Terence Donovan (actor)
Terence Donovan (born 28 October 1942), also billed as Terence J. Donovan and Terry Donovan, is an English-Australian actor of stage and television, and the father of fellow actor and singer Jason Donovan (from his marriage to actress and journalist Sue McIntosh). He is best known for his roles as Doug Willis in soap opera Neighbours and has appeared in TV drama series since its early days, including police drama series Division 4 and Cop Shop, as well as minor parts in numerous serials including The Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice, E Street and Al Simpson in Home and Away.
Terence Donovan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 October 1942 |
| Other names | Terry Donovan |
| Occupation | Television and stage actor |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Spouse(s) | [1] Marlene Saunders (m. 1981) |
| Children | 2, including Jason Donovan |
Career
Donovan, who was born in Staines, England, has been a staple of Australian television since the early 1960s and has had minor acting roles in episodes of the court-room drama series Consider Your Verdict, several ABC drama plays, and the children's series The Magic Boomerang. Moving back to his native United Kingdom in the mid-1960s saw guest roles in series including The Champions, Man in a Suitcase, and The Prisoner. After returning to Australia and appearing in guest roles in the Crawford Productions series Homicide and Hunter in 1968, he was placed on contract, going on to play the role of Detective Mick Peters in Crawford's police series Division 4, from 1969 to 1975. In 1976, he played in a popular mini-series adaptation of the novel Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy. From 1979 to 1981, he starred as Detective Sergeant Vic Cameron in Cop Shop.
Between 1981 and 1984, he had minor roles in Australian television programs, and acted in the film The Man from Snowy River in 1982, playing Henry Craig. In 1985, he had roles in Prisoner and Sons and Daughters. From 1986 to 1990, he had more minor television roles including the 1989 pilot episode of E Street as Ken Swanson which was followed by guest roles in The Flying Doctors and G.P. He was the second actor to play Al Simpson, the father of original character Bobby Simpson in Home and Away, in 1990, a role previously played by George Leppard in 1988, and followed this immediately with the role of Doug Willis in Neighbours, a character he played regularly until 1994, and made a brief appearance in 2005, when he reprised his role for the show's 20th-anniversary special.[2] He returned in that role again in 2014. Donovan appeared in a documentary special celebrating Neighbours' 30th anniversary titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which aired in Australia and the UK in March 2015.[3][4] He reprised the role of Doug Willis in episodes of the serial in 2016, culminating in the character's death. In 2003, he appeared in the drama series MDA in the role of Eric Savage, father of Richard Savage (played by his son Jason Donovan).
He played the title role of Harry 'Breaker' Morant in the first public performance of Kenneth G. Ross's Australian play Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts, presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 2 February 1978. (Donovan also appeared in the 1980 film Breaker Morant, but in a subsidiary role, rather than as the title character). In the UK in the mid-1990s Donovan played Captain Hook in a tour of a musical version of Peter Pan alongside co-stars Nicola Stapleton, famous for her role in EastEnders, and a young Laurence Mark Wythe (who has since become a composer and lyricist in musical theatre). In 2007 Donovan performed the role of Boswell in the Magnormos production of Mary Bryant. He also played the part of the slick, dishonest lawyer, Billy Flynn, in the Sydney Theatre Company production of Kander and Ebb's Chicago.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Role |
| Consider Your Verdict | 1961–1963 | Keith Upton |
| 1964 | ||
| The Hidden Truth | 1964 | Television reporter |
| It's a Woman's World | 1964 | Jim |
| The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling | 1964 | Private Jenkins |
| Thursday Theatre | 1965 | 1st newspaper boy |
| Songs og the American Civil War (telemovie | 1965 | As Terence J. Donovan |
| Songs of the Wild West (TV movie) | 1965 | as Terence J. Donovan |
| Chicago in the Roaring 20s (TV movie) | 1965 | as Terence J. Donovan |
| Object Z (TV series) | 1965 | Captain Wade |
| Armchair Theatre (TV series) | 1965 | Carrier |
| Bat Out of Hell (TV miniseries) | 1966 | Sloane |
| Man in a Suitcase (TV series) | 1967 | Brent |
| The Prisoner (TV miniseries) | 1967 | Sailor |
| Oliver! | 1968 | Policeman 'Consider Yourself' |
| The Champions (TV series) | 1968 | Radio Operator |
| Hunter (TV series) | 1968–1969 | 3 roles- Wade- Biggs - Peter Grant |
| This Love Affair (TV series) | 1974 | Charlie |
| Rush (TV series) | 1974 | Doctor Kirby |
| The Last of the Australians (TV series) | 1975 | Mr. Walker |
| Division 4 (TV series) | 1969–1975 | Senior Detective Mick Peters |
| Tandarra"" (TV series) | SeanDaly | |
| Solo One (TV series) | 1976 | Bill Morgan |
| Power Without Glory (TV series) | 1976 | Frank Lammence |
| Homicide (TV series) | 1968–1977 | 3 roles -Gerald Stone-Greg Adams-Peter Mahoney |
| The Outsiders (TV series) | 1977 | Stan Fraser |
| Bellbird (TV series) | 1977 | Neil Farrer |
| Going Home (TV movie) | 1977 | Miles Newton |
| The Getting of Wisdom | 1977 | Tom McNamara |
| Hotel Story (TV series) | 1977–1979 | unknown -6 episode |
| Money Movers | 1978 | Eric Jackson |
| Cop Shop (TV series) | 1978–1980 | Detective Sgt. Vic Bishop/Cameron - George Langdon (1980) |
| Breaker Morant | 1980 | Captain Simon Hunt |
| Smash Palace | 1981 | Traffic Officer |
| Dead Kids | 1981 | Mr. Brown (creditd as Terry Donovan) |
| Night of Shadows (short) | 1982 | Blackie Webb |
| The Man from Snowy River | 1982 | Henry Craig |
| The Winds of Jarrah | 1983 | Timber Marlow |
| Fortress | 1985 | Detective Sgt Mitchell |
| Winners (TV series) | 1985 | Trigg |
| Prisoner: Cell Block H (TV series) | 1985 | Bob Taylor |
| Death of a Soldier | 1986 | John Curtin |
| Sons and Daughters (TV series) | 1985–1986 | Tom Chaplin |
| A Single Life (TV movie) | 1986 | Chris |
| Emma's War | 1987 | Father Grange |
| Running from the Guns | 1987 | Bangles |
| Room to Move (TV movie) | 1987 | Peter Trigg |
| Australians (TV series) | 1988 | episode Errol Flynn |
| Joe Wilson (TV mini-series) | 1988 | Walis |
| E Street (TV series) | 1989 | Ken Swanson |
| Mission: Impossible (TV series) | 1989 | Senator Tom Oxenford |
| G.P. (TV series) | 1989 | Darcy Watts |
| The Flying Doctors (TV series) | 1989 | Jim Cardaci |
| A Country Practice (TV series) | 1983–1989) | 3 roles Harry Taylor (episode Truth and Consequences)- TJ. Riley (Episode Seasons Come and Seasons Go) - Joe Baxter (episode Fly Away Home) |
| Home and Away (TV series) | 1990 | Al Simpson |
| Flair (TV miniseries) | 1990 | Sergeant Doogan |
| Jigsaw | 1990 | Jack McClusky |
| Heartbreak High (TV series) | 1999 | Warwick |
| Blue Heelers (TV series) | 1999 | Ian Waldron |
| Signs of Life | 2002–2003 | Travis |
| Horseplay | 2003 | Mr. Perlman |
| MDA (TV series) | 2003 | Eric Savage |
| Puppy | 2005 | Dr. Holden |
| House Husbands (TV series) | 2013 | Doug |
| Neighbours : Hey Piper (TV series) | 2015 | Doug Willis |
| Neighbours (TV series) | 1990–2016) | Doug Willis |
| We All Have Our Demons (film short) | pre-production at time of publication | Abbie's Dad |
References
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1002989/bio
- Green, Kris (14 April 2005). "More Neighbours returns confirmed". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- Knox, David (28 February 2015). "Airdate: Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- Kilkelly, Daniel (4 March 2015). "Neighbours 30th anniversary schedule confirmed by Channel 5". Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
External links
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