Paul Blackwell (11 July 1954 – 24 February 2019) was an Australian stage
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
and occasional film actor.
Early life
He attended the
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...
from 1980 to 1982 and appeared in many productions from some of Australia's best-known theatre companies, including
Company B,
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...
,
State Theatre Company of South Australia
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. It ...
,
Patch Theatre and
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...
.
He appeared in several films, though often in small parts. His only major film role was in the 1996 film ''
The Quiet Room Quiet room or silent room may refer to:
Rooms
* Anechoic chamber, a room designed to absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves
* Padded cell, a cell in a psychiatric hospital with cushions lining the walls
* Quiet room, a room i ...
'' directed by
Rolf De Heer
Rolf de Heer (born 4 May 1951) is a Dutch Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old. —it was critically acclaimed and was screened as part of the main competition of the 1996
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. In the last decades of his life, appearances included ''
Candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
'', directed by
Neil Armfield
Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.
Biography
Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armf ...
and starring
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
,
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy ...
and
Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...
; ''
December Boys
''December Boys'' is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Rod Hardy and written by Marc Rosenberg and adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Michael Noonan. It was released on 14 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and the United ...
'', starring
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
; ''
Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
''Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger'' is a 2008 Australian independent teen film written and directed by Cathy Randall. It stars Danielle Catanzariti, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Toni Collette. The film follows Jewish 13-year-old Esther (Catanzariti), ...
''; and the silent film ''
Dr. Plonk
''Dr. Plonk'' is a 2007 Australian silent sci-fi / comedy film written and directed by Rolf de Heer. It premiered in Australia at the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival and had live accompaniment by the Stiletto Sisters. The film was also screened at ...
''—another collaboration with Rolf De Heer.
In 2017 Blackwell toured Australia playing Parsons in
Headlong,
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...
and
Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Fr ...
's production of
Duncan MacMillan and
Robert Icke
Robert Icke (; born 29 November 1986) is an English writer and theatre director. He has been referred to as the "great hope of British theatre."
He is best known for his play ''The Doctor'', and his modern adaptations of classic texts, includ ...
's adaptation of
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
's
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
for GWB Entertainment,
Ambassador Theatre Group
The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking (head office), London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ATG's key operations comprise three in ...
Asia Pacific and
State Theatre Company of South Australia
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. It ...
.
In 2019 Blackwell received a Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement posthumously in the
South Australian Ruby Awards
The South Australian Ruby Awards, also known as the Ruby Awards, are annual awards which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia’s arts and culture sector. They were named in honour of arts champion Dame Ruby Litchfield (1912–2001 ...
.
References
External links
*
1954 births
2019 deaths
Australian male stage actors
Australian male film actors
National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni
{{Australia-actor-stub