Biografia
Educated at The Quintin School up to 'O'level GCE standard. In 1956, I left England for Canada, serving five years in the Canadian Army as a Provost Sergeant. I arrived in New Zealand in 1961 with the intention of joining the NZ Army, but a motorcycle accident ended that plan. I began amateur theatre in 1962 and became involved in radio drama, television, and commercial voice work. In 1964, I moved to Wellington for the Downstage production of Oh What a Lovely War, followed by a New Zealand tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Comedy of Errors, then a national tour of OWaLW. I participated in numerous radio dramas, commercial voiceovers, and spent a period singing folk songs in coffee bars.
In 1967, I returned to Auckland to play Henry V at Central Theatre, appearing in five more productions before joining the original company at the Mercury Theatre, where I remained based for 20 years, performing in around 120 productions. During this time, I also performed at the New Zealand pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, undertook a New Zealand Arts Council-sponsored study trip to London in 1980, toured New Zealand in Evita (Peron), and filmed Jack Holborn for ZDF TV (Munich) in Yugoslavia in 1982. I performed Evita (Peron) in Brisbane (1983), Honolulu, Auckland, Wellington (1984), and Sydney (1989). Other notable roles include Molokov in Chess (NZ tour 1993, Melbourne 1997), Mephistopheles and the Persian Prince in Ken Hill's Phantom (NZ tour 1994), Vallon and understudy Captain Andy in Hal Prince's Showboat Sydney (1998), Sir Jasper Waterlow in Bryce Courtenay's The Potato Factory TV mini-series for Channel 7 Sydney (1998), Barliman Butterbur in Lord of the Rings (1999), Mr. Bumble in Oliver at the Court Theatre Christchurch (2005/06), and Spencer plus the voice of Benglo in Power Rangers (2006/07). I have also done extensive TV and film work.
In 2006, I won Best Actor at the Richmond Rd Short Film Festival for the film Together. I am divorced with two children. I am an active Freemason, having served twice as Master of my Lodge. I hold positions as a Great Priory Officer of the Knights Templar and District Grand Chancellor in the Order of the Secret Monitor. Additionally, I am a Knight of Grace in the non-masonic Order of St Lazarus (Jerusalem) and a Knight Commander in the Order of St Stanislas (Poland).
