Garry McDonald
Encyclopedia
Garry George McDonald, AO
(born 30 October 1948) is an Australian stage and screen actor.
and National Institute of Dramatic Art
.
McDonald first came to wide public attention playing the supporting character "Kid Eager" in the second series of the groundbreaking Australian television comedy series The Aunty Jack Show
in 1973. It was while working on Aunty Jack that McDonald first performed the character for which he would become best-known, the gauche and inept local regional TV personality, Norman Gunston
. Gunston's first appearance was in a series of brief sketches written by Wendy Skelcher which saw him reporting uncomfortably on a "sex-scandal drought" in his home town, the New South Wales city of Wollongong
; a drought he eventually breaks by appearing nude on camera.
After Aunty Jack, McDonald went on to work with the same team in the comedy miniseries Wollongong the Brave
(1973) and Flash Nick from Jindivik (1974). The Gunston character was revived for one episode of Wollongong The Brave, a parodic show business biography entitled "Norman Gunston: The Golden Weeks". Around the time of his major breakthrough on Australian TV in 1975, McDonald also made his first major film appearance, playing a minor role in the landmark Peter Weir
film Picnic at Hanging Rock
.
(now a successful children's author) and veteran TV comedy writer Bill Harding, who had written for the pioneering Australian TV satire The Mavis Bramston Show
.
The new series, The Norman Gunston Show, was a parody of the Tonight Show format, and McDonald himself has stated that it was originally based on a mediocre late-night chat show hosted by expatriate American entertainer Tommy Leonetti
. The series saw Gunston as the unlikely host of his own national TV variety show. After a slow start the series rapidly gained a sizeable audience by word of mouth and, by 1976, it was a major hit with McDonald winning the Gold Logie Award
that year, becoming the only winner in Logies' history to win the award in the name of the character he played.
Gunston's trademark outfit consisted of an iridescent-blue tuxedo jacket, black stovepipe trousers, and sneakers with white socks. McDonald used makeup to make his face deathbed white and had bits of tissue drying on shaving nicks.
The first show was telecast live from a Sydney theater, with searchlights and mounted police on the street outside to mimic a Hollywood premiere. Gunston arrived by bus rather than chauffeured limousine and did the entire program with his pants unzipped and his shirt flapping out.
The series, which satirised many aspects of Australian culture and show business, was a mixture of live and pre-recorded interviews, awkward musical segments – excruciatingly sung by Gunston himself in the broadest 'strine
' accent – and continuing comedy sketches such as "Norman's Dreamtime
" (in which Norman read stories to a group of children, such as "Why Underpants Ride Up"). The series also featured the TV soap opera parody "Checkout Chicks". Set in a supermarket, the parody mostly featured former cast members of the Number 96
series – Abigail
, Philippa Baker, Vivienne Garrett
, Candy Raymond
, Judy Lynne
, and Anne Louise Lambert.
Using Gunston's gormless personality as a cover to break down the defences of his "victims", McDonald pioneered the satirically provocative "ambush interview" technique which was used to great effect in interviews with Paul McCartney
, Muhammad Ali
, Keith Moon
and actress Sally Struthers
. When Gunston interviewed Elton John
, who was in Australia to promote Tommy
, Gunston began by asking "Are you going to premiere in Wollongong?" "No, but I've played tennis with her," John responded. "You're thinking of Evonne Wollongong," Gunston said, "I'm talking about the city."
As Norman Gunston, McDonald also had a successful recording career, releasing a string of satirical novelty pop records that anticipated the pop parodies of "Weird Al" Yankovic
. Norman's Top 40 chart hits included his interpretation of the Tom Jones
classic "Delilah", the punk rock
send-up "I Might Be A Punk But I Love You, Baby" and "We're All Marching In The KISS Army", a parody of the KISS
single "I Was Made For Loving You".
Edited versions of the Norman Gunston shows were screened in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and it is arguable that McDonald's work was a direct influence on the later British comedy characters Dennis Pennis, Alan Partridge
, and Ali G
. In the late 1990s the Canadian actor Martin Short
also created a distinctly Gunstonesque talk show host, Jiminy Glick
. One of the sketches in that show, "La-la-wood Tales", is a direct copy of the "Norman's Dreamtime" sketch, featuring Glick reading a satirical fable about Hollywood to a group of children.
written by Geoffrey Atherden
. It was loosely based on the cult Carl Reiner
comedy feature Where's Poppa?
. The series was very successful in Australia. It was repeated many times and has become one of the best-loved Australian TV comedies of all time. It starred veteran actress Ruth Cracknell
as Maggie Beare, a senile and dotty yet artful and manipulating mother. McDonald played her long-suffering younger son Arthur Beare whose life is dominated by his obligation to care for her.
and at Nimrod Theatres in many dramatic and musical productions.
McDonald was also the host of a sales video series for the now renamed Telecom Australia
, promoting the Telememo communication network.
After Mother and Son, McDonald fought a public battle with depression which reached crisis point after an abortive attempt to revive the Gunston character for a commercial TV series in 1992. He is a member of the Board of beyondblue
, an Australian national depression initiative. For his work in this area in addition to his services in the entertainment industry, McDonald was awarded by becoming an Officer of the Order of Australia
.
Two portraits of McDonald have won awards at the Archibald Prize
. In 1999 a portrait by artist Deny Christian won the Packing Room award and, in 2006, Paul Jackson's "All the world's a stage" won the Peoples Choice award.
In 2005 McDonald filmed a teleseries called "Step Father of The Bride" for ABC Television. In 2006 he made an appearance on Channel 9's mystery show "Two Twisted".
On 5 April 2008 he began his role of Nathan Detroit in the major stage production Guys & Dolls, which was held at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
In 2010 he has played Dennis Johnson in the touring play "Halpern and Johnson" alongside Henri Szeps
, who played his venal and scheming older brother in Mother and Son.
In 2011, he appeared in David Mamet
's play 'November', produced by the South Australian State Theatre Company.
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"...
(born 30 October 1948) is an Australian stage and screen actor.
Early life and career
McDonald was born in Sydney and was educated at Cranbrook SchoolCranbrook School Sydney
Cranbrook School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bellevue Hill and Rose Bay, both eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
and National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
.
McDonald first came to wide public attention playing the supporting character "Kid Eager" in the second series of the groundbreaking Australian television comedy series The Aunty Jack Show
The Aunty Jack Show
The Aunty Jack Show was a Logie Award–winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day....
in 1973. It was while working on Aunty Jack that McDonald first performed the character for which he would become best-known, the gauche and inept local regional TV personality, Norman Gunston
Norman Gunston
Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s.- Early years :...
. Gunston's first appearance was in a series of brief sketches written by Wendy Skelcher which saw him reporting uncomfortably on a "sex-scandal drought" in his home town, the New South Wales city of Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
; a drought he eventually breaks by appearing nude on camera.
After Aunty Jack, McDonald went on to work with the same team in the comedy miniseries Wollongong the Brave
Wollongong the Brave
Aunty Jack's Wollongong the Brave is a collection of four comedy specials derived from the Australian television series, The Aunty Jack Show. The fourth and final episode was the precursor to The Norman Gunston Show. The episodes were filmed in 1974 and were aired during 1975...
(1973) and Flash Nick from Jindivik (1974). The Gunston character was revived for one episode of Wollongong The Brave, a parodic show business biography entitled "Norman Gunston: The Golden Weeks". Around the time of his major breakthrough on Australian TV in 1975, McDonald also made his first major film appearance, playing a minor role in the landmark Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
film Picnic at Hanging Rock
Picnic at Hanging Rock (film)
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian feature film directed by Peter Weir and starring Anne-Louise Lambert, Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name, by author Joan Lindsay....
.
Norman Gunston Show
In 1975 McDonald revived the Gunston character for TV with the help of a writing team that included Morris GleitzmanMorris Gleitzman
Morris Gleitzman is an English-born Australian writer. He is one of Australia's most successful writers.Morris Gleitzman has also gained recognition for sparking an interest in politically-controversial children's books like Two Weeks with the Queen.He has collaborated on children's series with...
(now a successful children's author) and veteran TV comedy writer Bill Harding, who had written for the pioneering Australian TV satire The Mavis Bramston Show
The Mavis Bramston Show
The Mavis Bramston Show was a popular and award-winning Australian TV satirical sketch comedy series of the mid-1960s.-Introduction:The tremendous impact that The Mavis Bramston Show had in Australia in the mid-1960s was heightened because of its unique place in the history of the Australian TV...
.
The new series, The Norman Gunston Show, was a parody of the Tonight Show format, and McDonald himself has stated that it was originally based on a mediocre late-night chat show hosted by expatriate American entertainer Tommy Leonetti
Tommy Leonetti
Tommy Leonetti was an American pop singer-songwriter and actor of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In Australia his most famous song was "My City of Sydney" and was used by the Australian TV channel ATN7 in Sydney for station identification into the 1980s...
. The series saw Gunston as the unlikely host of his own national TV variety show. After a slow start the series rapidly gained a sizeable audience by word of mouth and, by 1976, it was a major hit with McDonald winning the Gold Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
that year, becoming the only winner in Logies' history to win the award in the name of the character he played.
Gunston's trademark outfit consisted of an iridescent-blue tuxedo jacket, black stovepipe trousers, and sneakers with white socks. McDonald used makeup to make his face deathbed white and had bits of tissue drying on shaving nicks.
The first show was telecast live from a Sydney theater, with searchlights and mounted police on the street outside to mimic a Hollywood premiere. Gunston arrived by bus rather than chauffeured limousine and did the entire program with his pants unzipped and his shirt flapping out.
The series, which satirised many aspects of Australian culture and show business, was a mixture of live and pre-recorded interviews, awkward musical segments – excruciatingly sung by Gunston himself in the broadest 'strine
Strine
Strine is a term coined in 1964 and subsequently used to describe a broad accent of Australian English. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon the tendency of this...
' accent – and continuing comedy sketches such as "Norman's Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
" (in which Norman read stories to a group of children, such as "Why Underpants Ride Up"). The series also featured the TV soap opera parody "Checkout Chicks". Set in a supermarket, the parody mostly featured former cast members of the Number 96
Number 96 (TV series)
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
series – Abigail
Abigail (actress)
Abigail is an actress who emigrated to Australia in 1968 and via the media of television became one of that country's significant sex symbols of the mid-1970s. Although born in England, she was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity...
, Philippa Baker, Vivienne Garrett
Vivienne Garrett
Vivienne Garrett is an Australian-based theatre and television actor. She was born in Sydney and now lives in Perth. Garrett graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1970....
, Candy Raymond
Candy Raymond
Candida Raymond is an Australian actress active in film during the 1970s and early 1980s. she attended St Ives High School in Sydney. She is the sister of actress Victoria Raymond....
, Judy Lynne
Judy Lynne
Judy Lynne is an American actress who spent many years working in Australia.She is best known for her role as Doctor Susan Richards in the television soap opera The Young Doctors....
, and Anne Louise Lambert.
Using Gunston's gormless personality as a cover to break down the defences of his "victims", McDonald pioneered the satirically provocative "ambush interview" technique which was used to great effect in interviews with Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
and actress Sally Struthers
Sally Struthers
Sally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...
. When Gunston interviewed Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, who was in Australia to promote Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
, Gunston began by asking "Are you going to premiere in Wollongong?" "No, but I've played tennis with her," John responded. "You're thinking of Evonne Wollongong," Gunston said, "I'm talking about the city."
As Norman Gunston, McDonald also had a successful recording career, releasing a string of satirical novelty pop records that anticipated the pop parodies of "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
. Norman's Top 40 chart hits included his interpretation of the Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
classic "Delilah", the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
send-up "I Might Be A Punk But I Love You, Baby" and "We're All Marching In The KISS Army", a parody of the KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
single "I Was Made For Loving You".
Edited versions of the Norman Gunston shows were screened in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and it is arguable that McDonald's work was a direct influence on the later British comedy characters Dennis Pennis, Alan Partridge
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
, and Ali G
Ali G
Ali G is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is the title character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show, original episodes of which aired in 2000 and on HBO in 2003–2004, and is the...
. In the late 1990s the Canadian actor Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
also created a distinctly Gunstonesque talk show host, Jiminy Glick
Jiminy Glick
Jiminy Glick is a fictional character portrayed not entirely by Martin Short in the TV series Primetime Glick , the subsequent film Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, and Short's Broadway show Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me...
. One of the sketches in that show, "La-la-wood Tales", is a direct copy of the "Norman's Dreamtime" sketch, featuring Glick reading a satirical fable about Hollywood to a group of children.
Mother and Son
Although he inevitably suffered from typecasting as Gunston, McDonald was able to create another memorable character in the successful ABC television series Mother and SonMother and Son
Mother and Son is a Logie Award-winning Australian television sitcom produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris...
written by Geoffrey Atherden
Geoffrey Atherden
Geoffrey John Atherden, AM, is an Australian television writer, best known for the sitcom Mother and Son. He also wrote the sitcom Grass Roots and the mockumentary BabaKiueria, and contributed to The Aunty Jack Show....
. It was loosely based on the cult Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
comedy feature Where's Poppa?
Where's Poppa?
Where's Poppa? is a 1970 black comedy film based on the novel by Robert Klane starring George Segal, Ron Leibman and Ruth Gordon. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a lawyer son played by Segal and his senile mother played by Gordon...
. The series was very successful in Australia. It was repeated many times and has become one of the best-loved Australian TV comedies of all time. It starred veteran actress Ruth Cracknell
Ruth Cracknell
Ruth Cracknell AM was an Australian theatre and television character actress who appeared in many comedy roles. She was known variously as "Crackers", "Dame Crackers" and "Dame Ruth" throughout a career spanning 56 years....
as Maggie Beare, a senile and dotty yet artful and manipulating mother. McDonald played her long-suffering younger son Arthur Beare whose life is dominated by his obligation to care for her.
Other projects
McDonald has also appeared on stage at Sydney's Her Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre, Sydney
Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, refers to three theatres of the same name:One was a theatre which opened on 10 September 1887 and closed on 10 June 1933.It was located on the corner of Pitt and Market Street, Sydney, where Centrepoint stands today....
and at Nimrod Theatres in many dramatic and musical productions.
McDonald was also the host of a sales video series for the now renamed Telecom Australia
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
, promoting the Telememo communication network.
After Mother and Son, McDonald fought a public battle with depression which reached crisis point after an abortive attempt to revive the Gunston character for a commercial TV series in 1992. He is a member of the Board of beyondblue
Beyondblue
beyondblue is an Australian non-profit organisation which aims to increase awareness and improve the treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and related mental disorders...
, an Australian national depression initiative. For his work in this area in addition to his services in the entertainment industry, McDonald was awarded by becoming 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"...
.
Two portraits of McDonald have won awards at the Archibald Prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
. In 1999 a portrait by artist Deny Christian won the Packing Room award and, in 2006, Paul Jackson's "All the world's a stage" won the Peoples Choice award.
In 2005 McDonald filmed a teleseries called "Step Father of The Bride" for ABC Television. In 2006 he made an appearance on Channel 9's mystery show "Two Twisted".
On 5 April 2008 he began his role of Nathan Detroit in the major stage production Guys & Dolls, which was held at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
In 2010 he has played Dennis Johnson in the touring play "Halpern and Johnson" alongside Henri Szeps
Henri Szeps
Henri Szeps OAM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Robert Beare in the ABC situation comedy series Mother and Son.-Early life:...
, who played his venal and scheming older brother in Mother and Son.
In 2011, he appeared in David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's play 'November', produced by the South Australian State Theatre Company.
Awards
McDonald has won four Logies in his television career, which are:- 1976 New Talent (for 'The Norman Gunston Show')
- 1976 Gold Logie (for 'The Norman Gunston Show')
- 1994 Most Outstanding Actor (for 'Mother and SonMother and SonMother and Son is a Logie Award-winning Australian television sitcom produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris...
') - 1997 Hall of Fame