Peter Bensley
Born: 1954
Warialda, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Actor and Author
Notable Roles
Dr. John Austin in The New Adventures of Black Beauty Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker in Water Rats Water Rats (TV series) Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based around the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fight crime across Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney... Andrew Teigan in Mirror, Mirror Mirror, Mirror (TV series) Mirror, Mirror is a television programme co-produced by Australia and New Zealand. Presented as a single complete story given in a serial with 20 episodes, there are cliffhangers between some of the episodes.... Dr Mike Newman in The Young Doctors The Young Doctors The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...

Peter Bensley (born 6 February 1954 in Warialda, New South Wales, Australia) was an Australian "pin-up" actor of the 1980s.

One of Bensley's earliest roles was as Dennis Braithwaite on the Seven Network

Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

 drama series Class Of '74. He also appeared in ABC Television

ABC Television

ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....

 children's show, Waterloo Street, with long hair.

Bensley then went on to appear in such soap operas as The Restless Years

The Restless Years

The Restless Years is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and young adults. It was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for Network Ten. It debuted December 1977 and ran until late 1981. It was not renewed by the network due to declining ratings...

; The Young Doctors

The Young Doctors

The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...

, in which he played Dr. Mike Newman from 1980 until the show finished in 1982; Prisoner

Prisoner (TV series)

Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...

, in which he played one of the three male prisoners, Matt Delaney, for 34 episodes; Neighbours

Neighbours

Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...

; and Home and Away

Home and Away

Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

. In 2009, he returned to Neighbours for a two-episode guest role as Dean Naughton.

In the 1980s, Bensley appeared as a nude centrefold in the magazine, Cleo, wearing only strategically placed scuba gear; and also featured in a cheeky advertisement for Palmolive Gold, in which he is seen in bed with fellow The Young Doctors actress Judy McBurney

Judy McBurney

Judy McBurney is an Australian actress famous in several television soap opera roles.In 1974 McBurney was cast in the role of key new character Marilyn McDonald in Number 96 but before any of her scenes had gone to air and with about 30 scenes in the can she had to withdraw from the role due to...

, and semi-naked in a shower.

In 1983, he played the title role of Stanley in the film "Stanley; Every Home Should Have One".

In 1992, Bensley appeared as Dr. John Austin in the Australian mini-series The New Adventures of Black Beauty.

In 1995, Bensley appeared in the Australian / New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 co-production Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror (TV series)

Mirror, Mirror is a television programme co-produced by Australia and New Zealand. Presented as a single complete story given in a serial with 20 episodes, there are cliffhangers between some of the episodes....

, as "Andrew Teigan", the father of "Jo Teigan".

Bensley also appeared in the long-running television series Water Rats

Water Rats (TV series)

Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based around the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fight crime across Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney...

about the Sydney Harbour Water Police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 Squad, in which he had the major role of Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker. Bensley was a member of the cast of Water Rats for the entire series (1996–2001).

His first fiction book, "On a Wing and a Prayer", was published in 2006.

More recent acting roles have included appearances in popular comedy Packed to the Rafters

Packed to the Rafters

Packed to the Rafters is an Australian family-orientated television series which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The drama series features a mix of lighthearted comedy woven through the plot. It revolves around the Rafter family facing work pressures and...

Bensley and his partner have 3 children, and currently live on Sydney's northern beaches.

External links

• Peter Bensley – "The Young Doctors"
• Peter Bensley – "Water Rats"
• Peter Bensley – "Water Rats"
• http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Authors/Default.aspx?Page=Author&ID=Bensley,%20Peter – "author page at Random House publishers"