George Buchan Ogilvie (5 March 1931 – 5 April 2020) was a prolific

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 ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and actor, who also worked as a director and actor within film and television.

Life and career

George Ogilvie began as an actor at the Canberra Repertory Theatre, and eventually moved to the United Kingdom where he trained, taught and acted. In 1965, he returned to Australia to take up the position of associate director 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 ...

, where he stayed for six years. He then worked as artistic director at the

South Australian Theatre Company The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. I ...

for four years, followed by 12 years as part of the subsidised theatre network. In 1988 he became a freelance director, working with the Australian Opera, the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson's, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teache ...

and various theatre companies.Actors Centre Australia: George Ogilvie biography
Retrieved 2013-03-09 His television credits include the 1983 miniseries '' The Dismissal'' (where he played the Labor Senator

Jim McClelland James Robert McClelland (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1971 to 1978. He briefly held minis ...

), the miniseries ''

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman ...

'' (1984) (where he was one of the writers and also directed three of the seven episodes), and direction of the TV films '' The Shiralee'' (1987), '' Touch the Sun: Princess Kate'' (1988), ''

The Battlers ''The Battlers'' is a 1994 Australian mini series about two drifters during the Great Depression, based on the novel of the same name by Kylie Tennant.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p176 C ...

'' (1994), two episodes of the miniseries '' The Feds'' (1994), and 11 episodes of the long-running police series ''

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 ...

'' between 2002 and 2006. His film credits include ''

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic dystopian action film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie and written by Miller and Terry Hayes. It stars Mel Gibson and Tina Turner in a story of a lone roving warri ...

'' (1985), which he directed together with George Miller, ''

Short Changed ''Short Changed'' is a 1986 Australian film directed by George Ogilvie based on a script by Aboriginal writer Bob Merritt, who described it as a "black/white '' Kramer vs Kramer''".Mary Colbert, "Positive action: Bob Merritt, playwright and scre ...

'' (1985), the much awarded '' The Place at the Coast'' (1987), and '' The Crossing'' (1990), where

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

was first seen on the screen. George Ogilvie regularly taught and directed at

NIDA Nida or NIDA may refer to: People * Nida Allam (born 1993), American politician * Nida Fazli (1938–2016), Indian Hindi and Urdu poet and lyricist * Nida Eliz Üstündağ (born 1996), Turkish female swimmer * Eugene Nida (1914–2011), American l ...

and Actors Centre Australia. In 1983 he was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the theatre and the performing arts. In 2006, the Australian performing arts association Currency House published his autobiography: ''Simple Gifts – a life in the theatre''.Currency House: ''Simple Gifts – a life in the theatre''
Retrieved 2013-03-09 He died, aged 89, on 5 April 2020.

Books

References

External links

Actors Centre Australia: George Ogilvie biography
Retrieved 2013-03-09 *
National Library of Australia: ''Papers of George Ogilvie, 1943–2006''
Retrieved 2013-03-09 1931 births 2020 deaths Australian film directors Australian television directors Australian theatre directors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian male stage actors Members of the Order of Australia {{Australia-film-director-stub