Martin Kevin Vaughan (5 June 1931 – October 2022) was an Australian stage, television and film actor and musician. He is best known for appearing in the film

Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a champion New Zealand–bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as New Zealand's greatest racehorse ever. Achieving incredible success during his distinguished career, his initial u ...

as trainer Harry Telford and the lead role in the award-winning 26-part 1976 television miniseries '' Power Without Glory''.

Career

Vaughan was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, to a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

comedian father in 1931. Moving to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountai ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. at age 17, he was employed in a number of occupations including steam presser, tram conductor, postman, customs clerk and bassoon player. After taking theatre production classes, he landed his first stage role in 1963 when he was aged 32, and has never been out of work.''North Shore Times'', 24 July 2011
He moved into television in 1967. In 1975 he won the Hoyts Prize for Best Performance by an Actor at the AFI Awards, for his role of

Australian prime minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country Military history of Austra ...

ABC Television, ''Billy Hughes's Family Secret''
/ref> in '' Billy and Percy''. This was a tied result with Jack Thompson's role in '' Sunday Too Far Away''. His continuing interest in Billy Hughes led some years later to the revelation that Hughes's daughter Helen had died in childbirth in London; in 2004 he presented an ABC program on the story. His big break came in 1976, when he was chosen to play the lead role of John West in the ABC's 26-part television adaptation of

Frank Hardy Francis Joseph Hardy (21 March 1917 – 28 January 1994), published as Frank J. Hardy and also under the pseudonym Ross Franklyn, was an Australian novelist and writer. He is best known for his 1950 novel '' Power Without Glory'', and for his ...

's novel '' Power Without Glory''. In 1977 he won the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor for this role. He has since appeared in such television programs as '' The Dismissal'' (1983 miniseries; as Senator

Albert Field Albert Patrick Field (11 October 19101 July 1990) was an Australian Labor Party member. In 1975 he was chosen as a Senator in unusual circumstances that played a significant role in precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Goug ...

), '' Come In Spinner'' (1989–90 miniseries), '' Water Rats'', ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian Police procedural, police drama series that was produced by Endemol Australia, Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, ...

'', '' All Saints'', ''

The Flying Doctors ''The Flying Doctors'' is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. ...

'', ''

Heartbreak High ''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on the ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with s ...

'', '' Salem's Lot'' (2004 miniseries) and ''

headLand A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

''. His feature films include '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975)
''Letters from Poland'' (1978)
'' We of the Never Never'' (1982), ''Phar Lap'' (1983), '' The Man Who Sued God'' (2001) and ''

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

''. He has also appeared in over 60 stage plays.

Later years

Vaughan completed a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Film at the age of 63 at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. He was mainly retired, but occasionally agreed to take part in theatre roles that interested him, such as "Brian" in ''The Seed''. Vaughan died in October 2022, aged 91.

Award and nominations

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Martin 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Australian male actors Male actors from Sydney Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Australian classical bassoonists Best Actor AACTA Award winners Logie Award winners Musicians from Sydney