Neville Anderson (born 18 July 1947) known professionally as Andy Anderson and also billed as Andy James, is a New Zealand musician and actor who worked a lot in Australia. As a musician he is best known as the lead singer of 1960s band

The Missing Links The Missing Links were an Australian garage rock, R&B, and protopunk group from Sydney who were active from 1964 to 1966. The group was known for wearing their hair long and smashing their equipment on-stage. Throughout the course of 1965, the ...

, and as an actor he is well known for his roles on both Australian and New Zealand television.

Music career

Anderson who was born in Naenae,

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most ...

, near Wellington performed in several well-known Australian rock bands of the 1960s, in 1965 he joined the second lineup of famed

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 Mounta ...

garage punk group

the Missing Links The Missing Links were an Australian garage rock, R&B, and protopunk group from Sydney who were active from 1964 to 1966. The group was known for wearing their hair long and smashing their equipment on-stage. Throughout the course of 1965, the ...

as lead vocalist, and he performed on the group's only album. After the demise of the Links, he moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and joined another radical punk-R&B outfit, Running Jumping Standing Still, which also included lead guitarist

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...

, who subsequently joined

the Masters Apprentices The Masters Apprentices (or The Masters to fans) were an Australian rock band fronted by Jim Keays on lead vocals, which originally formed as The Mustangs in 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria in February 1967 ...

. He sang with the avant-garde theatre group

Red Mole :''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany). The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and support ...

for a time. Anderson was well known for his outrageous stage performances but his wild lifestyle at the time took a heavy toll and in late 1966 he was hospitalised after suffering a brain haemorrhage onstage at Melbourne's Thumpin' Tum discothèque. After his recovery, Anderson formed two short-lived Melbourne bands, Andy James Asylum, followed by Mother Superior, before moving back to Sydney, where he joined the cast of the Australian production of Hair for a short time during 1970. This was followed by an 18-month stint with Sydney club band Southern Comfort, with co-vocalist Bobbi Marchini. In 2019 age 71 he was writing, and making music based in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, New Zealand.

Film and television

After moving overseas for some time (reputedly to evade a death threat made by a Sydney underworld figure) Anderson returned to Australia and began performing regularly on Australian TV from the mid-1970s, with appearances in ''

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-cla ...

'' (as Jim Sullivan), '' Gloss'' (as Matt Winter), ''

Prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

'' (as Rick Manning), ''

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

'' (as John Kennedy) and a starring role in the talking-dog sitcom ''

The Bob Morrison Show ''The Bob Morrison Show'' is an Australian sitcom that screened on the Nine Network in 1994. ''The Bob Morrison Show'' is the story of an ordinary family from through the eyes of their pet dog, Bob Morrison. Bob is an adorable stray that is welc ...

'' as Steve Morrison. Guest appearances on television include: ''

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. ...

'', ''

Halifax f.p. ''Halifax f.p.'' is an Australian television crime series produced by Nine Network from 1994 to 2002. The series stars Rebecca Gibney as Doctor Jane Halifax, a forensic psychiatrist investigating cases involving the mental state of suspects or ...

'', ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Water Rats'', '' All Saints'', ''

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, ...

'', ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' and '' Stingers''. He had a prominent featured role as detective Lochie Renford in the first season of the acclaimed ABC-TV police series '' Phoenix'' (1992–93). In 2012 he had a recurring featured role as Vince, the

minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

of drug lord Harry Montebello, in the ABC-TV crime drama series ''

The Straits ''The Straits'' is an Australian television drama series for ABC1 filmed in Cairns, the Torres Strait Islands and other Far North Queensland locations. The series is based on an idea by actor Aaron Fa'aoso and produced by Penny Chapman and He ...

''. On film, he is known for playing the role as John Livingston in the film '' Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'' and also starred in '' House of Wax'' and '' Tracker'' (2010).

Selected filmography

Music

Anderson returned to music in the 2000s, recording an album called ''If I'd Known I'd Live This Long...'', and he participated in a reunion of Southern Comfort in Sydney in 2003.

Awards

2000 Australian Film Institute Awards- Best Performance by an Actor in a Tele-Feature or Mini-Series: ''Halifax f.p.- A Person of Interest'' 1982 Logie Awards (Australia) - Silver Logie for Best Supporting Actor in a Series: ''The Sullivans'' 2012 Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Awards (The Moas) - Best Actor - Short Film: for ''Honk If You're Horny'' 2013 Show Me Shorts Film Festival (New Zealand) - Best Actor: for ''Honk if You're Horny'' 2013 Best Actors Film Festival (United States) - Best Actor - Short Comedy: for ''Honk if You're Horny''

References

External links

*
Official website

AudioCulture profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Andy 1947 births AACTA Award winners Australian male film actors Australian male soap opera actors Living people Logie Award winners New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male soap opera actors New Zealand male television actors People from Lower Hutt New Zealand musicians Australian musicians New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian male actors 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century Australian male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors