Gerald Lepkowski is a British-Australian television and stage actor, who has had guest roles in Australian and British productions, before landing the lead role in drama series ''

Dirt Game ''Dirt Game'' is an Australian drama television series that screened on the ABC. It starred Joel Edgerton and Freya Stafford. The series contains six 50-minute episodes. It was written by Michael Harvey and produced by David Taft and Michael Ha ...

'' in Australia in 2009.

Early life

Born in the

Sighthill Sighthill may refer to: * Sighthill, Edinburgh Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, Lepkowski is the second child of Edward Lepkowski, a carpet fitter of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

descent; and Catherine Lepkowski (née Murray). He has a brother, Edward Jr, and a sister, Carol. While travelling in Australia in his early twenties, Lepkowski became interested in acting and trained at the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...

where he met fellow British-born thespian,

Frances O'Connor Frances Ann O'Connor (born 12 June 1967) is a British–born Australian actress and director. She is known for her roles in the films ''Mansfield Park'' (1999), '' Bedazzled'' (2000), ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (2001), ''The Importance of ...

, with whom he now has one child, Luka, born in 2005. The couple currently reside in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Career

Lepkowski worked extensively in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on the stage, and he played Tysefew in 'The Dutch Courtesan', Claudio in ''Much Ado About Nothing'', Roger & Arthur in ''The Balcony'', Vershinin in ''The Three Sisters'', Krogstaad in ''A Doll's House'' and Orsino in ''Twelfth Night'', all with the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

. Lepkowski then went on to appear in several Australian TV series from 1994, starring in ''

The Damnation of Harvey McHugh ''The Damnation of Harvey McHugh'' was an Australian television miniseries made by the ABC. The series consists of 12 episodes and was first broadcast on the ABC in 1994 from 2 June to 18 August of that year. Overview Cast and crew The series was ...

'' in a guest role. Since then, he has been in guest roles in other television work, in both Australia and England. Other roles include ''

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 ...

'' in 1994 ''

Halifax f.p. ''Halifax f.p.'' is an Australian television crime series produced by Nine Network from 1994 to 2002. The series stars Rebecca Gibney as Doctor Jane Halifax, a forensic psychiatrist investigating cases involving the mental state of suspects or ...

'' in 1996, '' State Coroner'' in 1997, '' Monarch of the Glen'' in 2001,''

Two Thousand Acres of Sky ''Two Thousand Acres of Sky '' is a TV drama which aired on BBC Television from 2001 to 2003. It was created and written by Timothy Prager. The Executive Producer was Adrian Bate. The show takes place on the fictional island of Ronansay off th ...

'' in 2003, in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' in 2005, among others. In 2002 he landed the lead role in the award-winning Scottish

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film, ''

American Cousins ''American Cousins'' is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Don Coutts and starring Danny Nucci, Gerald Lepkowski, Shirley Henderson, Vincent Pastore, Dan Hedaya, Russell Hunter, Olegar Fedoro, and Stevan Rimkus. The plot is about a Scots-I ...

'', starring alongside

Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. Her accolades include two Scottish BAFTAs, a VFCC Award and an Olivier Award, as well as BAFTA, BIFA, London Critics' Circle, Chlotrudis, Gotham, and Canadian Screen Award ...

Danny Nucci Daniel Nucci (born September 15, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in blockbuster films, including his roles as Danny Rivetti in ''Crimson Tide'' (1995), Lieutenant Shepard in ''The Rock'' (1996), Deputy Monr ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

stars

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

and

Vincent Pastore Vincent Pastore (; born July 14, 1946) is an American actor. Often cast as a mafioso, he is best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Early life Pastore was born to an Italian-America ...

. The same year he appeared in another British film, ''

Man Dancin' ''Man Dancin is a 2003 Scottish crime drama film directed by Norman Stone and starring Alex Ferns, James Cosmo, Tom Georgeson, Kenneth Cranham and Jenny Foulds. Plot Ex-boxer Jimmy Kerrigan (Alex Ferns) is released from a Northern Irish prison a ...

'', which starred ''EastEnders'' actor

Alex Ferns Alexander Ferns (born 13 October 1968) is a Scottish actor and television personality, best known for his ''EastEnders'' role as Trevor Morgan, who was described as "Britain's most-hated soap villain" when he played the role between 2000 and 200 ...

. In 2009, he starred in the lead role of ''

'', an Australian drama series that aired on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

. This is his first role in a leading part. He is starred in season 2 of ''

East West 101 ''East West 101'' was a drama series airing on the SBS network. The series was produced and created by Steven Knapman and Kris Wyld, the team behind other drama series such as '' Wildside'' and ''White Collar Blue''. It ran from 2007–2011, ...

'', a drama that aired on SBS. It began airing in mid-October 2009. In 2010, Lepkowski appeared in the Australian

telemovie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Sisters of War ''Sisters of War'' is a telemovie based on the true story of two Australian women, Lorna Whyte, an army nurse and Sister Berenice Twohill, a Catholic nun from New South Wales who survived as prisoners of war in Papua New Guinea during World War ...

'' as Bishop Leo Scharmach. In 2016 he appeared as Zanrush, a red priest, in "

The Red Woman "The Red Woman" is the sixth season premiere episode of HBO's fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones'', and the 51st overall. The episode was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Jeremy Podeswa. In t ...

", the sixth-season premiere of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepkowski, Gerald Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male actors from Glasgow Scottish expatriates in the United States Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish people of Polish descent Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian people of Polish descent Australian people of British descent