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Neil Pigot | |
|---|---|
| Born | Neil Pigot Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Known for | Blue Heelers |
| Spouse(s) | Rachel Mackie (b. 2001 – div. 2016) |
Neil Pigot is an Australian film, television, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Falcon Price in the television series Blue Heelers . He has presented several documentaries on his niche subject, Australian military history. He is also the author of several works of non-fiction.
Neil Pigot was born in Melbourne, the eldest son of a butcher turned commercial pilot, and his wife who would become one of Australia's pioneering female car sales people. At age 8, his family moved to Darwin and then South East Asia. He completed his schooling in Sydney. He then left his "dysfunctional family home" at the age of 17. [1]
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Pigot began work with the semi-professional Lieder Southern Regional Theatre in Goulburn, New South Wales, in the early 1980s, first appearing as Meriman the butler in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest . He then worked in community theatre and on drama programmes with long term institutionalised adults at Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital, before joining Theatre ACT in 1984. After a time as a contract actor in Canberra, he established the Black Inc theatre company with Paul Corcoran, Tim Ferguson, and Ian Hagan. He performed at a late night cabaret, The Katt Klub, with many artists including the Doug Anthony Allstars.
He has played leading roles for all of Australia's major companies, including the Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies, Belvoir, Playbox/Malthouse, Queensland Theatre Company, and State Theatre Company of South Australia and also leading independent companies Brink.
Pigot's television credits include leading guest roles in over 20 television series and several telemovies, beginning with G.P. in the 1980s. Notable series include The Man from Snowy River , The Games , The Adventures of Lano and Woodley , The Secret Life of Us , Laid , Marshall Law , Wicked Science , Stingers , Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries , Neighbours , Society Murders and The Doctor Blake Mysteries . For nine years he performed the role of Inspector Falcon Price on the drama series Blue Heelers , for which he is best known.
Pigot featured in a number of Australian films, including Head On , Lucky Country , Red Dog , The Dish , Oranges and Sunshine and Blessed .
Pigot is also a documentary writer and presenter who specialises in Australian military history.
In 1994, he completed his first work of non-fiction, The Changi Diary. He also recorded an album The Changi Songbook, a compilation of original songs written by an Australian POW in a Changi POW Camp with the remaining members of the Changi Concert Party in that same year. A live album of the songs was recorded during two concerts at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2013.
Pigot lived and worked in many Australian cities and in the UK, before returning to the place of his birth in 1995.[ citation needed ]
In 2001 he married his longtime partner Rachel Mackie, an academic. The couple divorced in 2016. He later remarried and was living in Broken Hill in 2023. [2]
Pigot has been open about suffering from Bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and alcoholism, and having attempted suicide. He spent time in mental and rehab facilities for treatment in 2016. [3] [4]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Head On | Senior Constable | |
| 1999 | Redball | Bingo Wright | |
| 2000 | The Dish | Journo | |
| 2001 | Like It Is | Narrator | Short film |
| 2007 | The Condemned | Wade | |
| 2009 | Blessed | Sergeant Kerrick | |
| Dark Frontier | Carver | ||
| 2010 | Oranges and Sunshine | James | |
| 2011 | Red Dog | Vet | |
| 2017 | Pillars | Richard | Short film |
| 2017 | Mrs McCutcheon | Parncut | Short film |
| 2017 | Australia Day | Michael Bester | |
| 2020 | Strangers to the World | Bishop | |
| 2021 | Some Happy Day | Radio Announcer | |
| 2022 | Slant | Martin | |
| TBA | Stringybark | John Kelly |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Home and Away | Electrician | 1 episode |
| 1991 | The Girl From Tomorrow | Cameraman | |
| 1994 | G.P. | Dave | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Snowy River: The Mcgregor Saga | Ambrose Wylie | 1 episode |
| 1997 | State Coroner | Senior Constable | 1 episode |
| The Last of the Ryans | Speed | TV movie | |
| 1997–1999 | The Adventures of Lano and Woodley | Sgt Pearce | 3 episodes |
| 1997–2006 | Blue Heelers [5] | Russell Falcon-Price | 42 episodes |
| 1998 | The Games | David Pigot | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Stepsister from Planet Weird | Fred Larson | TV movie |
| 2001 | The Secret Life of Us | Mad Dog Martin | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Marshall Law | Brett | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Stingers | Barry Hunter | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Wicked Science | Earl | 1 episode |
| 2006 | The Society Murders | DS Steve Waddell | TV movie |
| 2007 | Neighbours | Christian Johnson | 7 episodes |
| 2009 | For Valour [6] | Narrator | Documentary |
| Rush | Eddie | 1 episode | |
| 2011 | The Digger [7] | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2012 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Ted Coglan | 1 episode |
| Laid | Hilary | 1 episode | |
| 2013 | Breaker Morant [8] | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2013–2016 | The Doctor Blake Mysteries | Derek Alderton | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Secret City | Brian Huxley | 3 episodes |
| The Kettering Incident [9] [10] [11] | Dominic Harrold | 8 episodes | |
| 2018 | Back In Very Small Business | Radio Talkback Host | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Total Control | Stephen | 1 episode |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early 1980s | The Importance of Being Earnest | Meriman the Butler | Lieder Southern Regional Theatre, Goulburn |
| 1985 | Picnic on the Battlefield / Orison / Fando and Lis | Gorman House, Canberra with Australian Theatre Workshop | |
| 1985 | Two Gentlemen of Verona / The Private Ear | Gorman House, Canberra with Black Inc | |
| 1985 | No. 3 | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Red Square Theatre | |
| 1985 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | ANU, Canberra with Black Inc | |
| 1986 | The Lover | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Black Inc | |
| 1986 | Bedroom Farce | Playhouse, Canberra with Canberra Comedy Theatre Co. | |
| 1986 | Ubu Roi | Australian National Gallery Theatre, Canberra | |
| 1988 | Naked | Childers Street Theatre, Canberra with Black Inc | |
| 1992–1993; 1995 | A Bright and Crimson Flower | Princes Wharf, Hobart, Launceston Showgrounds Motor Pavilion, HMAS Lonsdale, Melbourne, Echuca, Hamilton, Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, Bendigo, Mt Nelson Theatre, Hobart with Zootango Theatre Company | |
| 1993 | As You Like It | Duke Frederick / Silvius / Forrester | Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart with Zootango Theatre Company |
| 1995 | The Ship That Never Was | Polly Woodside, Melbourne with Round Earth Theatre Company | |
| 1996 | Travesties | Henry Carr | Melbourne Athenaeum with Black Inc |
| 1996 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know | Lord Byron | Melbourne Athenaeum with Black Inc |
| 1996 | The Truth Game | Carlton Courthouse with Missing Link Productions | |
| 1997 | Ned Kelly | Theatre Works, Melbourne with Kickhouse Theatre | |
| 1998 | Judgement | Captain Vukhov | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne |
| 1999 | The Boneyard | La Mama, Melbourne | |
| 1999 | Fred | Barry / Egyptian Man | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2001 | Crave | Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney | |
| 2002 | Uncle Bob | Uncle Bob | Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2002 | The Fortunes of Richard Mahony | Richard Mahony | Brisbane Powerhouse, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company & QTC |
| 2002 | Rapture | Tom | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company |
| 2003 | Breath By Breath | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne with La Mama | |
| 2003 | The Country | Richard | Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney |
| 2004 | Traitors | Krasin, an Army officer | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne with La Mama |
| 2004 | Dinner | Lars | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2005 | Weary - the Story of Sir Edward Dunlop | Weary Dunlop | Australian tour with McPherson Touring |
| 2005 | Oleanna | The Butter Factory Theatre, Wodonga with HotHouse Theatre | |
| 2006 | A Single Act | Neil | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2007 | Heaven | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk | |
| 2007 | Evidence | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk | |
| 2007 | Hamlyn | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk | |
| 2007 | Black Box 149 | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk | |
| 2007; 2008 | Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) | Thom Pain | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Street 2, Acton, Canberra with MTC |
| 2008 | Frost/Nixon | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC | |
| 2008 | The Lower Depths | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne with Ariette Taylor Productions | |
| 2008–2010 | When the Rain Stops Falling | Gabriel York | Australian tour with Brink Productions, STCSA, STC & QTC |
| 2009 | Flashpoint: Big Noise / Topsy / Whiteley's Incredible Blue | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne | |
| 2011 | Song of the Bleeding Throat | Abraham Lincoln | The Eleventh Hour Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2011 | Whiteley's Incredible Blue ... an hallucination | Brett Whiteley | Fortyfivedownstairs for Melbourne International Arts Festival |
| 2017 | The Realistic Joneses | Bob | Red Stitch Actors Theatre |
| 2019 | The Tree of Man | Old Treasury Building, Melbourne with Stork Theatre [12] | |
| 2023 | Green Time & Tempo | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 2023 | Good Works | Alan / Brother Clement / Barry / Mr Donovan | Mill Theatre, Canberra |
| 2024 | Terror | Christian Lauterbach | Mill Theatre, Canberra [13] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Lighting Designer | Theatre 3, Acton, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1985 | Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris | Assistant Director | Gorman House, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1985 | Private Lives | Lighting Designer | Theatre 3, Acton with Canberra Repertory Society |
| 1986 | After Magritte | Publicist | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Black Inc & Canberra Theatre Trust |