John McNeill (actor)

Last updated

John McNeill is an Australian actor, voice over artist and writer. [1] He has worked in a wide variety of film, television, drama and stage productions and his plays have been performed at the Stables, Belvoir and Seymour Centre theatres in Sydney and best known for his role as Lennie McPherson in the television drama series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Underbelly: The Golden Mile . [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

John was born in 1956 in Brisbane, Australia. A keen rugby player, he was also active in surf lifesaving – notably as Chief Instructor for Bilinga SLSC on Gold Coast, Queensland – and worked as a professional lifeguard for the Gold Coast City Council during university holidays. After graduating from the University of Queensland with degrees in Education and Human Movement (1977), he moved to Canberra where he taught Physical Education, Human Movement and Psychology. He also spent a year overseas where he worked as a surfing instructor in North Devon and a swimming instructor in Pennsylvania.

Teacher and music

In 1986 John began work as a live-in academic tutor at the Australian Institute of Sport, where he progressed to head the Education and Welfare Department of the AIS. During those Canberra years, John was the lead singer of local theatrical rock band Blood Money. He also co-wrote a number of their songs. He also worked as a singer-guitarist at the Old Canberra Inn and continued to write original material. His song "My Brother's Going To War" was used by the Troubador Theatre in their touring "Vietnam" show.

In 1990 John began acting in a variety of stage and cabaret productions in Canberra and in 1992 made the decision to continue his professional performance career in Sydney.

Professional career

Television

Doctor Doctor (episode: "Call Me Irresponsible", 2018), [4] Harrow (episode 7), [5] Underbelly ( Tale of Two Cities and The Golden Mile ) [6] Rescue Special Ops , Rake , Crownies , Tricky Business , The Gods of Wheat Street , World Animal Championships (as Sir Reginald Wrinklebottom [7] ), Home and Away , The Cut, All Saints , McLeod's Daughters , The Alice , Blue Murder , White Collar Blue , Young Lions , Heartbreak High , Scorched , Do or Die and House of Bond .

Film

Kangaroo Jack (2003), Dirty Deeds (2002), Candy (2006), The View from Greenhaven , Burns Point , [8] and Passion (1999).

Stage

The Readers, [9] The Dapto Chaser, [10] Endgame, [11] Of Mice and Men , [12] Ruben Guthrie, Thrall, Away , Bondi Dreaming, Gary's House, Men Love and the Monkey Boy, Noir, Richard III , Henry V , King Lear , The Merchant of Venice , Anything Goes , The Glory of Living , The Last Roadhouse in Paradise, The Caribbean Tempest, Twelfth Night , Blue Eyes and Heels, Two Way Mirror, Fool for Love , Turnstiler and The Merry Wives of Windsor . [13]

Playwright

Source: [14]

John's play Pikers [15] was produced at the Stables Theatre and Downstairs Belvoir Theatre and also was produced by the Berry Drama Group in Berry, NSW. John's short plays Jesus of Marrickville and Dougie's Rules were produced at Downstairs Belvoir and Slapping Leonard Cohen was produced at the Seymour Centre.

In 2015 John is workshopping his play Crows.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigrid Thornton</span> Australian actress

Sigrid Madeline Thornton is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes Prisoner (1979–80), All the Rivers Run (1983), SeaChange (1998–2019) and Wentworth (2016–2018). She also starred in the American Western series Paradise (1988–91). Her film appearances include Snapshot (1979), The Man from Snowy River (1982), Street Hero (1984) and Face to Face (2011). She won the AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama for the 2015 miniseries Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door.

Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), which earned her a Satellite Award as cast member and a Critic's Choice Awards nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodger Corser</span> Australian actor (born 1973)

Rodger Corser is an Australian actor and TV host. He is best known for his portrayals of Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Owen in the Nine Network crime mini-series Underbelly, based on the Melbourne gangland killings, Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake in the Network Ten police drama series Rush, and as Dr. Hugh Knight in The Nine Network series Doctor Doctor. He was part of the main cast of Glitch in the role of John Doe/William Blackburn.

Kestie Morassi is an Australian film and television actress. She played Natalie in the TV series Satisfaction (2007–2010) and Maggie Astoni in Home and Away (2017–2020). Morassi has also appeared in the films Dirty Deeds (2002), Wolf Creek (2005), The Illustrated Family Doctor (2005), and has made television appearances on Underbelly (2008), Wilfred (2010) and Black Snow (2022)

Neil Geoffrey Armfield is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Friels</span> Australian actor

Colin Friels is an Australian actor of theatre, TV, film and presenter.

Neil Melville is an Australian actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Harrow</span> New Zealand actress (born 1943)

Lisa Harrow is a New Zealand RADA-trained actress, noted for her roles in British theatre, films and television. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nancy Astor in the British BBC television drama Nancy Astor.

Noel Hodda is an Australian actor, writer, dramaturge, director and teacher.

Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre comprises two performing spaces: the Upstairs Theatre and the smaller Downstairs Theatre.

Tommy Murphy is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, adaptor and director. He created and was head writer for the 2022 TV series Significant Others. He is best known for his stage and screen adaptation of Timothy Conigrave's memoir Holding the Man. His most recent plays are a stage adaptation of Nevil Shute’s On The Beach, Mark Colvin's Kidney and Packer & Sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Cowell</span> Australian actor and writer

Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor and writer. He is known for his lead role in 2024 television series Plum that he created, based on his 2021 novel of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Clare</span> Australian actor

Dustin Clare is an Australian actor. He is known for his starring role as Gannicus in the Starz series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance and Spartacus: War of the Damned, and as Riley Ward on the series McLeod's Daughters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Bastoni</span> Australian actor (born 1966)

Steve Bastoni is an Italian-born Australian actor. He became a household name in Australia for his role as Constable Yannis 'Angel' Angelopoulos in Police Rescue and as Steve Parker in Neighbours. His memorable performance in 15 Amore garnered him a nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Lindsay Taylor</span> Australian actor (born 1973)

Jeremy Lindsay Taylor is an Australian actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Neill</span> New Zealand actor (born 1947)

Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill is a New Zealand actor and vintner. Neill's career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.

Underbelly is an Australian television true crime-drama series which first aired on the Nine Network between 13 February 2008 and 1 September 2013, before being revived on 3 April 2022. Each series is based on real-life events. There have been six full series, with season 7 being a miniseries. A 2014 series titled Fat Tony & Co is a sequel to the first series but is not branded under the Underbelly title.

Nicholas Brown is an Australian actor, screenwriter, playwright, singer and songwriter.

Clayton D. Moss is an Australian actor and writer, born in Sydney, Australia.

Swamp Creatures is a 1957 stage play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He later adapted it for radio and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play.

References

  1. ↑ "John McNeill Biography". imdb. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "John McNeill Life History". TVSA. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "John McNeill CELEBRITY". TV Guide. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Doctor Doctor (TV series 2016–2021) - IMDb". IMDb .
  5. ↑ "Harrow (TV series 2018– ) - IMDb". IMDb .
  6. ↑ "Australian Television: Underbelly - the Golden Mile: Cast".
  7. ↑ "ABC ME". Australian Broadcasting Corporation .
  8. ↑ Broome, Hamish (28 March 2014). "Ballina cane fields perfect backdrop for new TV crime drama". The Northern Star. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "The Readers".
  10. ↑ "The Dapto Chaser". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Shake & stir | Endgame | Concert Hall, QPAC".
  12. ↑ "John McNeill | Biography". www.sportforjove.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "JOHN MCNEILL Playwright". The Home of Australian Playscripts. Retrieved 15 August 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ "John McNeill". Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "PIKERS | AustralianPlays.org". australianplays.org. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.