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Lewis Fitz-Gerald | |
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| Born | 15 November 1958 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Education | National Institute of Dramatic Art (1978) [1] University of New England (2009; 2016) [1] |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
| Website | Lewis Fitz-Gerald |
Lewis Fitz-Gerald (born 15 November 1958) [2] is an Australian actor, screenwriter and television director. [3]
Fitz-Gerald studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art. [1]
He furthered his education in 2009, when he obtained a Master of Arts (Comms), and again in 2016, when he completed a Doctorate of Philosophy, both at University of New England (UNE). [1]
Fitz-Gerald had an early recurring guest role in Skyways from 1979–1980, playing Leslie Foy. Guest roles in The Sullivans , Cop Shop and Young Ramsay followed, [1] before scoring his first film role in Bruce Beresford’s 1980 biographical war drama Breaker Morant , opposite Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson, in which he played Lt. George Witton, a junior officer, who'd quickly become disillusioned. [4]
He appeared in several miniseries' including The Last Outlaw (1980), Outbreak of Love and I Can Jump Puddles (both 1981), [1] followed by the 1982 drama film We of the Never Never (based on the 1908 autobiographical novel of the same name) alongside John Jarratt and Angela Punch McGregor. [5] Other film credits of the 1980s included Fighting Back (1982), The Boy Who Had Everything (1985), The More Things Change (1986) and Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1987), as well as TV films The Dean Case (1983), Time's Raging (1985), Ivanhoe (1986) and Police State (1989). [1]
Fitz-Gerald secured a 26-episode role as pilot David Gibson in medical drama series The Flying Doctors in 1986, [6] and starred as Tony in the acclaimed 1987 TV movie The Shiralee , opposite Bryan Brown. [1]
In 1988, he appeared alongside Meryl Streep and Sam Neill in the Fred Schepisi biopic Evil Angels (aka A Cry in the Dark), [5] which portrayed the true story of the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain and the ensuing legal case and media storm. [7] The same year, he starred in Rikky and Pete . [1] Television guest credits in the late 1980s included western drama series Five Mile Creek , the American Mission: Impossible reboot (filmed in Australia), and the sports miniseries The Four Minute Mile . [1]
The 1990s brought further guest roles in series' including EARTH Force , A Country Practice , G.P. , Time Trax , The Damnation of Harvey McHugh , Snowy River: The Mcgregor Saga , Cody: Bad Love , Big Sky , Murder Call , Wildside , Good Guys, Bad Guys , Stingers . [1] [8]
Fitz-Gerald earned an AFI Award nomination for his 1993 directorial docudrama film The Last Man Hanged, [9] in which he also starred as journalist, Keith Willey, who followed the events leading up to the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Pentridge Prison in 1967. [10]
He played the recurring role of Dr. Sebert Blitho in medical drama series RFDS [11] from 1993 to 1994, and had a part in 1994 buddy movie Spider and Rose opposite Ruth Cracknell. [12] He next portrayed Les in 1996 mystery thriller film Dead Heart , [9] and the same year, appeared in anthology series, Twisted Tales . [8]
At the turn of the century, Fitz-Gerald starred in the Hollywood sci-fi film Pitch Black alongside Vin Diesel and Radha Mitchell. [13] Television guest roles of the era included Ponderosa , Farscape , Out There and Blue Heelers [1] and appearances in miniseries' and TV movies included The Three Stooges (2000), Border Patrol (2001), The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004), Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005). [1] In 2009, he appeared in drama film The Boys are Back , alongside British actor Clive Owen, the TV movie A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne and crime series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities . [1] The following year he scored a recurring guest role as Snr Detective Gordon Eaves in long-running soap opera Home and Away . [14]
In 2011, Fitz-Gerald had a lead role in ABC legal drama series Crownies , as David Sinclair, King's boss and the director of public prosecutions. [15] That same year, he appeared as racehorse owner Sir Michael Smurfit in The Cup , the true story of the 2002 Melbourne Cup, [16] which he followed with Not Suitable for Children (2012) and Hollywood superhero blockbuster The Wolverine (2013) [1] starring Hugh Jackman.
Fitz-Gerald played Alan Reid in the 2013 miniseries Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War [1] and David Sinclair in Janet King . [17] In 2016, he had an ongoing part in Hunters , as Truss Jackson. [18]
Later guest roles have been in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries , Winter , Rake , Blue Murder: Killer Cop , Reef Break and The Wilds , [1] while more recent film credits include Dance Academy: The Movie (2017) and Harmony (2018). [1] In 2018, Fitz-Gerald was also named for six-part ABC / Netflix political thriller series Pine Gap , [19] in which he played Rudi Fox, the Chief of Intelligence at Pine Gap, a Defence Facility in remote Central Australia. [20]
Fitz-Gerald appeared in both seasons of psychological thriller series The Secrets She Keeps , beginning in 2020. [21] In 2022, he played the recurring role of Henry in political comedy series The PM's Daughter . [22] His most recent television role has been as Richard Rankin in NCIS: Sydney from 2023 to 2025. [1] [23]
Fitz-Gerald helped found Belvoir St Theatre Company and has also acted extensively for the stage, since the 1970s. [1] He has lectured in Screen and Media Studies at Australia's University of New England School of the Arts since 2017. [24]
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Breaker Morant | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated [1] |
| 1981 | I Can Jump Puddles | Best Actor | Nominated [1] | |
| 1993 | The Last Man Hanged | Best Documentary | Nominated [1] | |
| 1994 | Race Against Prime Time | Australian Teachers of Media | Best Educational Documentary | Won [1] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–1980 | Skyways | Leslie Foy | 6 episodes | [1] |
| 1980 | Young Ramsay | Maurice Morpeth | 1 episode | [1] |
| Cop Shop | Daryn | 2 episodes | [1] | |
| The Sullivans | Dirk | 2 episodes | [1] | |
| The Last Outlaw | Tom Lloyd | Miniseries, 4 episodes | [1] | |
| 1981 | Outbreak of Love | Captain John Wickham | Miniseries | [1] |
| I Can Jump Puddles | Alan Marshall / Narrator | Miniseries, 9 episodes | [1] | |
| 1983 | The Dean Case | George Dean | TV movie | [1] |
| 1984 | Five Mile Creek | Nigel | 1 episode | [1] |
| 1985 | Time's Raging | David | TV movie | [1] |
| 1986 | Ivanhoe | Ivanhoe | Animated TV movie | [1] |
| The Flying Doctors | David 'Gibbo' Gibson | 24 episodes | [6] | |
| 1987 | The Shiralee | Tony | Miniseries, 2 episodes | [1] |
| 1988 | The Four Minute Mile | Denis Johansson | Miniseries | [1] |
| 1989 | Mission: Impossible | Matthew Rhine | 1 episode | [1] |
| Police State | Gary Crooke | TV movie | [1] | |
| 1990 | EARTH Force | Halloran | 1 episode | [1] |
| 1991 | A Country Practice | Tony Harvey | 2 episodes | [1] |
| 1993 | Time Trax | Charlie Burke | 2 episodes | [1] |
| G.P. | Geoff Hardy | 2 episodes | [1] | |
| 1993–1994 | RFDS | Dr. Sebert Blitho | 13 episodes | [11] |
| 1994 | The Damnation of Harvey McHugh | Trevor Martin | 1 episode | [1] |
| Cody: Bad Love | Martin Campbell | TV movie | [1] | |
| 1996 | Snowy River: The Mcgregor Saga | Henry Faulkner | 1 episode | [1] |
| Naked: Stories of Men | Stanky | Anthology series, episode: "Coral Island" | [25] | |
| 1997 | Big Sky | Tom | 1 episode | [1] |
| The Adventures of Sam | Billy Branscombe | Animated series, 2 episodes | [26] | |
| 1998 | Good Guys, Bad Guys | Marshall Dobbs | 1 episode | [1] |
| Wildside | Bryant | 2 episodes | [1] | |
| Murder Call | Lionel McKenzie | 1 episode | [1] | |
| 1999 | Stingers | Det. Snr. Sgt. Vic Slater | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2000 | The Three Stooges | Jules White | TV movie | [1] |
| 2001 | Ponderosa | Henry Stewart | 1 episode | [1] |
| Border Patrol | Roderick Helms | TV movie | [1] | |
| 2002 | Farscape | Kor Toska | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2004 | The Mystery of Natalie Wood | Dr Thayer | Miniseries | [1] |
| Blue Heelers | Jim Morgan | 1 episode | [1] | |
| Out There | 1 episode | [1] | ||
| 2005 | Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure | Winston Fletcher | TV movie | [1] |
| 2009 | Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities | John Aston | 3 episodes | [1] |
| A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne | Gary Jubelin | TV movie | [1] | |
| 2010 | Home and Away | Snr. Det. Gordon Eaves | 4 episodes | [14] |
| 2011 | Crownies | David Sinclair QC | 22 episodes | [15] |
| 2013 | Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War | Alan Reid | Miniseries, 2 episodes | [1] |
| Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Professor Bradbury | 1 episode | [1] | |
| 2014 | Janet King | David Sinclair QC | 4 episodes | [27] |
| 2015 | Winter | Bjorn Johannson | 2 episodes | [28] |
| 2016 | Rake | Mandel | 1 episode | [1] |
| Hunters | Truss Jackson | 13 episodes | [29] | |
| 2017 | Blue Murder: Killer Cop | Commissioner | Miniseries, 1 episode | [1] |
| 2018 | Pine Gap | Rudi Fox | 6 episodes | [30] [19] [20] |
| 2019 | Reef Break | Sonny Turner/ Bob Clark | 2 episodes | [1] |
| 2020 | The Wilds | Ted Wolchak | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2020; 2022 | The Secrets She Keeps | Reg | 9 episodes | [21] |
| 2022 | The PM's Daughter | Henry | 10 episodes | [31] [22] |
| 2023 | Queen of Oz | Peter Walsh | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2023; 2025 | NCIS: Sydney | Colonel Richard Rankin | 6 episodes | [23] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Breaker Morant | George | [32] | |
| 1982 | We of the Never Never | Jack | [5] | |
| Fighting Back | John Embling | [1] | ||
| 1985 | The Boy Who Had Everything | Vandervelt | [1] | |
| 1986 | The More Things Change | Barry | [1] | |
| 1987 | Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train | Brian | [1] | |
| 1988 | Rikky and Pete | Adam | [1] | |
| A Cry in the Dark (aka Evil Angels) | Tipple | [5] [7] | ||
| 1989 | Life in the Balance | Short film | ||
| 1993 | The Last Man Hanged | Keith Willey | [33] [10] | |
| 1994 | Spider and Rose | Robert Dougherty | [12] | |
| Change | PT | Short film | ||
| 1996 | Dead Heart | Les / Teacher | [9] | |
| 1998 | War Story | Father | Short film | |
| 2000 | Pitch Black | Paris P. Ogilvie | [13] | |
| 2006 | Loveproof | Short film | ||
| 2009 | The Boys are Back | Tim Walker | [1] | |
| 2011 | Lachlan Macquarie: The Father of Australia | Commissioner Bigge | ||
| The Cup | Sir Michael Smurfit | [16] | ||
| Phone Call | Stanley | Short film | ||
| 2012 | Not Suitable For Children | Dr McKenzie | [1] | |
| 2013 | The Wolverine | Attorney #1 | [1] | |
| 2015 | Truth | Louis Boccardi | ||
| 2017 | Dance Academy: The Movie | ICU Dr Kelly | [1] | |
| 2018 | Pimped | Michael Hanson | [34] | |
| Harmony | Mr Lenox | [1] | ||
| 2022 | Thirteen Lives | Vern Unsworth | [35] | |
| 2023 | What About Sal | Geoff | [36] | |
| 2025 | Spit | Ian Hamblin KC | [37] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Last Man Hanged | Writer / director | TV docudrama film | [33] [9] |
| 1994 | The Gadfly | Writer / director | TV documentary film | [38] |
| 1995 | Race Against Prime Time | Director | Documentary | |
| 1997 | Big Sky | Storyliner | ||
| 1998 | Twisted Tales | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1999–2000 | Stingers | Director | 4 episodes | |
| 2000 | Aria and Pasta | Director | Documentary series, 7 episodes | [39] |
| 2001 | Water Rats | Director / Second Unit Director | 2 episodes / 5 episodes | |
| 2001–2002 | Ponderosa | Director | 4 episodes | |
| 2002 | McLeod's Daughters | Director | 2 episodes | |
| 2003 | Sex and Drugs and Rock’N’Roll | Writer | ||
| 2003–2006 | Home and Away | Director | 59 episodes | |
| 2008 | Neighbours | Director | 5 episodes | |
| Out of the Blue | Director | 15 episodes | ||
| 2016 | 39,000 Doors Create | Writer / Director / Producer | Feature documentary |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Carlotta and Maximillian | Napoleon | Adelaide Festival |
| 1979 | Jumpers | Nimrod Theatre Company | |
| 1982 | The Maid's Tragedy | Lead | MTC |
| Death of a Salesman | Howard | Seymour Centre, Sydney with Nimrod Theatre Company [40] | |
| 1984 | The Blind Giant is Dancing | Bruce Fitzgerald | Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1985 | The Margarine Conspiracy | Tom | |
| Doctor in Spite of Himself | Rex Leandro | ||
| Playing with Fire | The Son | ||
| The Bourgeois Wedding | Groom | ||
| Perfect Mismatch | Stuart | ||
| Torquato Tasso | Antonio | ||
| 1988 | Dreams in an Empty City | Chris | West End, London |
| 1990 | Top Silk | Tony Turner | Adelaide & Canberra tour with Kinselas Productions |
| 1991 | Master Builder | Ragnar Brovik | Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1993 | The Perfectionist | Stuart | Marian St Theatre, Sydney |
| 1997 | Black Mary | Captain King | Company B, Sydney |
| 2023 | Wild Thing | Geoff / Various characters | Arts on Tour |
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