Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film '' Spider and Rose'' and the television series '' The Flying Doctors'', '' Secret Valley'' and ''

Love My Way ''Love My Way'' is an Australian television drama series. It won the AFI award for Best Television Drama Series for each of its three seasons (2004–2007). Premise Set in Sydney, ''Love My Way'' was about a group of 30-somethings dealing wit ...

''.

Early life

Cullen was born in

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a city in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the local government area of Dubbo Regional Council. The city is northwest o ...

in 1940, but when he was one year old his family moved to

Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas * ...

in the Blue Mountains. His brother was the actor Cul Cullen (1934–1982).

Career

He began his career as a painter and sculptor after training at Sydney's National Art School in 1956 and later studied at the

Julian Ashton Art School The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...

with

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibitio ...

in 1959. His works have been exhibited regularly in solo and in group exhibitions and he has worked as an illustrator, cartoonist and layout artist on several magazines and newspapers. Cullen was also a regular arts reporter on the ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sund ...

'' current affairs television program. He has also worked as a professional and motivational speaker. Since 2007 Cullen has also been performing "Lawson", a one-man show based on the life of Australian poet

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

.Lawson album websit
Lawson
Cullen had a role in the 2009 film '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' alongside fellow Australian actors

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

and Asher Keddie. He played "Owl Eyes" in the 2013 adaptation of ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

''.

Personal life

He has been married three times and has two daughters, one from each of his first two marriages. Formerly married to actress Colleen Fitzpatrick from 1973–1987, they have one daughter, actress Katharine Cullen born 9 June 1975 and one grandson William Richards born 17 August 2013.

Selected filmography

*''Nightwait'' (1966) - Milkbar customer *''

You Can't See 'round Corners ''You Can't See 'round Corners'' is a 1969 Australian drama film directed by David Cahill and starring Ken Shorter and Rowena Wallace. The film is a theatrical version of the 1967 TV show '' You Can't See 'Round Corners''. Both were based on t ...

'' (1969) - Peeper *''

Stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

'' (1971) - Rafaello Carboni *''

The Office Picnic ''The Office Picnic'' is a 1972 Australian comedy film directed by Tom Cowan. It was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival. Plot summary A group of public servants go on an annual picnic. Two of them, Peter and Elly, disappear ...

'' (1972) - Paddy *'' The Hotline'' (1974, TV Movie) *''

Sunday Too Far Away ''Sunday Too Far Away'' is a 1975 Australian drama film directed by Ken Hannam. It belongs to the Australian Film Renaissance or the "Australian New Wave", which occurred during that decade. The film is set on a sheep station in the Australian o ...

'' (1975) - Tim King *'' Summerfield'' (1977) - Jim Tate *'' Blue Fin'' (1978) - Pensioner *'' The Odd Angry Shot'' (1979) - Warrant Officer (uncredited) *''

My Brilliant Career ''My Brilliant Career'' is a 1901 novel written by Miles Franklin. It is the first of many novels by Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879–1954), one of the major Australian writers of her time. It was written while she was still a teenager, ...

'' (1979) - Mr. McSwatt *'' Dimboola'' (1979) - Mutton *'' Hard Knocks'' (1980) - Newman *'' Hoodwink'' (1981) - Factory clerk *'' Starstruck'' (1982) - Reg *'' Running on Empty'' (1982) - Rebel *''

Midnite Spares ''Midnite Spares'' is a 1983 Australian action film starring Gia Carides, James Laurie, Max Cullen, Graeme Blundell, Bruce Spence, David Argue and Jonathan Coleman. Plot Steve Hall (James Laurie) is a young sprintcar driver from Toowoomba wh ...

'' (1983) - Tomas *'' With Prejudice'' (1983) - Krawczyk *'' The Return of Captain Invincible'' (1983) - Italian Man *''Stanley: Every Home Should Have One'' (1984) - Berger *'' Charley's Web'' (1986, TV Movie) - Charley O'Keefe *''

Incident at Raven's Gate ''Incident at Raven's Gate'' (also released as ''Encounter at Raven's Gate'') is a 1988 science fiction arthouse feature film directed by prominent Australian director Rolf de Heer. The cast of ''Incident at Raven's Gate'' includes long-term Aus ...

'' (1988) - Taylor *''Boundaries of the Heart'' (1988) - Blanco White *'' Luigi's Ladies'' (1989) - Chef *''

Grim Pickings ''Grim Pickings'' is a 1989 Australian television miniseries. The miniseries was adapted from the 1987 Jennifer Rowe novel of the same name, the first in her Verity Birdwood series of murder mysteries. Plot Every winter, the Tender family make ...

'' (1989, TV Mini-Series) - Inspector Toby *'' Call Me Mr. Brown'' (1990) - Fibreglass Factory Foreman *''

The Returning ''The Returning'' is a 1990 Australia-New Zealand horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with tr ...

'' (1990) - Father Donohue *''As Happy as Larry'' (1991) - Bert *'' Garbo'' (1992) - Wal *'' Mad Bomber in Love'' (1992) - Sergeant Meggs *'' Greenkeeping'' (1992) - Tom *''

Shotgun Wedding A shotgun wedding is a wedding which is arranged in order to avoid embarrassment due to premarital sex which can possibly lead to an unintended pregnancy. The phrase is a primarily American colloquialism, termed as such based on a stereotypi ...

'' (1993) - Rev. Arthur Hickey *'' Lightning Jack'' (1994) - Bart *'' Spider and Rose'' (1994) - Jack *'' Rough Diamonds'' (1995) - Magistrate Roy *''

Billy's Holiday ''Billy's Holiday'' is a 1995 Australian musical film. Production Screenwriter Denis Whitburn had written a play called ''The Siege of Frank Sinatra'' in which Max Cullen had starred in its original 1980 production. During the production Cullen ...

'' (1995) - Billy Apples *'' Kiss or Kill'' (1997) - Stan *'' In a Savage Land'' (1999) - Douglas Stevens *''

The Nugget ''The Nugget'' is a 2002 Australian comedy film about three friends who find the world's largest nugget of gold. Storyline The story concerns a group of three road workers who stumble upon the world's biggest nugget of gold, and become instant ...

'' (2002) - Wally *'' Jindabyne'' (2006) - Terry *''

December Boys ''December Boys'' is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Rod Hardy and written by Marc Rosenberg and adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Michael Noonan. It was released on 14 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and the United ...

'' (2007) - Narrator / Adult Misty *''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

'' (2008) - Old Drunk *'' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009) - Travis Hudson *''Possession(s)'' (2009) - Paul *''Anyone You Want'' (2010) - Glen *'' Santa's Apprentice'' (2010) - Humphrey (English version, voice) *''

'' (2013) - Owl Eyes *'' Broke'' (2016) - Cec *'' Goldstone'' (2016) - Old Timer *'' Never Too Late'' (2020) - Hank *'' The Skin of Others'' (2020) - Henry Lawson

Awards

* 1984 Logie Award for Best Supporting Actor in ''The Last Bastion'' * 1986 Penguin Award for Best Performance by an Actor in ''The Flying Doctors'' * 1990 Sydney Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor in ''The Tempest'' * 1994 Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in ''Spider and Rose'' * 1994 AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in ''Spider and Rose' * 2005 AFI Television Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy in ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Max 1940 births Australian male film actors Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Best Supporting Actor AACTA Award winners Living people Logie Award winners Julian Ashton Art School alumni