Peter Gwynne (1929 – 17 November 2011) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born Australian television

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 ...

who was also known for voice-over work.

Career

Born in New Zealand, Gwynne was a well-recognised character actor, appearing in many of the significant television productions of the 1970s onwards, including ''

Cop Shop ''Cop Shop'' is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes. The show The show revolved ar ...

'', '' Boney'', ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

'', '' Homicide'', ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network (now known as the 10 Network) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town o ...

'', '' Flying Doctors'', ''

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 ...

'', '' A Country Practice'' and many more. He is best remembered internationally as Bill McMaster, Stephanie Harper's General Manager at Harper Mining in both the 1983 mini-series and the 1986 series of ''Return to Eden''.

Personal life

Peter Gwynne was married to actress Cecily Polson. Peter's Mother (Dorothy Wall) was born in

Springwood, New South Wales Springwood is a town in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. Springwood is located 72 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. At the , Springwood had a population of 8,475 peop ...

and moved to NZ after she married Dr. Frank Gwynne from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. Peter last resided at

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...

in Sydney, New South Wales. He died on 17 November 2011, aged 82.

Selected filmography

*''Seven Little Australians'' (1973) *''

'' (regular cast member: 1975–6) *''

Dot and the Kangaroo ''Dot and the Kangaroo'' is an 1899 Australian children's book written by Ethel C. Pedley about a little girl named Dot who gets lost in the Australian outback and is eventually befriended by a kangaroo and several other marsupials. The book w ...

'' (1977) *'' Against the Wind'' (1978) *'' Tim'' (1979) (with

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

) *''Peach’s Gold – Land of Gold'' (1983) *''Grave of the President'' (1984) *''

Mother and Son ''Mother and Son'' is an Australian television sitcom that was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. It ...

'' (Episode: ''The Funeral'') (1984) *''

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) *''Track Record: The Story of Australia’s Railways - Tethered to the World'' (1991) *'' Old Scores'' (1991) *'' G.P.'' (Episode: ''A Very Suburban Coup'') (1992) *''

The Nostradamus Kid ''The Nostradamus Kid'' is a 1992 Australian feature film written and directed by Bob Ellis. The film is about the religious and sexual coming of age of a 1950s and 1960s Seventh-day Adventist boy. Ken Elkin (Noah Taylor) is a "randy young m ...

'' (1993) *'' Over the Hill'' (1994-1995) *'' The Magic Pudding'' (2000) Benjamin Brandysnap *'' Australia'' (2008) (with

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

and

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

)

References

External links

* Australian male television actors New Zealand male television actors People from Auckland New Zealand expatriates in Australia 1929 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Australian male actors 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century Australian male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors {{NewZealand-tv-actor-stub