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Maurie Fields

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maurie Fields
Born
Maurice Sheil

4 August 1926
Manly, New South Wales.
Died18 December 1995(1995-12-18) (aged 69)
Melbourne, Australia.
Other namesMaurice Fields
Occupations
  • Vaudevillian performer
  • actor
  • comedian
Years active1967-1995
Spouses
Children4, including Marty Fields

Maurice Fields (born Maurice Sheil, 4 August 1926 – 18 December 1995)[1] was an Australian vaudeville performer, actor and stand-up comedian.

Career

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Fields became a well-known face on television first thanks to his comic sketches on live programs like Sunnyside Up and later dramatic roles as the conniving John Quinney in ABC TV's Bellbird. He also featured in many soap operas on commercial television, including Cop Shop, The Box, Prisoner (a small part playing crooked screw Leonard "Len" Murphy, and he had previously played two smaller parts in the show) and publican Vic Buckley in The Flying Doctors. He was also a regular as Fred Farrell in situation comedy series Bobby Dazzler (1977) and did regular comedy segments on Hey Hey It's Saturday alongside Shane Bourne.[2]

He was also the editor of the jokes pages of the Australasian Post magazine for many years, a role continued by his son Marty after Maurie's passing. He appeared in retro-capture with his son Marty, in the Hey Hey reunions.

Personal life

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Fields was the son of an accountant and married twice. His first wife was Dorothy, and they had three children: Lorraine, Eileen and Alan. He then married the comedian and actress Val Jellay, who also portrayed his screen wife in The Flying Doctors. They played publicans Vic and Nancy Buckley. He was the father of comedian Marty Fields.

Death

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Fields died on 18 December 1995, from a heart attack, and became the first actor to be posthumously inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame. That honour was accepted at the awards ceremony in his name by his widow and long-time acting partner, Val Jellay.[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1971 Country Town John Quinney TV film
1974 Alvin Rides Again Garage Proprietor Feature film
1975 The Great Macarthy Company Director Feature film
1976 Eliza Fraser Reporter Feature film
1976 Break of Day Lou Feature film
1978 In Search of Anna Bert Feature film
1979 Kostas Taxi Driver Feature film
1979 Taxi Drunk Passenger TV film
1979 Banana Bender Smiley TV film
1982 Lonely Hearts Taxi Driver Film
1982 Fighting Back Police Sergeant Feature film
1984 Banjo's Australia Mulga Bill Video
1985 Mud, Bloody Mud Chifley Sturdee TV film
1986 Cactus Maurie Feature film
1986 Death of a Soldier Detective Sergeant Martin Feature film
1987 The Bit Part Peter Feature film
1988 Evil Angels Justice Denis Barritt Feature film
1994 Country Life Fred Livingstone Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1967 Hunter Day TV series, 2 episodes
1969 Joan and Leslie Policeman / Dr Smith TV series, 2 episodes
1970 The Long Arm Gary Sutton TV series, 1 episode
1973 Ryan Bob Clark TV series, 1 episode
1974 The Box Horrie Weatherburn TV series
1974 Marion Harry Richardson TV series, 1 episode
1974 And the Big Men Fly Merv Harvey TV series, 6 episodes
1969-75 Division 4 Sgt Shorter / Dixie Palmer / Various TV series, 17 episodes
1965-75 Homicide Clive Booker / Dan Miller / Various TV series, 19 episodes
1971-75 Matlock Police Watson / Harris / Various TV series, 13 episodes
1975-76 The Last of the Australians Barney TV series, 7 episodes
1976 Tandarra Charlie Mercer TV series, 1 episode
1976 No Thanks, I'm on a Diet Maurie TV series, 6 episodes
1976 Power Without Glory 1st Heckler TV series, 1 episode
1976 The Sullivans TV series
1977 Bluey Brougham TV series, 1 episode
1969-77 Bellbird[4] John Quinney TV series, 1235 episodes
1978 Hotel Story TV series, 1 episode
1977-78 Bobby Dazzler Fred Farrell TV series, 14 episodes
1979 Skyways Chas Potter TV series, 51 episodes
1977-80 Cop Shop Various characters TV series, 6 episodes
1980 Are You Being Served? Harry Collins TV series, 1 episode
1981 A Town Like Alice Al Burns TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1981 I Can Jump Puddles Spruiker TV miniseries, 1 episode
1981 Holiday Island Fred TV series, 1 episode
1982 1915 Mayor TV series, 2 episodes
1982 The Daryl Somers Show Santa Claus TV series, 1 episode
1983 Starting Out Mac Rankin TV series, 85 episodes
1985 The Flying Doctors Vic Buckley TV series, 3 episodes
1982-85 Prisoner Uncle Arch / Maurie Parks / Len Murphy TV series, 20 episodes
1985 Winners Mr O'Brien TV series, 1 episode
1985 The Dunera Boys Cpl Carter TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1986 My Brother Tom 'Muscles' Smith TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1988 Hey Hey It's Saturday Guest TV series, 1 episode
1989 G.P. Clarie TV series, 1 episode
1989-91 Pugwall Uncle Harry TV series, 14 episodes
1986-92 The Flying Doctors[5] Vic Buckley TV series, 216 episodes
1993-94 R.F.D.S. Vic Buckley TV series, 13 episodes
1995 Neighbours Old Sid TV series, 5 episodes

Discography

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Albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
[6]
The Great Aussie Joke
(with Shane Bourne)
  • Released: 1988
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Hammard (HAM 186)
-
Cheers!
  • Released: December 1990
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Virgin (AZMF 001)
81
At His Best
  • Released: 1990
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Virgin (VOZCD 2057)

Charting singles

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List of charting singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
AUS
[6]
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" 1990 149 Cheers

References

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  1. ^ "Prisoner Cell Block H Escapees - Maurie Fields". www.thateden.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 August 2002.
  2. ^ "The Bourne identity". The Age. Melbourne. 10 July 2003.
  3. ^ McColl Jones, Mike (1999), And Now Here’s..., Aerospace Publications, Canberra, pp. 102 & 103.
  4. ^ "Australian Television: Bellbird".
  5. ^ "Australian Television: The Flying Doctors: Main cast".
  6. ^ a b "Bubbling Down Under Week commencing 3 December 1990". www.bubblingdownunder.com. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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