Richard Huggett (actor)

Last updated
Richard Huggett
Born (1965-12-03) 3 December 1965 (age 58) [1]
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active1988–present

Richard Huggett (born 3 December 1965) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. After graduating from NIDA in 1988, Huggett guested in an episode of Home and Away , before he was cast as villain Sonny Bennett in E Street . Huggett's character killed four of the show's regulars, before taking his own life, bringing in strong ratings for the soap. Huggett went on to win the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent in 1991 for his portrayal of Sonny. Huggett next played Glen Donnelly in another soap Neighbours from 1990 until 1992. He only stayed for a year, as he wanted more to pursue more demanding roles. In 1994, Huggett joined short-lived soap Paradise Beach as Sam Dexter and police drama Blue Heelers as supporting character Sean Neale. He has also made guest appearances in various television shows, including Col'n Carpenter , All Saints and Out of the Blue . He appeared in the Australian film Aiyai: Wrathful Soul in 2020 and re-joined the cast of Neighbours as Glen in 2021. In addition to his television and film work, Huggett has also appeared in a number of theatre productions.

Contents

Early life

Huggett's parents emigrated to Australia from London, UK. He was born in Brisbane and holds dual Australian and British nationally. [2]

Huggett attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). He appeared in a number of theatre productions as part of the graduating classes, including The Screens by Jean Genet and Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson. [3] [4]

Career

Huggett appeared in Home and Away in 1989. [5] He came to prominence as villain Sonny Bennett in E Street . The soap's creator Forrest Redlich cast Huggett after spotting him in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream . [6] Sonny was introduced as the "bad seed" brother of Lisa Bennett (played by Alyssa-Jane Cook) at a time the storylines were becoming darker in order to keep the show's male audience interested. Sonny had been to prison for robbery, took drugs, and tried to kill Constable Max Simmons (Bruce Samazan). [7] In his final months, Sonny killed four main characters and then himself, which was a critical and ratings success for E Street. [8] [7] For his performance as Sonny, Huggett won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent in 1991. [9] He also received a nomination for the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor in Australia. [10]

Following his departure from E Street, Huggett joined the cast of Neighbours as Glen Donnelly, the illegitimate son of Jim Robinson (Alan Dale). [11] Huggett had to relocate from Sydney to Melbourne for the role, which negatively impacted his personal life. [12] He was branded the show's new "heart-throb" by the press. [11] During his time in the show, Glen had an incestuous relationship with his half-sister Lucy Robinson (Melissa Bell). Scenes featuring the pair together was edited for broadcast by the BBC in the UK. [13] In September 1991, Chrissie Camp of TV Week confirmed that Huggett had decided to quit Neighbours and not renew his one-year contract, which ran out in November. [14] Huggett stated that a year was enough and, while he enjoyed playing Glen, he wanted more demanding roles. [14]

While he was appearing in Neighbours, Huggett made a guest appearance in an episode of Col'n Carpenter . [15] Huggett later admitted that he was not comfortable with the level of fame he received from his two biggest roles. [16] After leaving Neighbours, he went travelling and appeared in various theatre productions in England, [2] [16] including Anzacs Over England at the Swan Theatre, [17] and the pantomime Sleeping Beauty in Leeds in December 1992. [18]

In 1994, Huggett joined the Nine Network soap opera Paradise Beach as Sam Dexter, who became a love interest for Kimberley Joseph's character Cassie Barsby. [5] He was billed as "An enigmatic – and dangerous – professional protester, Dexter is the kind of man who travels the world looking for lost causes." [5] Kevin Sadler of The Sydney Morning Herald noted that while Sam would call himself an "environmental crusader", Paradise Beach viewers would soon describe him as a "terrorist". [5] That same year, he appeared in Blue Heelers as Sean Neale. [16] Huggett called his character "very methodical and logical". He enjoyed working on Blue Heelers, saying "it forces you to think a bit. After working for so long on soaps, these scripts are amazing." [19] In 1996, Huggett starred in a production of James McLure's Lone Star at the Belvoir Downstairs. [20]

Huggett later chose to step back from his acting career and he became a shearer in New South Wales. [16] He has also worked as a personal trainer and a truck driver, before relocating to Brisbane and working for an events company. [21] He appeared in All Saints in the early 2000s, [16] and the Australian soap opera Out of the Blue in 2008. [22] Huggett had a supporting role in Home and Away in 2012, as Gary Reed. [23] In 2017, Huggett had a small guest role in the Nine Network miniseries House of Bond . [21] The following year, he starred in an advertisement campaign for the Brisbane Broncos. [24] Two years later, Huggett appeared in the Australian mystery thriller film Aiyai: Wrathful Soul . [25]

Huggett re-joined the cast of Neighbours in 2021. He told Fiona Byrne of the Herald Sun that it felt like he was coming home and he was looking forward to "the twists and turns ahead" for Glen. [16] Glen's storylines included reuniting with his half-brother and his daughter, as well as a relationship with Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou). Huggett remained with the serial until its cancellation in 2022. [26] Huggett confirmed that he had been attending auditions for new roles and planning his move back to Brisbane. [26] In 2023, Huggett made a guest appearance in NCIS: Sydney . [27]

Filmography

Film performances
YearTitleRoleNotes
1989 Slipstream Emery
1997 Mr. Nice Guy Giancarlo's Man
1998 Babe: Pig in the City Cop
2003Spoon ManStranger in BarShort film
2007 Gabriel Max
2008BellaSandmanShort film
2015 Infini Montoli
2020 Aiyai: Wrathful Soul Albert Fisher
Television performances
YearTitleRoleNotes
1989 Home and Away Chas Guest role
1989–1991 E Street Sonny BennettMain cast
1990–1992, 2021–2022 Neighbours Glen Donnelly Main cast
1991 Col'n Carpenter Fantasy ManEpisode: "The Sacred Blurr"
1993 Paradise Beach Sam DexterMain cast
1994 Blue Heelers Sean Neale Recurring role
1995 The Ferals Scott ScotmanEpisode: "Feral TV"
1998 Murder Call Peter DelaneyEpisode: "Fatal Charm"
2002 All Saints Murray McAllisterEpisode: "Swept Away"
2005All SaintsGreg CatoEpisode: "Life's Lottery"
2008 Out of the Blue Jeremy PiperEpisode: "Blood Alley"
2009 Rescue: Special Ops SteveEpisode: "Building Site"
2010 The Pacific Major CoyleEpisode: "Peleliu Airfield"
2012 Home and Away Gary Reed Recurring role
2017 House of Bond Maitre'dMiniseries
2023 NCIS: Sydney AsessorGuest role

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References

  1. ↑ "I hear that..." Dumfries and Galloway Standard . 16 October 1992. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  2. 1 2 Laws, Roz (23 August 1992). "Why they'll axe daft Neighbours by star Richard". Sunday Mercury . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  3. ↑ Kippax, H. G. (27 May 1988). "Late Genet lost in words". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  4. ↑ Kippax, H. G. (29 September 1988). "Youthful mastery needs ageing". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sadler, Kevin (8 May 1994). "Television this week". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 28 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  6. ↑ Holmes, Peter (9 May 1991). "Soap studs". The Age . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  7. 1 2 Mercado, Andrew (2004). Super Aussie Soaps. Pluto Press Australia. pp. 289–291.
  8. ↑ Williams, Daniel (22 October 1990). "Guide Preview". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  9. ↑ "Vizard fast forwards to most popular personality". The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 March 1991. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  10. ↑ Shelley, Garry (16 March 1991). "The search for our silver sensations!". TV Week . pp. 8–9.
  11. 1 2 Malins, Sue (8 February 1992). "'Lost' Glen brings bother to the Neighbourhood" . Daily Mirror . Retrieved 4 February 2022– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ Brown, David (20 July 1991). "Fame takes its toll: 'Am I just doing this for a bunch of couch potatoes?'". TV Week . pp. 6–7.
  13. ↑ "Shocking! ...but viewers in Oz did see love scenes snipped by the BBC censors". Rossendale Free Press . 5 June 1991. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  14. 1 2 Camp, Chrissie (7 September 1991). "'One year is enough'". TV Week . p. 7.
  15. ↑ "Green Guide Monday 2 December". The Age . 28 November 1991. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Byrne, Fiona (15 August 2021). "Richard Huggett returns to Ramsay St as Glen Donnelly". Herald Sun . Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Worsnip, Hugh (12 August 1992). "Late fame for the Wizards from Oz". The Citizen . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  18. ↑ Skorupski, Judith (16 September 1992). "Soap star has pub bar role". Bristol Evening Post . Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  19. ↑ "1994: August 13–19". Television.AU. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Power play". The Sydney Morning Herald . 23 February 1996. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  21. 1 2 Byrne, Fiona (23 April 2017). "Coming full circle to a different fat cat" . Herald Sun . Retrieved 10 February 2024– via Gale.
  22. ↑ Knox, David (21 June 2008). "Out of the Blue ratings". TV Tonight . Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  23. ↑ McWhirter, Erin; Miller, Erin (8–14 September 2012). "Calling the Bay home". TV Week . No. 36. p. 22.
  24. ↑ Dawson, Abigail (8 February 2018). "Brisbane Broncos 'more than just a logo' says new campaign". Mumbrella . Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  25. ↑ "Australian mystery thriller movie in town". Sunday Times . 23 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2024– via PressReader.
  26. 1 2 Daniel, Kilkelly (28 July 2022). "Neighbours star Richard Huggett on Glen Donnelly ending and show finale". Digital Spy . Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  27. ↑ "Extraction". TVmaze. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  28. ↑ "Richard Huggett". Showcast. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
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