Mark Leonard Winter is an Australian actor, known for performances in film, television and on stage.

Early life

Winter's family moved from Australia to

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, United States, when he was in grade ten. It was the freedom of his American school and new friends, that he credits with passion for the arts and creative thinking. He states that he started to think a bit too creatively, so his parents sent him back to Australia to attend boarding school where he fell in love with English literature and theatre. Winter spent a year studying at Flinders University in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and then went on to study acting at

Victorian College of Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

Career

His screen roles include ''

Balibo Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the subdistrict of Balibo, Bobonaro District. It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 per cent of the town was destroyed during t ...

'' (2009), ''

Blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible fo ...

'' (2010), ''

Dangerous Remedy ''Dangerous Remedy'' is an Australian historical drama and crime thriller telemovie, which was broadcast on ABC1 on 4 November 2012. It depicts real life Scottish-born doctor, Bertram Wainer (Jeremy Sims) as he strives for abortion law reform ...

'' (2012), ''

Healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

'' (2014), ''

One Eyed Girl ''One Eyed Girl'' is a 2015 Australian psychological thriller film directed by Nick Remy Matthews and starring Mark Leonard Winter, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Steve Le Marquand. Winter plays a troubled psychiatrist who joins a cult after one of ...

'' (2015), ''The Dressmaker'' alongside Kate Winslet, and ''Little Tornadoes'' (2020). Winter starred in the 2020 thriller film ''

Escape from Pretoria ''Escape from Pretoria'' is a 2020 Australian prison film co-written and directed by Francis Annan, based on the real-life prison escape by three political prisoners in South Africa in 1979, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber. It is ba ...

'', which was filmed in Adelaide in March 2019. On stage, he has performed major roles with leading Australian theatre companies, including the Sydney Theatre Company and the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

. Winter is one of the founding members of Black Lung, an independent theatre company. In 2015, Winter starred in the

's production of

Simon Stephens Simon Stephens (born 6 February 1971) is an English playwright and Professor of Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having taught on the Young Writers' Programme at the Royal Court Theatre for many years, he is now an Artistic ...

' ''Birdland''. for which he won Best Male Actor at the Helpmann Awards. Winter directed Jason Alexander in an American production of ''The Blind Date Project'', which he helped to devise. In the TV series ''

Pine Gap Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and sinc ...

'' (2018) he played a technical

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

on the

autism spectrum The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, Moses Dreyfus. Winter was nominated for an

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

for his performance in 2020's TV mini-series, ''Halifax: Retribution''. Following that, Winter played Callum on the TV mini-series ''Inside'', then Russell in the TV series ''

The Newsreader ''The Newsreader'' is an Australian television drama series created by Michael Lucas, broadcast on ABC. The six-part series, exploring the personal and professional lives of journalists and crew within a 1980s Australian newsroom, premiered on ...

'' in 2021. In 2021 he also played Joel Welch, a

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...

addict in episode 3 of the ABC TV series ''

Fires 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 are pr ...

''.

Recognition

* 2017

Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship The Myer Foundation is a major Australian philanthropic organisation. History The Sidney Myer Charitable Trust was established by the will of Sidney Myer, who died in 1934, leaving a portion of his estate for the benefit of the community. Myer' ...

: Recognising Outstanding Talent for mid-career artists * 2017

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

Nomination: Best Male Actor for ''Miss Julie'' (

) * 2016 Helpmann Award Winner: Best Male Actor for ''Birdland'' (

) * 2016 Helpmann Award Winner: Best Male Supporting Actor for ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' ( Sydney Theatre Company) * 2015

Nomination: Best Male Actor for ''Birdland'' (

) * 2015 Madrid International Film Festival Award Nomination: Best Lead Actor for ''One Eyed Girl'' (Projector Films) * 2014 21st Annual Austin Film Festival: Dark Matters, Jury Award for ''One Eyed Girl'' (Projector Films) * 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards Nomination: Best Leading Actor for ''Thyestes'' (Belvoir Street Theatre) * 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards Nomination: Best New Australian Work for ''Thyestes'' (Belvoir Street Theatre) * 2010

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

Nomination: Best Actor for Thyestes (

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. A ...

) * 2010

Winner: Best Production, Best Adaption, Best Ensemble for ''Thyestes'' (

) * 2009

Nomination: Best Show for ''3 x Sisters'' (The Hayloft Project)

Other

In November 2018, Winter gave evidence against his co-star in ''King Lear'',

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...

, in Rush's defamation lawsuit against the '' Daily Telegraph''. Winter is married to actress and singer, Geraldine Hakewill; they first met in 2011, occasionally crossing paths until they became a couple in 2017, and married in December 2021. They have co-starred in the 2020 psychodrama ''

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media * ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012 *Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo * ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton ** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...

''. Winter is a big fan of movies from the 1970s, and loves the work of Robert De Niro and

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Mark Leonard 21st-century Australian male actors Helpmann Award winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian male film actors Australian male stage actors Australian film directors Australian male television actors