John Wood (Australian actor)

John Wood (born 14 July 1946 in Melbourne) was a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor and writer, best known for his roles as Stipendiary Magistrate Michael Rafferty in the legal drama Rafferty's Rules and as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the long running police drama Blue Heelers, both for the Seven Network.

TV career

Wood began his acting career in 1967, attending NIDA and doing a play called Eh? directed by Max Gillies and co-starring Tony Taylor. In 1970 became a professional actor and work for the old Tote Theatre Company in Death of a Salesman co-stsrring Ben Gabriel and Ken Shorter. His first professional TV role was in Minus Five with Ken James and Rowena Wallace which went to air with the title Barrier Reef. A common misconception is that his first role was a guest role in Bellbird, an Australian television series. He then appeared in several Australian drama series and mini-series in minor roles. He played the co-lead role of Stokey in the ABC drama series The Truckies in 1978, writing an episode. John also wrote eleven episodes of the series Prisoner, and several episodes of Cop Shop. It wasn't until 1987 that John Wood became a well-known actor, taking the lead in Rafferty's Rules, as magistrate Michael Rafferty. Wood twice won a Logie for "Most Outstanding Actor" for his role in the show during its four seasons.

In 1993 Wood landed a leading role in Blue Heelers as Tom Croydon. This show became a big hit in Australia. As well as starring in the show, he also wrote several episodes. The show was finally cancelled in 2006, and Wood is one of only two actors (the other being Julie Nihill) to star in Blue Heelers from its beginning in 1993 to its end in 2006, although Wood is the only character to be seen in every single episode. Wood also wrote three episodes for the series.

Wood was a contestant in the 2004 edition of the Australian Dancing with the Stars. In 2007, Wood appeared on Channel Ten's tele-movie, Joanne Lees - Murder in the Outback, where he played barrister Grant Algie. He currently hosts Channel Nine's travel series Wine Me, Dine Me.

In 2009, Wood has appeared in the drama The Cut on ABC1, in the historical dramatised documentary Rogue Nation, also on ABC1, and in Channel Nine's drama-series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities playing Murray Farquhar.

In 2010, Wood had a recurring role in Offspring. In June 2011, it was announced that Wood had joined the cast of Neighbours for a six-month guest role as Martin Chambers.^[1] He made his first on screen appearance in September.^[1]

In 2012, he had a recurring role in The Doctor Blake Mysteries. In 2013, Wood had a guest role on It's a Date (TV series).

Notable television roles

• The Challenge (1986) as Alan Bond
• Rafferty's Rules (1987–1990) as Michael Rafferty
• Blue Heelers (1993–2006) as Tom Croydon
• Dancing with the Stars (2004) as contestant
• The Einstein Factor (2006 – 2009) as brains trust (panelist)
• Joanne Lees - Murder in the Outback (2007) as Grant Algie
• The Cut (2009) as Bill Telford
• Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (2009) as Murray Farquhar
• Rogue Nation (2009) as Governor Bligh
• Offspring (2010) as Gareth

Theatre

Wood is also an experienced stage actor. Notable roles include The Club, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, ART, Born Yesterday, The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, Chess (the musical), Love Letters, Blood Relations (1987), The Real Inspector Hound’’, Strange Bedfellow The Musical and Stephen Sewell's It Just Stopped (2006).

Awards

John Wood has won several TV Week Logie Awards over the years, and has also been nominated for several.

In 1988 and 1989, Wood received the TV Week Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Actor' for his work on Rafferty's Rules.^[2][3] In 2006, he was nominated in the same category for his role in Blue Heelers.

Wood was nominated for the Gold Logie for most popular personality on Australian television every year from 1997 to 2007. After nine consecutive Gold Logie nominations without a win, he was awarded the prize in 2006.^[4] He was nominated again in 2007.

Wood has won the 'Most Popular Actor' award twice (in 2005 and 2006) and been nominated another eight consecutive times (1996–2003) for his role in Blue Heelers.

References

External links

• John Wood on IMDb
• John Wood–Australian Broadcasting Corporation