Leonard Teale
Encyclopedia
Leonard Teale AO born Leonard George Thiele in Brisbane
, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and films.
Radio roles included the voice of Superman in the 1950s, along with the lead role in Tarzan, regular appearances in radio variety programs such as the Bonnington's Bunkhouse Show, and voiceovers in countless commercials. He also appeared in the feature film Smiley.
In the early 1950s, with Raymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, he helped form the short-lived Australian Cultural Defence Movement which aimed at protecting Australian art from the perceived inroads being made by other cultures, particularly American. The movement eventually faltered under the weight of anti-communist criticism. (His brother, Neville Thiele
, was also criticised for participating in left-wing theatre).
He was a co-compere of the radio ABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in its Muddle-Headed Wombat serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons. At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele".
Major television roles included a regular comedic role in the Mobil-Limb Show, host roles in variety programs Singalong and Folkmoot, and acting roles in locally-produced drama series including Whiplash
, The Hungry Ones, Adventure Unlimited, and Consider Your Verdict
.
He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay in Homicide from 1965 to 1973. Homicide was Australia's first-ever television police drama; it became enormously popular, and Teale became a major national celebrity. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott in Seven Little Australians
(1973), and as head master Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap opera Class of '74 (1974–75).
Leonard Teale also played in a British-produced movie about the founding of a surf-life saving club called Bungala Boys.
He also narrated for Australian Broadcasting Corporation
audio recordings, including the Banjo Paterson
poem The Man from Snowy River. His reading of Dorothea Mackellar
's patriotic poem
which includes the line "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" became so popular in the 1970s that it was frequently used to parody him.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
(AO) in the 1992 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to the performing arts and community.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and films.
Radio roles included the voice of Superman in the 1950s, along with the lead role in Tarzan, regular appearances in radio variety programs such as the Bonnington's Bunkhouse Show, and voiceovers in countless commercials. He also appeared in the feature film Smiley.
In the early 1950s, with Raymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, he helped form the short-lived Australian Cultural Defence Movement which aimed at protecting Australian art from the perceived inroads being made by other cultures, particularly American. The movement eventually faltered under the weight of anti-communist criticism. (His brother, Neville Thiele
Neville Thiele
Dr. Albert Neville Thiele OAM born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, generally known as Neville Thiele and publishing under the name A...
, was also criticised for participating in left-wing theatre).
He was a co-compere of the radio ABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in its Muddle-Headed Wombat serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons. At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele".
Major television roles included a regular comedic role in the Mobil-Limb Show, host roles in variety programs Singalong and Folkmoot, and acting roles in locally-produced drama series including Whiplash
Whiplash (TV series)
Whiplash is a British/Australian television series made by the Seven Network and ATV and ITC Entertainment. Filmed in 1959-60, the series was first broadcast September 1960 in the United Kingdom followed by Australia in February 1961 and had opening titles featuring the Australian locale and...
, The Hungry Ones, Adventure Unlimited, and Consider Your Verdict
Consider Your Verdict
Consider Your Verdict is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network originally screening from February 1961 through to June 1964. It was based on a radio series with the same name broadcast on 3DB in Melbourne from 1958 to 1960.The television series was...
.
He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay in Homicide from 1965 to 1973. Homicide was Australia's first-ever television police drama; it became enormously popular, and Teale became a major national celebrity. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott in Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians is a classic Australian children's novel by Ethel Turner. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father Captain Woolcot and flighty stepmother Esther.In 1994 the novel was the only book by an...
(1973), and as head master Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap opera Class of '74 (1974–75).
Leonard Teale also played in a British-produced movie about the founding of a surf-life saving club called Bungala Boys.
He also narrated for Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
audio recordings, including the Banjo Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
poem The Man from Snowy River. His reading of Dorothea Mackellar
Dorothea Mackellar
Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, OBE was an Australian poet and fiction writer.The only daughter of noted physician and parliamentarian Sir Charles Mackellar, she was born in Sydney in 1885...
's patriotic poem
My Country
"My Country" is an iconic patriotic poem about Australia, written by Dorothea Mackellar at the age of 19 while homesick in England. After travelling through Europe extensively with her father during her teenage years she started writing the poem in London in 1904 and re-wrote it several times...
which includes the line "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" became so popular in the 1970s that it was frequently used to parody him.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AO) in the 1992 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to the performing arts and community.
Filmography
- Eureka StockadeEureka StockadeThe Eureka Rebellion of 1854 was an organised rebellion by gold miners which occurred at Eureka Lead in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Battle of Eureka Stockade was fought on 3 December 1854 and named for the stockade structure erected by miners during the conflict...
1949 - Call for Order 1955
- SmileySmileyA smiley, smiley face, or happy face, is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly occurring in popular culture. It is commonly represented as a yellow circle with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing the mouth...
1956 - Smiley Gets a Gun 1958
- The SundownersThe SundownersThe Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place...
1960 - Bungala Boys 1961
- Maybe This Time 1980
- Stanley 1983
External links
- Leonard Teale at IMDb
- "Homicide" – TV Eye – Classic Australian Television
- "Homicide" – Crawford Productions
- "Homicide" episode guide – includes photo of Leonard Teale, as well as information about the television series
- Law Suits – "Sydney Morning Herald" article about "Homicide" (includes a photo of the cast)
- "Homicide" episode 'Flashpoint' – Senses of Cinema
- Photo of Leonard Teale and his fiancee, Liz Harris – Picture Australia
- Photo of Leonard Teale – Picture Australia
- Information about "Class of '74"
- Photos from "Seven Little Australians"
- Leonard Teale at the National Film and Sound Archive