Tony Briggs (born 3 July 1967) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

actor,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, screenwriter, and producer. He also is a former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. He is best known for creating the stage play '' The Sapphires'' (later a 2012 film), which tells the true story of an

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

singing

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

who toured

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Early life

Tony Briggs was born on 3 July 1967. He is the son of Laurel Robinson, one of The Sapphires, and is a

Yorta Yorta The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales ...

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbourne ...

man. He attended

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

as a boarding student from 1980 to 1985, and proved to be an outstanding athlete there. He was in the athletics team each year, and in 1985 was made Captain of Athletics. he held the school record for the 400m, the 110m hurdles (under-15, under-17 and open), and the under-16 100m hurdles. Believed to be the first

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

student at the school, Briggs was a School House Prefect in his final year.

Career

Television

Between 1987 and 1988, Briggs had the recurring role of banker Pete Baxter on television soap opera ''

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 ...

''. This was followed by many roles in television series such as ''

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 ...

'', '' Stingers'' and ''

The Man From Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to: * "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson. * ''The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above) * ''The Man f ...

''. From 1997 he appeared in children's television series ''

Ocean Girl ''Ocean Girl'' (titled ''Ocean Odyssey'' in the UK) is an Australian science fiction TV series aimed for family audiences and starring Marzena Godecki as the lead character. The show is set in the near future, and focuses on an unusual girl na ...

'' as Dave Hartley. From 2009, Briggs appeared in the television series '' The Circuit'' as Mick Mathers. In 2011, Briggs played Bilal in '' The Slap'', based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas. He also had a role in ''

Redfern Now ''Redfern Now'' is an Australian drama television series, that first aired on ABC1 in 2012. The program follows the lives of 6 Aboriginal Australian families living in the urban hub of Redfern, Sydney. The series provides insight into contempo ...

'' in 2012. In 2016, he played the role of Boondee in the television drama series ''

Cleverman A cleverman is a traditional healer and keeper of culture in many Aboriginal cultures of Australia. The roles, terms for, and abilities of a cleverman vary between different Aboriginal nations. Some clevermen heal bodily injuries and illnesses ...

'' and Brett in '' Nowhere Boys: Two Moons Rising''. In 2017 he had a role in ''

Seven Types of Ambiguity ''Seven Types of Ambiguity'' is a work of literary criticism by William Empson which was first published in 1930. It was one of the most influential critical works of the 20th century and was a key foundation work in the formation of the New Crit ...

'' and was involved in creating and writing the series '' The Warriors'' as well as appearing in a small role.

Theatre

Briggs wrote the

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical th ...

-winning play '' The Sapphires'', first performed in 2004. It tells the story of The Sapphires, a singing group of four

Koori Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people an ...

women who tour

during the

. It is inspired by the true story of his mother, Laurel Robinson, and aunt, Lois Peeler, who toured Vietnam as singers in 1968. Briggs adapted the play for the 2012 film '' The Sapphires''.

Film

His movie roles include ''

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

'' in 2002, ''

Bran Nue Dae __NOTOC__ ''Bran Nue Dae'' is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Austra ...

'' in 2009, ''

Healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells i ...

'' in 2014, and ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

'' in 1997. Briggs is the founder and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the Birrarangga Film Festival, launched in 2019 in Melbourne. The biennial festival showcases films by indigenous filmmakers from around the world.

Recognition and awards

Both the drama and film of ''The Sapphires'' won or were nominated for several awards, including winning the Helpmann Award in 2005 for best Australian New Work. Apart from these, Briggs was also the recipient of personal awards and recognition: *2012: Co-winner,

Deadly Award The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

– Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, co-winner with the original Sapphires *2013: Awarded the

Bob Maza Fellowship Robert Lewis Maza (25 November 1939 – 14 May 2000), known as Bob Maza, was an Aboriginal Australian actor, playwright and activist. Early life and education Robert Lewis Maza was born on Palm Island in North Queensland on 25 November 1939, ...

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

to further his international career, which allowed him to attend an intensive course on directing and filmmaking in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

*2013:

NAIDOC Award The NAIDOC Awards are annual Australian awards conferred on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals during the national celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...

– Artist of the Year

Athletics career

Briggs was a successful 400m hurdler, and was runner-up at the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlete ...

from 1990 to 1992. He also finished third at the 1990 Championships in the

110m hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

. He was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

athletics scholarship holder from 1986 to 1987.

Other activities and roles

In 2016 Briggs became patron of his alma mater Scotch College's foundation to perpetually endow the Scotch College Indigenous Scholarship programme.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Tony Living people 1967 births 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male film actors Australian male soap opera actors Australian male stage actors Helpmann Award winners Indigenous Australian male actors