Wynn Roberts (actor)

Australian actor (died 2021)

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Wynn Roberts

Born| 29 April 1924[1]
Died| 24 August 2021 (aged 97)

Tanja, New South Wales, Australia

Other names| Wyn Roberts, Wynne Roberts
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1947-2001

Wynn Roberts (April 29, 1924 – 24 August 2021)[2] credited also as Wyn Roberts and Wynne Roberts, was an Australian radio, stage and screen actor who appeared in more than 70 film and television productions between the early 1950s and 2001. He appeared in numerous TV plays and was also featured in TV miniseries for a career spanning 50 years.

## Career

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His television credits include Homicide, Special Squad, The Flying Doctors, Police Rescue, A Country Practice and Wildside. He may be most recognisable to international audiences for his role in the cult Grundy Television prison drama, Prisoner (also known as Prisoner: Cell Block H. 1979-1986), in which he appeared as (Stuart) Gillespie, a mean-spirited prison department inspector, in episodes originally aired in 1980-81. His character's authoritarian regime led to the 1980 season cliffhanger, where a number of inmates escape in a tunnel which subsequently collapses, killing a prisoner and trapping others. Later, in 1987, he guest starred in another Grundy soap opera, Neighbours (1985-), as Frank Darcy, an artist friend of Anne Haddy's character, Helen Daniels. The character memorably wore a leather eye patch and came from Bungle Bungles, and he and Helen almost moved there together, but in the end, Helen decided to stay in Melbourne with her family and Frank left without her. He is also known for his prominent role as Sergeant Bumpher in the 1975 film classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock.[3][4] He was also a leading stage actor, starting in the late 1940s.[5]

He worked for a number of years in radio.[6]

A 1965 article called him "one of the best and most versatile actors left in Australia - probably the best in Melbourne".[7]

## Death

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He died on 24 August 2021 in Tanja, New South Wales, aged 97.[2]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Type

|
|
|

1988  | The Man from Snowy River II | Priest  | Feature film
1985  | Wills & Burke | William Wright  | Feature film
1982  | Fighting Back | Payne  | Feature film
1978  | Weekend of Shadows | Sergeant Caxton  | Film
1977  | Born to Run (aka Ride a Wild Pony or Harness Fever)  | McGinnis  | Feature film
1977  | Listen to the Lion | Hunter  | Feature film
1975  | Picnic at Hanging Rock | Sergeant Bumpher  | Feature film
1974  | Essington |  | TV film
1972  | Flashpoint | Foxy  | Feature film
1972  | The Survivor |  | Feature film
1968  | Cobwebs in Concrete | Dan Fenner  | TV play
1966  | Flight into Danger |  | TV play
1966  | Ticket to Nowhere |  | TV play
1966  | Should the Woman Pay | Gerald Henderson  | TV play
1966  | The Tape Recorder | Voice of Novelist  | TV play
1965  | Macbeth[8] | Macbeth  | TV play
1965  | Moby Dick - Rehearsed[9] | Ahab  | TV play
1965  | A Time to Speak | Gilly (the Doctor)  | TV play
1965  | Romanoff and Juliet | Vadim Romanoff  | TV play
1964  | The Physicists | Mobius  | TV play
1964  | Everyman | Death  | TV play
1964  | Corruption in the Palace of Justice | Counsellor Enzi  | TV play
1964  | A Man for All Seasons | Sir Thomas More | TV play
1963  | Prelude to Harvest | Governor Phillip | TV play
1962  | Murder in the Cathedral | Beckett  | TV play[10]
1962  | Light me a Lucifer | Bill  | TV play
1962  | The Hobby Horse | Billy Brocknell  | TV play
1962  | Shadow of Heroes | Laszlo Rajk  | TV play
1962  | Manhaul | Charles Forrester  | TV play
1961  | The Lady from the Sea | The Stranger  | TV play
1961  | Burst of Summer | Clinton Hunter  | TV play
1961  | Hedda Gabler | Eilert Lovborg  | TV play
1960  | Macbeth | Banquo  | TV play
1960  | Uncle Martino | Trulla  | TV play
1960  | Heart Attack | Dr Rutherford  | TV play
1959  | Treason |  | TV play
1959  | Last Call |  | TV play
1958  | Symphonie Pastorale | Pastor Etieene  | TV play

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Type

|
|
|

2001  | The Farm | George Cooper  | Miniseries, 3 episodes
1999  | Wildside | Lionel  | TV series, 1 episode
1997  | Big Sky | Fred Morgan  | TV series, 1 episode
1996  | Sun on the Stubble | Ebeneezer Blitz  | Miniseries, 2 episodes
1995  | Snowy River: The McGregor Saga | Sir Harry Garfield  | TV series, 1 episode
1993-99  | Law of the Land | Hamilton Chalmers  | TV series, 14 episodes
1993  | Snowy | Alf Rutherford  | TV series, 4 episodes
1993  | A Country Practice | Gordon Moss  | TV series, 2 episodes
1992  | The Adventures of Skippy | Grumpy Johnston  | TV series, 1 episode
1992  | Bony | Templeman  | TV series, 1 episode
1992  | Boys from the Bush | Harry  | TV series, 1 episode
1991  | Embassy | Dave  | TV series, 1 episode
1986-91  | The Flying Doctors | Dr Don McKenzie / Bill Richards / Stirling / Mal Pryor  | TV series, 4 episode
1991  | Police Rescue | Anthony Mason  | TV series, 1 episode
1999  | Rafferty's Rules | Matt Keegan  | TV series, 1 episode
1988  | Spit MacPhee | Judge Laker  | TV miniseries, 4 episodes
1988  | The Last Resort | Exeter Shannon  | TV series
1988  | All the Way | Maynard  | TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1988  | Neighbours | Frank Darcy  | TV series, 5 episodes
1988  | Always Afternoon | Pastor Jules  | TV miniseries, 1 episode
1987  | The Petrov Affair | Brigadier Spry  | TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1986  | Sword of Honour | Arthur Lawrence  | TV miniseries, 4 episodes
1986  | Whose Baby? | Edward Hudson KC  | TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1985  | The Dunera Boys | Slattery  | TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1985  | One Summer Again | James Smith  | TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1984  | Special Squad | Superintendent Kerslake  | TV series, 3 episodes
1983-84  | Carson's Law | Andrew Riley KC / Andrews  | TV series, 4 episodes
1984  | Waterfront | Inspector Legge  | TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1982  | Spring and Fall | Clive  | TV series, 1 episode
1980-82  | Cop Shop | Alan MacNamara, George Payne, Jack Gren, Walter Green  | TV series, 8 episodes
1981  | Holiday Island | David Owens  | TV series, 2 episodes
1980-81  | Prisoner: Cell Block H | Stuart Gillespie  | TV series, 9 episodes
1979  | Disneyland | McGinnis  | TV series, 2 episodes
1978  | Skyways | Barney Waters  | TV series, 2 episodes
1975  | Behind the Legend | Christopher Brennan  | TV series, 1 episode
1974  | Homicide | Ross Bullen  | TV series, 1 episode
1968-70  | Delta | Rand / Janosek  | TV series, 2 episodes
1979  | Adventure Island | Captain James Cook | TV series, 1 episode
1967-68  | Contrabandits | Joshua Stoney / Arnell  | TV series, 2 episodes
1967  | Sergeant Musgrave's Dance | Sergeant Musgrave  | TV miniseries, 1 episode
1966  | Australian Playhouse | Johnson / Gerald Henderson / The Author  | TV series, 3 episodes
1962-64  | Consider Your Verdict | Defence Counsel Robert Winter / Crown Prosector Robert Winter  | TV series, 19 episodes
1964  | Barley Charlie | Jim Fogarty  | TV series, 1 episode
1962  | Jonah | Morgan  | TV series, 1 episode
1958  | Killer in Close Up |  | TV series, 1 episode

## Theatre

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Type

|
|
|

1947 | Othello | Brobantio (Desdemona's Father) | Melbourne Repertory Theatre
1950 | An Inspector Calls | Eric Birling | University of Melbourne
1951 | Desert Highway |  | University of Melbourne, National Theatre, Melbourne, Hobart
1952 | Montserrat |  | University of Melbourne
1953 | The Giaconda Smile | Henry Hutton | University of Melbourne
1954 | Ned Kelly | Ned | University of Melbourne
1954 | Escape | Matt Dennant | University of Melbourne
1956 | Death of a Salesman | Uncle Ben | University of Melbourne
1956 | Misalliance | Mr Tarleton | University of Melbourne
1957 | The Play's the Thing | Almady | University of Melbourne
1957 | Our Town | Dr Gibbs | University of Melbourne
1957 | The Matchmaker | Horace Vandergelder | University of Melbourne
1957 | Tonight in Samarkand |  | University of Melbourne
1957 | Ring Around the Moon |  | University of Melbourne
1957 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Brick | University of Melbourne
1957 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Jonathan Brewster | University of Melbourne
1957 | A View from the Bridge | Mr Alfieri | University of Melbourne
1957 | Speak of the Devil |  | University of Melbourne
1958 | The Making of Moo | Frederick Compton | University of Melbourne
1958 | A Hatful of Rain | John Pope Snr | University of Melbourne
1958 | The Threepenny Opera | Peachum | University of Melbourne
1958 | The Ballad of Angel's Alley | Nobbler | New Theatre, Melbourne
1961 | The Sentimental Bloke | Ginger Mick | Melbourne
1961 | The One Day of the Year | Alf Cook | Russell Street Theatre, Devonport Town Hall, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Burnie, National Theatre, Launceston
1962 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll |  | Russell Street Theatre
1966 | The First Country |  | Emerald Hill Theatre
1973 | A Celebration of the Life and Vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin |  | Dallas Brooks Hall
1979 | Cymbeline | Cymbeline | ABC Radio, Melbourne
1984 | The Cherry Orchard |  | The Mill Theatre, Melbourne

[11]

## References

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1. ^ Tombstone
2. ^ a b "Obituary: Wynn Roberts".
3. ^ "Wyn Roberts". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019.
4. ^ "Wyn Roberts". www.aveleyman.com.
5. ^ "Prisoner scores a double treat". The Australian Women's Weekly. Australia. 24 September 1980. p. 21 (Your TV Magazine). Retrieved 25 May 2020 - via Trove.
6. ^ "On the Grapevine". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 17 November 1956. p. 17. Retrieved 25 May 2020 - via Trove.
7. ^ "No dents in Rogues? armour". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 May 1965. p. 17. Retrieved 25 May 2020 - via Trove.
8. ^ "'Macbeth' on camera". The Australian Women's Weekly. Australia. 8 September 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 25 May 2020 - via Trove.
9. ^ "What to stay home for..." The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 May 1965. p. 17. Retrieved 25 May 2020 - via Trove.
10. ^ Vagg, Stephen (27 August 2022). "3 Forgotten Australian Television Plays". Filmink. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
11. ^ "AusStage".

## External links

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* Wynn Roberts at IMDb
* Wynn Roberts at AusStage