Mark Mitchell (actor)

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Mark Mitchell
Born (1954-09-29) 29 September 1954 (age 70)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, contemporary artist
Years active1984–present

Mark Mitchell (born 29 September 1954) is an Australian actor, comedian and contemporary artist, best known for his roles in the sketch comedy series The Comedy Company , most especially his character of Greek Australian fruit store proprietor Con the Fruiterer.

Contents

Early life and education

Mark Mitchell was born in Melbourne.

He studied English and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and then completed a Diploma of Education at Rusden College (now part of Deakin University). He taught secondary school English for five years before becoming an advertising copy-writer and then a professional actor.

Career

Mitchell starred in the pioneering sketch comedy show The Eleventh Hour, a predecessor to his hit sketch show The Comedy Company . His best known character is Con Dikaletis aka 'Con the Fruiterer' whom he created after being served by two Greek Australian stall holders at Glenferrie Markets in 1984. [1] The character became known nationally from regular appearances in The Comedy Company , for which he also created the character of Con's wife, Marika.

He has made many guest appearances on Australian television series such as SeaChange , Neighbours , Something in the Air , Blue Heelers , Prisoner , Special Squad , Willing and Abel , Dogwoman and Upper Middle Bogan .

He has also starred in children's television programs such as Round the Twist , Lift Off and The Genie From Down Under . He played the part of Chief Quimby in the 2003 film Inspector Gadget 2 . He has also lent his voice to the children's animated series Li'l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers and The Flamin' Thongs .

Mitchell voices commercial radio advertising campaigns, playing a dim-witted fool who interviews various people about radio advertising, with amusing consequences resulting from his character's lack of understanding the interviewees.

He portrayed fictional museum exhibit figure 'Max Muck' for some of the video reel and photos used and depicted in the exhibit "The Muck Bunker Constipation Experience" at Scienceworks Museum in Melbourne, housed in the Spotswood Pumping Station.

He has had supporting lead roles in various US movies made in Australia including The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas and The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes, and voiced the character of 'Buck Cluck' for the Australian release of Chicken Little . He has also portrayed David Lange in the 1994 New Zealand miniseries Fallout. [2] [3]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleType
1985 Wills & Burke CarpenterFeature film
1987 Ground Zero DetectiveFeature film
With Love to the Person Next to Me Salesman in TaxiFeature film
1988 Evil Angels (aka A Cry in the Dark)School TeacherFeature film
2003 Inspector Gadget 2 Chief Frank QuimbyFeature film
2005 Chicken Little Buck Cluck (voice – Australian release only)Feature film
2009The Fourth PillarDr. Francis StaedlerFeature film
2011TajBenFeature film
2016 Spirit of the Game President BinghamFeature film
2024Carole & GreyNarrator

Television

YearTitleRoleType
1984 Carson's Law Worker at protestTV series, 1 episode
1985 The Fast Lane DerekTV series, 1 episode
Trapp, Winkle and BoxVarious charactersTV series
A Thousand Skies Hotel Receptionist in San FranciscoTV miniseries, 1 episode
Anzacs Young Dying GermanTV miniseries, 1 episode
The Eleventh Hour Various characters (including Bert Newton)TV series
1984–1986 Prisoner Peter Waterson / Steve Formby / RestaurateurTV series, 4 episodes
1986 Sword of Honour Sergeant OlsenTV miniseries, 4 episodes
1987 The Petrov Affair WestTV miniseries, 2 episodes
Willing and Abel Sergeant DobsonTV series, 9 episodes
1988 The Comedy Company Con the Fruiterer / Stuart Parkington-Loafe / Marika Dikaletis (Con's Wife)TV series
1990Larger than LifeVarious charactersTV series
The Big TimeMarkTV series, 2 episodes
1992 Good Vibrations W.C. Fields TV miniseries, 1 episode
Lift Off Mr. FishTV series, 2 episodes
E Street Uncle WallyTV series, 2 episodes
1992; 2000–2001 Round the Twist Mr. GribbleTV series, 39 episodes
1993 Paradise Beach Shirley BarnettTV series
1994 TVTV Co-hostTV series
1995FalloutDavid LangeTV miniseries, 2 episodes
1996 The Genie from Down Under Otto von MeisterTV series, 12 episodes
The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas Santa Claus TV movie
1997Con's Bewdiful Holiday Videos Con the Fruiterer / MarikaTV series
1998 The Genie From Down Under 2 Otto von Meister / Mrs SimpsonTV series, 13 episodes
Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers VoiceAnimated TV series
2000 Something in the Air Neville McGregorTV series, 5 episodes
SeaChange Morton TregonningTV series, 7 episodes
Dogwoman: Dead Dog Walking Prologue Narrator (voice)TV movie
On the Beach RegTV movie
Dogwoman: A Grrrl's Best Friend Prologue Narrator (voice)TV movie
2001Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny KimesSante's LawyerTV movie
Dogwoman: The Legend of Dogwoman Prologue Narrator (voice)TV movie
The Wonderful World of Disney GriffTV movie, episode: "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story"
Blonde Texas OilmanTV miniseries, 2 episodes
BacklandsChief Inspector PeckTV movie
Farscape Mu-QuillusTV series, 1 episodes
2004 Blue Heelers Arnold RobinsonTV series, 1 episode
LootBilly AngelTV movie
2005 Eagle and Evans Ron SalisburyTV series, 1 episode
2006 Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King BlondieTV miniseries, 1 episode
2007 The Nation Con the Fruiterer TV series, 1 episode
2009 Paper Planes Mr. WhiteTV movie
2010 Neighbours Magistrate Paul O'ReganTV series, 3 episodes
Sleuth 101 Ramsay McGordonTV series, 1 episode
2013 This Week Live Con the Fruiterer TV series
2014 The Flamin' Thongs Trevor Thong (voice)Animated TV series, 26 episodes
Upper Middle Bogan Dr. MortimerTV series, 1 episode
2016MovementCasting Agent DaveTV series, 1 episode
The Wizards of AusSenator QuinnTV series, 4 episodes
Jack Irish Radio HostTV series, 1 episode
The Doctor Blake Mysteries Harvey TreloarTV series, 1 episode
2018 True Story with Hamish & Andy Dr. BeatsonTV series, 1 episode
American EggsDriverTV series, 2 episodes
2016–2019FeedbackNarrator / Charles BukowskiTV series, 2 episodes
2021 New Gold Mountain Linus CumminsTV miniseries, 3 episodes
2025 The Newsreader Brian's DadTV series, 1 episode

Video

YearTitleRoleType
The Muck Bunker Constipation ExperienceMax MuckVideo reel (for Scienceworks (Melbourne)
1989Con the Fruiterer: A Coupla Days Con the Fruiterer Music video
1992The Story of ECMr. FishVideo
2010Finding My MagicMench / Tom (voice)Video

References

  1. ↑ "Con The Fruiterer's secret". ABC news. 12 November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Fallout at IMDb
  3. ↑ "Fallout - Part 1". NZ On Screen.
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