Brian Wenzel

Brian Wenzel
Born Brian Thomas Wenzel
(1929-05-24) 24 May 1929
Adelaide, South Australia
Known for

Brian Thomas Wenzel (born 24 May 1929 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian Logie Award winning character actor and comedian. He has been in the entertainment business for 73 years, including circus, stage, television and film;(including made for TV movies and theatrical release films). However, he remains most famous for his long-running role as Frank Gilroy, an original character on television program A Country Practice. from its inception pilot in November 1981 until the series conclusion in 1993, the only original along with Shane Porteous to appear the duration of the series run, and at the time one of the longest roles on Australian television. He was a cast member of Rove McManus's show Rove Live in 2009.

Early life

Wenzel was born to Harold, a grocer who served with the RAAF and Kathleen Wenzel in 1929.[1] One of eight, he grew up in South Australia suburbs Mile End, Torrensvile and Thebarton. He had an unsettled early life and spent much of his childhood in remand homes run by various organizations including the Christian Brothers and the Salvation Army. Wenzel ran away several times. At age 14, he joined the circus as a pony groom and dog trainer. His first performance in an acting role came at the age of 17 when he appeared in a comedy stage play. He started acting professionally in 1945.

Professional career

Television

Wenzel appeared in the drama series Division 4, Matlock Police, Homicide, The Young Doctors, Cop Shop and Certain Women. It was the role in the latter that won him the part of policeman Sgt. Frank Gilroy in A Country Practice. Wenzel was an original cast member in the show and remained along with Shane Porteous through the entire series. Wenzel won a Silver Logie for his part of Frank Gilroy in the series.

Wenzel became very popular with the NSW Police due to his role as Sgt. Gilroy, and was once presented with a leather police jacket from former commissioner John Avery as the fictional country town of Wandin Valley was in New South Wales.

Film

He has appeared in many Australian films including Alison's Birthday and The Odd Angry Shot.

Theatre

He appeared in the David Williamson play Travelling North in 2000. Wenzel also appeared in a guest role on the soap Neighbours. He appeared in Marshall Law in 2002, his most recent appearance is in John Doe: Vigilante.

Controversy

In 2009 Wenzel appeared in a TV advert in the role for a sexual dysfunction therapy.[2] His Sgt. Gilroy (now 80 years old), arrives to save the day when a newlywed wife complains about her husband "speeding" in the sack – and then prosecutes him in court. This advert created much controversy[3] and Wenzel was featured on A Current Affair, defending the advert and stating that he was "an actor and this is what I do" and being thrown into the spotlight after almost 20 years out of it. In May, he appeared on a spoof of the ad that was aired on Rove Live.

Wenzel remains active in the industry, appearing in television adverts, and in cameos in television and film. His A Country Practice co-star, Gold Logie award-winning icon Lorrae Desmond, who played his wife previously Shirley Dean, however, has now retired from the entertainment industry.

A Country Practice re-boot

Wenzel, as well as Shane Porteous and Joyce Jacobs appeared in the first episode of A Country Practice in 1981 and stayed with the series until it ended in 1993. However after the series was cancelled by the Seven Network it was picked up by rival Network Ten for a single season in 1994, with a new setting and mostly new cast, though unlike Jacobs who stayed with the show, both Wenzel and Porteous did not reprise their roles in the reboot. As of 2018, he is the oldest surviving regular cast member of A Country Practice at 89 years old, following the death of co-star Jacobs.

Personal life

Wenzel has been married to his English-born wife Linda Wenzel for 59 years.

He is an Australia Day ambassador for the state of Victoria, and a lifelong supporter of the Carlton Football Club.

References

1 "Country Practice cop patrols bedrooms in weirdest role". Archived from the original on 10 March 2009.

  1. ↑ "Brian Wenzel, better known as Sgt Frank Gilroy, on his troubled childhood and a lifetime in showbiz".
  2. ↑ "AMI Bedroom Police Ad". YouTube.
  3. ↑ "Men's sexual health TV ad scrapped". WA Today.
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