Chris Haywood (born ) is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, location and unit manager.

Early life and education

Haywood was born around 1948 in

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

, Essex, England. He spent his early childhood in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

before moving to

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

in Buckinghamshire where he attended Royal Grammar School from 1959 to 1965. He then started working in the cellars of a local wine shipper before gaining a place at E15 Acting School. After graduating in 1970 he emigrated to Australia.

Career

Soon after arriving in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Haywood became involved with

Nimrod Theatre Company The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded by in 1970 by Australian actor John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken Horler, and gained a reputation for producing more "g ...

, helping to build the premises with scrap timber. He was the Artistic Director of the Pros and Cons Playhouse at Parramatta Gaol from 1979 to 1981, and established the drama service on

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

National Radio. His acting career encompasses roles in many films and television series. Haywood is the Patron of the Friends of Waverley Library, where he inaugurated The Nib Waverley Library Award for Literature, now known as the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award. The prize is an annual award of $20,000 given for the quality of research for a published work of literary merit written by an Australian writer and published in the previous 12 months. Haywood is now the Deputy Captain of VRA Hawkesbury and coxswain of their rescue boat. He is also currently working as a coxswain in the Australian pearl farming, pearling industry for Broken Bay, Broken Bay Pearl Farm.

Television

TV credits as an actor include: ''

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

'', ''

Essington Essington is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire, England, located near the city of Wolverhampton and towns of Walsall, Bloxwich, Cannock and Brewood. The villages of Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Coven, Penkridge and Featherston ...

'', '' Against the Wind'', ''

Five Mile Creek ''Five Mile Creek'' is a western television drama series adapted from Louis L'Amour's novel ''The Cherokee Trail'' and produced in Australia. It starred Liz Burch, Louise Caire Clark, Rod Mullinar, Jay Kerr, Michael Caton, Peter Carroll, Gu ...

'', ''

Return to Eden ''Return to Eden'' is an Australian television drama series starring Rebecca Gilling, James Reyne, Wendy Hughes and James Smillie. It began as a three-part, six-hour mini-series shown on Network Ten on September 27–29, 1983. Gilling and Sm ...

'', ''Waterfront'', ''

A Good Thing Going ''A Good Thing Going'' is a 1978 Australian television film directed by Arch Nicholson. It stars John Hargreaves and won four Logie Awards. Plot Phil Harris (Hargreaves) spends more time with his best friend, Terry (Haywood) than with his wife ...

'', ''

Boys From The Bush ''Boys From The Bush'' is a British television series produced by the BBC. It was created and written by Douglas Livingstone. Two series of ten episodes each were made between 1991 and 1992. Although never achieving mainstream success, the serie ...

'', '' Water Rats'', ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...

'', ''

McLeod's Daughters ''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and Bri ...

'', '' All Saints'', '' Stingers'', ''

Grass Roots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

'', '' Home and Away'', ''

The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' is a 2008 Australian-Irish film directed by Michael James Rowland starring Irish actors Adrian Dunbar as Philip Conolly and Ciarán McMenamin as bushranger Alexander Pearce and an ensemble Australian c ...

'' and '' The Pacific''. Haywood appeared in ''

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 ...

'' as Walter Mitchell in June 2013. TV credits as a writer:

Alvin Purple ''Alvin Purple'' is a 1973 Australian sex comedy film starring Graeme Blundell in the title role; the screenplay was written by Alan Hopgood and directed by Tim Burstall, through his production company Hexagon Productions and Village Roadshow ...

additional material (1976).

Personal life

Haywood was married to actress,

Wendy Hughes Wendy Hughes (29 July 19528 March 2014) was an Australian actress known for her work in theatre, film and television. Her career spanned more than forty years and established her reputation as one of Australia's finest and most prolific actors. ...

, 1980 and they had a child. They had met while filming ''

Newsfront ''Newsfront'' is a 1978 Australian drama film starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, Chris Haywood and Bryan Brown, directed by Phillip Noyce. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Phillip Noyce. The original mu ...

'' (1978), their relationship developed soon after. In April 1980 Haywood and Hughes portrayed "screen parents" in a childbirth film, ''For a Child Called Michael'', shown to expecting parents at

Royal Women's Hospital The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care, women's cancers and women's health. It als ...

, Melbourne. The couple separated in 1982.

Awards

His performances have been honoured with three Awards from the Australian Film Institute (from a total of eight nominations) for his roles in the feature films ''

A Street to Die ''A Street to Die'' is a 1985 Australian film directed by Bill Bennett (director), Bill Bennett and starring Chris Haywood, Jennifer Cluff, Arianthe Galani. It was nominated for four Australian Film Institute AACTA Awards, Awards; Haywood won the ...

'' and ''

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of the L ...

'', and for television in ''Stingers'' as well as the

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

Award for '' Kiss or Kill'' and the Asian Film Festival Award for ''In Search of Anna''. He garnered three Logie Awards for his work on television-for ''Essington'', ''Good Thing Going'' and ''

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

''. He won the Best Actor award at the Tampa Bay Film Festival in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Filmography

Television Series

Films

* ''Producer ''&'' Writer:''

Theatre

Film credits as an Art Director: '' Force of Destiny'' (2015) Film credit as Casting Director: '' The Crater'' (2015) Film credit as Producer: ''

The Media Project ''The Media Project'' is a weekly radio program that provides an inside look at media coverage of current events. Panelists on the discussion-based show include '' Times Union'' Editor Rex Smith, WAMC CEO Alan S. Chartock, and ''Daily Freeman'' ...

'' directed by Peter Watkins (1991)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Chris 1948 births Australian art directors Best Actor AACTA Award winners Australian casting directors English male film actors English male television actors Living people Logie Award winners People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Male actors from Essex British casting directors