Australian actor
Ted Hamilton
|
---|
Born
| Edward Leslie Hamilton
1937 (age 86–87)
Australia
|
---|
Occupations
| - Actor
- film producer
- playwright
- singer
- composer
- entrepreneur
|
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Years active
| 1955-2002
|
---|
Edward Leslie "Ted" Hamilton
(
OAM
) (born 1937), is an Australian former
singer
,
composer
,
playwright
, entrepreneur, and
actor
.
[1]
He is known for playing the Pirate King in
The Pirate Movie
and
police constable
Kevin Dwyer in TV series
Division 4
(1969?73). In 2002, he played
Merlin
in the TV series
Guinevere Jones
. He also played in
Homicide
,
The Love Boat
,
[1]
M*A*S*H
,
[1]
The Six Million Dollar Man
,
Hawaii Five-O
,
Mission: Impossible
, and
Rafferty's Rules
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Hamilton began performing in nightclubs in 1955, and live on national radio. He guest starred on
The Ford Show
,
Calling The Stars
and
The Gladys Moncrieff Show
. He also had hit records with "Primrose Lane" and "
The Things We Did Last Summer
".
His most successful single was a 1959 duet with the late Ray Melton on
HMV
with a cover of US duo
Travis and Bob
's '59 hit "
Tell Him No
". Their cover reached #6 in Melbourne, and was a top 20 hit in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
[2]
Hamilton was also the featured singer with
The Bob Gibson Band
and the
Australian All-Stars
jazz quintet.
Hamilton guest starred on Australia's first variety show broadcast in 1956 on New Year's Eve on
ABC TV
. Also in the 1950s
[
year needed
]
, Hamilton featured in variety shows on all networks, including
The Hit Parade
(ABC),
Make Mine Music
(ABC),
Bandstand
(Channel 9),
Sydney Tonight
(Channel 7), and in the 1960s the seminal variety show
Revue 61/62
.
Song career
[
edit
]
Hamilton made his debut as singer-songwriter and starred with many of the top musicians and groups of the day, including
Don Burrows
,
Terry Wilkinson
and
Errol Buddle
? Bob Gibson's swing band ? The Australian Jazz Quintet and The Australian All Stars. He was voted best singer in jazz and pop by
Bandstand
and music magazine
Downbeat
.
In 1961?62, Hamilton was a regular on the television show
Revue 61/62
, produced by
MCA (America)
for the 7 Network. In late 1965
[
specify
]
, Hamilton compered
In Melbourne Tonight
on Monday nights on Channel 9.
[3]
He provided the voice/image for some of Australia's most popular and successful commercials, such as:
He also starred in several variety specials, among them
Ted Hamilton and
Johnny Farnham
? together again for the very first time
(June 1973).
[4]
Sports
[
edit
]
Hamilton was in the World Champion Squash team. He competed for
NSW
and Australia and
Victoria
from 1962 to 1970.
[
citation needed
]
Politics and film career
[
edit
]
Hamilton starred in
Division 4
as Senior Constable Kevin Dwyer,
[5]
winning best actor and best drama
Logie
awards. He also performed in a number of national theater productions
[
example needed
]
. Hamilton was founder and chair of the TV-Make it Australian Committee, a lobby group that pushed to have Australian culture represented by local productions on Australian TV stations. The group lobbied the government for delineation of categories for Australian TV in drama, variety, comedy, current affairs, and sport. The group was the most successful lobby group in the history of Australian show business.
[
citation needed
]
Hector Crawford
, and Prime Minister
John Gorton
acknowledged Hamilton and the committee as "The man, and the committee that saved Australian drama from extinction".
[
citation needed
]
From 1970 to 1972, Hamilton was the co-convener of the
Australia Party
. He headed the run for Parliament and his party was successful in having several senators elected. Upon Hamilton's departure for
America
, the party provided the nucleus of the
Australian Democrats
, led for many years by
Don Chipp
. Hamilton was also involved in the "It's Time" campaign, along with
Mick Young
and Clive Holding.
Hamilton also devised and appeared in a TV commercial for the Philip Morris cigarette brand "Kingford". The commercial won the Logie award for Best TV Commercial in 1974, but resulted in Hamilton's dismissal from "Division 4", as his appearance violated a contract clause specifying that series regulars wouldn't appear in television commercials.
[6]
He went on to host his own national variety shows on the ABC:
Ted Hamilton's New Wave
and
Ted Hamilton's Musical World
. In 1975, because of his chairmanship of the TV-Make It Australian Committee, the doors to Australian commercial television slammed. Hamilton was banned from Channel 9 by
Clyde Packer
, and informed that he would not be employed by the networks again (he has not been employed by 7 or 9 since). Facing this restriction in a television dominated profession; Hamilton moved his family to the United States and established an acting and corporate career.
In 1980, when
Rupert Murdoch
attempted to establish a television presence in Australia, he acquired the
Ten Channel
in
Melbourne
. He invited Hamilton to return to Australia, to host
The Ted Hamilton Show
. However, the Broadcasting Control Board opposed his ownership and Murdoch quickly surrendered the idea, and sold his interest.
[
citation needed
]
In 1981 Hamilton starred in
The Pirate Movie
with
Christopher Atkins
and
Kristy McNichol
. Hamilton and his partner David Joseph produced
The Pirate Movie
, the first Australian movie to receive a general release in the United States (2,500 screens 20th Century Fox).
[7]
Hamilton provided development finance for
The Wild Duck
(Liv Ullmann and Jeremy Irons) for J. C. Williamson productions, and
The Flight of the Navigator
for
Disney Studios
.
Involvement in United States and return to Australia
[
edit
]
In 1981 Hamilton returned to the United States. He was appointed chairman of two US companies involved in the placement of private capital for films and corporations. He also served as a senior consultant to several national companies in the US.
[
citation needed
]
In 2001 Hamilton returned to Australia, performing in music and acting. In 2002 he performed in the international television series
Guinevere Jones
, playing the role of Merlin. In 2011 Hamilton was appointed
Australia Day
Ambassador.
[8]
Social involvement and honors
[
edit
]
In the 2013 Australia Day Honours List Hamilton was awarded an
OAM
for service to the performing arts and to the community.
[9]
Discography
[
edit
]
Studio albums
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Type
|
1950s
|
The Ford Show
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
|
Calling the Stars
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
|
The Gladys Moncrieff Show
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
|
Hit Parade
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
1958
|
The Shirley Abicair Show
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
|
Bandstand
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
|
Sydney Tonight
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
1960
|
Have Gun - Will Travel
|
Catcher
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1961?62
|
Revue 61/62
|
Regular guest
|
TV variety series
|
1962
|
Make Mine Music
|
Guest
|
TV variety series
|
1965
|
In Melbourne Tonight
|
Compere
|
TV variety series
|
1968
|
Homicide
|
Roger Hendricks
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1969-75
|
Division 4
|
Senior Constable Kevin Dwyer
|
TV series, 227 episodes
|
1973
|
Ted Hamilton and
Johnny Farnham
- together again for the very first time
|
Performer
|
TV variety special
|
1973
|
Ted Hamilton's New Wave
|
Host
|
TV variety series, 6 episodes
|
1973-75
|
The Graham Kennedy Show
|
Guest performer
|
TV variety series, 5 episodes
|
1974
|
Ted Hamilton's Musical World
|
Host
|
TV variety series, 13 episodes
|
1975
|
M*A*S*H
|
Lieutenan Chivers
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1977
|
The Six Million Dollar Man
|
Jaffe
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1979
|
Hawaii Five-O
|
Larry Wilkens
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1979
|
A Man Called Sloane
|
Bannister
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1979
|
Flying High
|
Captain Arnold Rudd
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1984
|
Blue Thunder
|
Harold Longstreet
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1988
|
Mission: Impossible
|
Chambers
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
1990
|
Rafferty's Rules
|
Snowy White
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
2002
|
Guinevere Jones
|
Merlin
|
TV series, 1 episode
|
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]