Benjamin John McNair (born 25 August 1974, London) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as

Malcolm Kennedy Malcolm Kennedy is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Benjamin McNair. Shortly after he was cast, McNair relocated to Melbourne to be closer to the studio. He admitted that it was a shock lea ...

in the soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' which he played from 1994 to 1997 returning briefly in 2002, 2004, 2011 and 2014 with a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in 2005 and also in 2022 as the show was coming to an end.

Early life

McNair moved to Australia with his family when he was 18 months old. He developed an interest in performing and began studies at the Australian Theatre for Young People and completed a season at the NIDA Summer School in Sydney. Prior to his role in ''Neighbours'' he appeared in several television ads as well as guest roles is television shows such as '' G.P.'' and ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

''. He has three children.

Career

McNair left Neighbours in 1997 and travelled to the UK where he performed on stage in several Christmas

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s such his role as Prince Charming in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

's ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' and at Tunbridge Wells in ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. Since leaving Neighbours, McNair has continued acting on television and stage. He was cast as Joseph in the original ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by Souther ...

'' telemovie for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

in Australia in 2001 and later played Joseph, the boyfriend of

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...

, during the first season of television series of the same name. He has guest-starred in television series such as '' All Saints'' (1999), ''

Something in the Air "Something in the Air" is a song by English rock band Thunderclap Newman, written by Speedy Keen who also sang the song. It was a No. 1 single for three weeks in the UK Singles Chart in July 1969. The song has been used for films, television ...

'' (2001), and ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...

'' (2000; 2002; 2005). He also played lead roles in ''

Marshall Law ''Marshall Law'' is an Australian television series, which aired on the Seven Network in 2002, starring Lisa McCune and Alison Whyte as lawyers and sisters. History The show was originally conceived as a legal drama mixed with '' Ally McBea ...

'' (2002);

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's '' Stingers'' (2004); '' Last Man Standing'' (2005); and the children's series ''

Wicked Science ''Wicked Science'' is an Australian television series, which debuted on 24 February 2004. The series focuses on Toby (played by André de Vanny) and Elizabeth (played by Bridget Neval), two teenagers who are mysteriously turned into Wizard (fan ...

''. He co-starred in the short film ''Umbrella Men'' with

Damian Walshe-Howling Damian Walshe-Howling (born 22 January 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian actor, well known for his role as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in the Australian underworld drama, ''Underbelly'', for which he won the Best Supporting or Guest Ac ...

. McNair continued to perform on stage, returning to England to play the role of Ferdinand in the Stafford Summer Festival's production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' The Tempest'' in 1999. He has also appeared as Matt in ''Broken''; Darko Reeves in ''Blowback''; Casper St Clair in ''Next Best Thing'', and seven different characters in the

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

''The Steve Promise Story''. McNair is a

voice over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

artist who can be heard on numerous radio and television adverts. He returned to ''Neighbours'', once again playing Malcolm for short stints in 2002 and 2004. In mid-2005 he made another return to ''Neighbours'' as part of the series' 20th anniversary episode. On 9 May 2011, it was announced that McNair would be returning to ''Neighbours'' in July 2011 for a four-month guest stint.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNair, Benjamin Australian male stage actors Australian male soap opera actors Male actors from New South Wales 1974 births Living people