Mark Lee (Australian actor)

Mark Lee (born 1958) is an Australian theatre and film actor and director, and singer. He played the lead role in the 1981 film Gallipoli, alongside Mel Gibson.[1] Since then, Lee has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theatre.

Mark Lee
Born1958 (age 65–66)
Occupation(s)Actor, director
SpouseMarianne
Children2

Career

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He originally worked as a model and coffee house singer.[1] His film debut was in 1979 in the film Strange Holiday (based on the novel by Jules Verne). After his success in Gallipoli (1981) he spent some time as a musician, playing and singing as front man in popular Sydney bands like One Way Ticket and The Idle Poor, performed in company with his Conservatorium-trained, violin-playing younger brother, David.

Lee also spent some years acting in, and frequently simultaneously directing, amateur plays.

He starred in the 1987 Australian television drama Vietnam (one of Nicole Kidman's early roles) and the 1988 gay cult film The Everlasting Secret Family.[1][2] He also starred as a gay man in Sex Is a Four Letter Word.[3] Lee also worked with James Belushi in the remake of Sahara in 1995. In 2000 he starred in Nowhere to Land as the antagonist Phillip Decon.

Apart from Gallipoli, most of his work has drawn little notice outside of Australia, save for a short film Stranger So Familiar, shown in the 2005 Reno Film Festival.

In 2001, he starred in the one-man show The Time Machine, adapted by Frank Gauntlett from the novelette by H. G. Wells, and directed by Penny Young.[4] He also appeared in the acclaimed and controversial production of The Miracle Rose at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney, directed by film and theatre Robert Chuter.

His feature film directorial debut was an Australian film titled The Bet, released in 2007. He also made a documentary Mountains to the Sea, about a couple of pub bands, and directed the play Unit 46 in 1999.

In 2012, he reprised his role in The Time Machine at The Old 505 Theatre, Sydney.

In 2013/2014, he toured Australia in the theatrical production of a play based upon Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced, playing the character of Inspector Craddock. In 2013, he featured in the TV mini-series Paper Giants: Magazine Wars. Since 2015, he has had a recurring role in the TV series A Place To Call Home.

As of 2019, he is acting as Rick Booth (Dean's biological father) on Seven's Home and Away.

Personal life

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Lee enjoys cooking and traveling with his wife Marianne. The couple have two daughters.[5]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1969 Strange Holiday Costar TV movie, based on the novel by Jules Verne
1974 Lindsay's Boy Kevin Lindsay TV movie
1981 Gallipoli Archy Hamilton Feature film
1982 The Best of Friends Bruce Feature film
1983 The City's Edge Jim Wentworth Feature film
1986 News Report on a Journey to a Bright Future David McGee TV movie
1987 Emma's War John Davidson TV movie
1988 The Everlasting Secret Family[1][6] Youth Feature film
The Riddle of the Stinson Co-pilot Bert Shepherd TV movie
1995 Sahara Jimmy Doyle TV movie
Blackwater Trail Chris TV movie
Sex Is a Four Letter Word[7] John Feature film
1998 Chameleon Milo TV movie
1999 Chameleon II: Death Match Steven Myers TV movie
Without Warning David TV movie
2000 Nowhere to Land Phillip Decon TV movie
2001 One Born Every Minute Ned Kelly Short film
2002 Tree Dad Short flm
The Shot Short film
The Junction Boys Jack Gilmore TV movie
El Burro David Short film
2004 Black Jack Black Jack Short film
The Wallet Pete Short film
2005 Stranger So Familiar Feature film
2009 Shadows of the Past Jack Kelly Feature film
At This Moment Dad Short film
2011 The Last Race Clive Kershaw Short film
Cupid Neptune Short film
2014 The Gift John Short film
Wraith Woods Stramger Short film
2018 Shooter Jim Short film
Bring Me Back Ma Mike Short film
2020 Trapped James Short film

Television

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Year Title Role Type
1974 The Evil Touch Andrew TV series, 1 episode
1975 Behind the Legend Maurice Kellerman TV series, 1 episode
The Seven Ages of Man TV series, 1 episode
1976 Number 96 Robin Dunmore TV series, 4 episodes
1977 The Restless Years Lee Prentice TV series
1977-79 Bailey's Bird Nick TV series, 26 episodes
1978 Case for the Defence Barry TV series, 1 episode
1987 Vietnam Laurie Fellows TV miniseries, 10 episodes
1988 The Flying Doctors Stewart Collins TV series, 1 episode
1989 Naked Under Capricorn Tim Roberts TV miniseries, 1 episode
1992 A Country Practice Dr Paul Beardsley TV series, 2 episodes
Boney Dave O’Dwyer TV series, 1 episode
1994 G.P. Daniel Wallace TV series, 1 episode
1996-97 City Life Nick Vogel TV series, 3 episodes
1996-2000 Water Rats Travis Dewar / Harry Pierce TV series, 2 episodes
1996-2019 Home and Away Rick Booth, Stuart Mitchell, Orson Cardillo TV series, 20 episodes
1997 Twisted Tales Frank TV series, 1 episode
1998 Murder Call Ian Blanfield TV series, 1 episode
All Saints Chen Wai TV series, 1 episode
1998-2000 Tales of the South Seas Reverend Colin Trent TV miniseries, 22 episodes
1999 SeaChange BrettCauchi TV series, 1 episode
2000-01 Beastmaster Hjalmar TV series, 6 episodes
2001 Blonde Porn Dealer TV miniseries, 2 episodes
Stingers Leon King TV series, 1 episode
Ponderosa Captain John Reilly TV series, 1 episode
2004 The Mystery of Natalie Wood William Russell Miniseries
Out There TV series, 6 episodes
2011 Crownies Geoffrey McMahon TV series, 4 episodes
2012 Redfern Now Barman TV series, 1 episode
2013 Packed to the Rafters Duncan Galloway TV series, 5 episodes
Paper Giants: Magazine Wars Richard Walsh TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2015 A Place To Call Home Sir Richard Bennett TV series
2021-23 La Brea Silas TV series, 20 episodes

Theatre

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Year Title Role Type
2001 The Time Machine[8]
The Miracle Rose Belvoir Street Theatre
2012 The Time Machine The Old 505 Theatre, Sydney
2013/2014 A Murder Is Announced Inspector Craddock Australian tour

Directing

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Year Title Type
2007 The Bet Feature film
Mountains to the Sea Documentary
1999 Unit 46 Play

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Michael Ferguson and Michael S. Ferguson Idol Worship: A Shameless Celebration of Male Beauty in the Movies, p. 215, at Google Books
  2. ^ Maslin, Janet (1989). "Reviews/Film; An Australian Tale of Sex And the Power It Confers". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  3. ^ IMdB [unreliable source?]
  4. ^ "The Time Machine | theatre australia". www.theatre.asn.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  5. ^ "On the Couch with Mark Lee". Australian Arts Review. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. ^ Maslin, Janet (1989). "Reviews/Film; An Australian Tale of Sex And the Power It Confers". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  7. ^ IMdB [unreliable source?]
  8. ^ "The Time Machine | theatre australia". www.theatre.asn.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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