Andrew Clarke (actor)

Andrew Clarke (born 1954) is an Australian actor most known for his television work. Andrew Clarke was one of the most popular Australian actors in the 1980s and 1990s. He is also a two-time Logie winner.

Clarke is a graduate of Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he studied acting. He also has a Bachelor of Education in Drama, which he studied at Adelaide's Flinders University.^[1]

Andrew Clarke began his career in theatre. His stage credits include Macbeth, The Winter's Tale, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Cherry Orchard, Long Day's Journey into Night, The Glass Menagerie, The Devil's Advocate, Waiting for Godot and Under Milk Wood.

He also performed in The Land of Smiles for the State Opera Company of South Australia and the musicals Norman Lindsay and his Push in Bohemia, Paint Your Wagon, Oliver! and Errol Flynn's Great Big Adventure Book for Boys.^[1]

In 1982, Clarke had a short stint in cult soap opera Prisoner, in which he played the role of Judy Bryant's son-in-law Geoff Maynard. Following Prisoner, he appeared in the ongoing role of Terry Hansen in soap opera Sons and Daughters, between 1983 and 1984.

Clarke then landed the lead role of Martin Barrington in the 1985 miniseries Anzacs, starring opposite Paul Hogan, for which he won the 1986 Silver Logie for Best Actor.^[2][3] He also had major roles in 1985 miniseries A Thousand Skies, about Charles Kingsford Smith, in which he appeared as Charles Ulm, and the 1986 miniseries Sword of Honour, playing Tony Lawrence, the latter of which won him another Logie Award for Best Actor.^[3]

Clarke was in contention for the role of James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987). He was offered the contract, but says it "was just so abysmal I couldn’t accept it", and instead, Timothy Dalton was cast.^[4][5]

That same year, he appeared in the 1987 comedy film Les Patterson Saves the World, opposite Barry Humphries, and had a starring role as sleuth Simon Templar in The Saint in Manhattan. There was a one-hour pilot episode of the latter, that aired on CBS. It did not make the fall schedule; instead, CBS decided to show it and have viewers call in and vote to put it on the schedule. About 44,000 people called in, with more than 40,000 of them voting in favour of the show. These numbers did not sway CBS, especially since the show did not fare well against whatever was playing on the other two networks that night, and it declined to purchase any future episodes.^[6]

He played the lead role of Bill Wellesley in 1988 American TV film Outback Bound, opposite Donna Mills.

In 1992, Clarke starred in The Adventures of Skippy as the adult version of Sonny Hammond (the twelve year old boy in the original 1960s series),^[7][8] It was devised as a sequel to the original series, but was short-lived and ran for one season with 39 episodes.

Clarke then secured a high-profile role as patriarch Matt McGregor in the series Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River (Snowy River: The McGregor Saga) whom he played for four seasons, from 1993 to 1996. He starred alongside Wendy Hughes and Guy Pearce. After the series finished, Clarke was out of work for a couple of years before landing the regular role of Sergeant Colin Decker in Network 10 legal series State Coroner, reuniting once again with his Snowy River co-star, Hughes.^[5]

He portrayed Laurence Olivier in Blonde, a fictional biographical 2001 TV movie about Marilyn Monroe. From 2001 to 2003, he played the regular role of Derek Unn on drama comedy series Always Greener. In late 2005 he completed a four month stint on long-running soap opera Neighbours, playing Alex Kinski.^[9] He also had a role in SeaChange, and starred as Gary Preston in "A Murder of Crows" – a 1999 episode of Halifax f.p..^[10]

Clarke portrayed Horatio Wills, father of cricketer and Australian rules football pioneer Tom Wills, in a documentary about the latter's life.^[4] It was first screened publicly in 2014 and had its television debut in 2016.

In the mid-1990s, Clarke was romantically involved with British actress Victoria Tennant, when they appeared together in Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Tennant splitting with then-husband, American actor Steve Martin to be with Clarke.^[11]

Clarke played football at a high level, is a keen tennis player and long distance runner.^[4]

^[13]

• Andrew Clarke at IMDb