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John McTernan (actor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John McTernan is an Australian actor, known for several theatre and television roles.

Biography

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Early life

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A former sailor, McTernan started acting when he came to Australia from the United States in 1968. [1] His thirty year-plus career in theatre, television and film began with training and then performing at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney.

Theatre

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McTernan's first job was singing and dancing in cabaret shows. One of his earliest professional jobs was in a vocal comedy act with friend Timothy Bean, both writing and performing their material.[2]

McTernan has appeared with all the major theatre companies. He has appeared in several productions at Ensemble Theatre including Lovers, The Comedians, Boy Meets Girl, 6 Rms Riv Vu, Sonny and Same Difference, and most recently Wrong Turn at Lungfish in 2008. His work at the Melbourne Theatre Company includes Born Yesterday, Twelfth Night, Into the Woods, Assassins, The Glass Menagerie, The Real Thing, Serious Money, High Society, Art, Take Me Out and Boy Gets Girl. Plays for Nimrod Theatre Company include Young Mo, Volpone, Inside the Island, The Orestia, Clouds, Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV and Comedy of Errors. He appeared in the following Sydney Theatre Company productions: The Sunny South, The Venetian Twins, The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Work for other theatre companies included Sanctuary, Oleanna, What Did We Do Wrong? among others.

McTernan is also well known for his work in music theatre with major stage roles in Grease, Godspell, Guys and Dolls, Sunset Boulevard, The History of Australia, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Shout, Into the Woods, and Assassins. Also for The Production Company in Melbourne: She Loves Me, Gypsy and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Film and TV roles

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His work in film includes: The Brown Out Murders, the ABC feature Fuzzy, The Understudy and Evil Never Dies.

He is known to television audiences for roles in popular Australian drama series and soap operas. Long running series roles include: Cop Shop and G.P., for which he won Logie Awards. He played a gay man later revealed as a psychopathic blackmailer in soap opera Number 96 in 1977, and played a prison teacher in Prisoner in 1986. He played Lee Gordon in the miniseries Shout! The Story of Johnny O'Keefe

Other television roles include City Homicide, All Saints, Blue Heelers, Stingers, Something in the Air and Scooter: Secret Agent.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1977 The Understudy
1984 Fuzzy TV movie
1988 The Brown Out Murders
2003 Evil Never Dies Dr Calvert TV movie

Television

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Year Title Role Type
1974 The Toy Factory TV series
1977 Number 96 Rob Forsyth TV series
1978 The Young Doctors TV series
1978 The Oracle
1981-83 Cop Shop TV series
1984 Five Mile Creek TV series
1984 Zoo Family TV series
1985 The Last Bastion TV miniseries
1985 Special Squad TV series
1986 Shout! The Story of Johnny O'Keefe Lee Gordon TV miniseries
1986 Prisoner TV series
1987 Nancy Wake TV miniseries
1987 The Flying Doctors TV series
1988 The Four Minute Mile Dave Garroway TV miniseries
1989-91 G.P. Robert TV series
1994 The Feds: Abduction Alan Guinnane TV miniseries
1994 The Man from Snowy River Mr O'Shea TV series
1995 Blue Heelers Father Michael TV series
1997 Good Guys, Bad Guys Chief Commissioner Fuller TV series
1999 All Saints Geoff Cavendish TV series, 1 episode
2000 Stingers Jim Duncan TV series
2000 Blue Heelers Peter Carlson TV series
2001 Something in the Air Young TV series
2002-03 Stingers Dr Dan Fraser TV series
2002 MDA Dr Michael Forsythe TV series
2005 Scooter: Secret Agent Mackenna TV series
2007 City Homicide Mulholland TV series
2010 Killing Time Justice Shepherd / Ian Watson TV series
2010 Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey Parish Priest TV series
2013 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Larry Dunn TV series

[3]

Awards

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McTernan won the 'Best Lead Actor' award in 1982 and 1983 at the Logies for his role in Cop Shop. For his role in G.P., he was nominated for Logies as Best Actor in 1990 and Outstanding Actor in 1991, and went on to win the Outstanding Actor award in 1992. He has also won a Green Room Award in 1987 for Best Supporting Actor as Feste in Twelfth Night for the Melbourne Theatre Company.[4]

Association Awards Year Role Results
Logie Awards Best Lead Actor 1982 Cop Shop Won
Logie Awards Best Lead Actor 1983 Cop Shop Won
Logie Awards Best Actor 1990 G.P. Nominated
Logie Awards Most Outstanding Actor 1991 G.P. Nominated
Green Room Awards Best Supporting Actor 1987 Twelfth Night Won

References

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  1. ^ "TV Week: "An Embarrassed Cop" Cop Shop 27th March 1982". 6 May 2021.
  2. ^ "TV Week: "An Embarrassed Cop" Cop Shop 27th March 1982". 6 May 2021.
  3. ^ https://shanahan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/McTERNAN-John0-230218.pdf Shanahan Artist Biography
  4. ^ TV.com. "John McTernan". TV.com.
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