Death WareJack
1987 Ground Zero TV presenter
1988Vicious!Brian Kennedy
1989 Mull Dr. Graham
1993 Gross Misconduct Vice Chancellor
1997Heart of FireScott DoddTelevision film
The Fury WithinDr. Daryl LevineTelevision film
2001 The Finder Sgt. Jack MatthewsTelevision film
2002BloodsportsBarry KellyTelevision film
2003Code 11-14Captain CopelandTelevision film
2008 Brothel Curtis

Television

YearTitleRoleType
1969 Riptide Tractor DriverEpisode: "North of the Headland"
1970 The Link Men TerryEpisode: "Somebody's Kid is Missing"
1970-71 Dynasty Jamie Brooks2 episodes
1973 Ryan Jack Baker2 episodes
1971-74 Matlock Police Ted Brewer, Keith Evans, Mick Johnson, Terry Harris, Nick Rogers, Walt Rogers6 episodes
1969-73 Homicide Wilson, Bruce Foster, Lyell Revel, Gecko, Riley4 episodes
1969-75 Division 4 Vince Jordon, George Flack, Jerry Thompson, Martin Roche, Mike Turner, Donald West, Phillip Reid, Brent Campbell, Cookson9 episodes
1975 Shannon's Mob FraserEpisode: "When Collier Came"
1976 Luke's Kingdom 13 episodes
1976 Power Without Glory Colin LassiterTV miniseries, 2 episodes
1977 Bluey Larry DavisEpisode: "The Pick Up"
1978-79 Cop Shop Peter Galbraith, Phillip Kline, Frank Garde, Eddy MarshallTV series, 7 episodes
1980 Lawson's Mates JockEpisode: "Joe Wilson"
The Daryl Somers ShowMan with parked car (uncredited)
Prisoner: Cell Block H Jim Fletcher209 episodes
1982 Kitty and the Bagman Cyril
1983 Starting Out Dr. John Rivers
1984 Special Squad Hansen
1985 The Fast Lane Bill MartinEpisode: "Irreconcilable Differences"
1986 The Lancaster Miller Affair Frank UptonMiniseries
1986 Alice to Nowhere Tim SandersonMiniseries
1987 Neighbours Parnell
1988 The Flying Doctors Harry McDonaldEpisode: "Johnnie Come Home"
1989 The Power, The Passion David
1989 Bodysurfer GordonMiniseries
1990 The Bradys Australian EnvoyEpisode: "The Party Girls"
1990 Embassy Freddie3 episodes
1995 Iron Man Titanium Man Voice, episode: "Distant Boundaries"
1997 Heartbreak High Tom Harding
1998 Water Rats Lloyd VenablesEpisode: "Old Bones"
1999 Murder Call Donald CookTV series
All Saints Peter Maloney2 episodes

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Bourke, Terry. Prisoner Cell Block H: Behind the Scenes. London: Angus and Robertson (UK).
  2. 1 2 Gorman, Ben (3 April 2002). "Star from "Down Under" rises on Canyon Moon stage". Red Rock Review.
  3. ↑ Reade, Eric. History and Heartburn: The Saga of Australian Film, 1896–1978. Rutherford, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1979. (pg. 171, 174) ISBN   0-8386-3082-0
  4. ↑ Perkins, Elizabeth. The Plays of Alma de Groen. Amsterdam: Rodopi B.V., 1994. ISBN   90-5183-764-X
  5. ↑ Williamson, David and Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt. Australian Playwrights: David Williamson. Amsterdam: Rodopi B.V., 1988. ISBN   90-5183-029-7
  6. ↑ "Kitty and the Bagman". OZ Movies. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps: Behind the Scenes of Australia's Best Loved TV Shows. Melbourne: Pluto Press Australia, 2004. (pg. 199) ISBN   1-86403-191-3
  8. ↑ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps: Behind the Scenes of Australia's Best Loved TV Shows. Melbourne: Pluto Press Australia, 2004. (pg. 284) ISBN   1-86403-191-3
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