Peter Phelps (born 20 September 1960 in Sydney) is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role as Trevor Cole in ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bo ...

''. Phelps is also known for his roles in the internationally successful Australian series '' Sons and Daughters'' and '' Stingers'' and has appeared in feature films including ''Blackwater Trail'' with

Judd Nelson Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in ''The Breakfast Club'', Alec Newbury in ''St. Elmo's Fire'', Joe Hunt in '' Billionaire Boys Club'', Nick Peretti in ''New Jack Cit ...

. He is the brother of Professor

Kerryn Phelps Kerryn Lyndel Phelps (born 14 December 1957) is an Australian medical practitioner, public health and civil rights advocate, medical educator and former politician. She was the first woman to be elected president of the Australian Medical Asso ...

Career

Phelps began his acting career in the early 1980s with an ongoing role in the Network Ten teen soap opera '' The Restless Years'' produced by the

Reg Grundy Organisation Reg Grundy Organisation (founded as Reg Grundy Enterprises, later known as both Reg Grundy Productions and Grundy Television and known informally as Grundy's) was an Australian-based multinational mass media company, primarily involved in tele ...

. After that series ended he had a starring role in new Grundy soap opera '' Sons and Daughters''. It was Phelps who came up with the "Pat the Rat" moniker in the series. In 1988 he had a brief role in the mini series '' The Dirtwater Dynasty''. Peter featured as David Eastwick, the first-born son of the main character Richard Eastwick, played by

Hugo Weaving Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English actor. Born in Colonial Nigeria to English parents, he has resided in Australia for the entirety of his career. He is the recipient of six Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts ...

(who is less than six months older than Phelps). From 1989–1990, he was one of the lifeguards ( Trevor Cole) in the first season of ''

'', and had a minor role in the film ''

Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", wher ...

''. He also had roles in '' A Country Practice'' and ''

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. ...

''. In 1993, Phelps won an Australian Film Institute Best Actor award for his role in the '' G.P.'' episode, "Exposed". From 1998 until 2004, he starred in '' Stingers'', a role that won him the 2002

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

for Most Popular Actor. Phelps also played a recurring role as doctor Doug "Spence" Spencer on the medical drama, '' All Saints'' starting 4 October 2005. In 2009, Phelps had a busy year. He appeared in two television dramas — '' Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities'' playing detective inspector Joe Messina; and as Vince Marchello (Station Co-ordinator) in '' Rescue: Special Ops''. Also in 2009, he also had a role as a police officer in the film '' Stone Bros.'' In 2009, he appeared in a new public awareness campaign by the

NSW Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the land area of New South ...

about the need to prepare for bushfires. This included television and radio advertisements. The campaign was subsequently adopted by the

Tasmania Fire Service The Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) is the Tasmanian Government agency responsible for fire suppression and control for the state of Tasmania and its surrounding islands. Established on 1 November 1979 as a result of enacting the ''Fire Service Act ...

Television work

* Kevin Ryan, '' The Restless Years'', Network 10 (Australia), 1977 * '' A Country Practice'', Seven Network (Australia), 1981 * John Palmer, '' Sons and Daughters'', Seven Network (Australia), 1981–1983 * Will Ballieu, ''The Challenge'', 1986 * ''

Butterfly Island ''Butterfly Island'' is a 1985 Australian children's show. The first season cost $1.6 million, the second $3.2 million.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 96 This was the first mainstream Australian TV show wh ...

'', ABC/Seven Network (Australia), 1987 *

Les Darcy James Leslie Darcy (28 October 189524 May 1917) was an Australian boxer. He was a middleweight, but held the Australian Heavyweight Championship title at the same time. Les Darcy was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall ...

, ''Willesee's Australians'', 1987 * David Eastwick, '' The Dirtwater Dynasty'', 1988 * Appeared in episodes of ''

Rafferty's Rules ''Rafferty's Rules'' is an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1991 on the Seven Network. The producers of the series were Posie Graeme-Evans (1987–1988), and Denis Phelen. The directors were Graham Thorburn, Mike Smit ...

'', 1988 * Trevor Cole, ''

'': Panic at Malibu Pier (pilot), NBC, 1989 * Trevor Cole, ''

'', NBC, 1989–1990 * Hack "Kangaroo Kid" Wilkins, "The Exchange," ''

The Young Riders ''The Young Riders'' is an American western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders (some of whom are young versions of legendary figures in Old West history) based at ...

'', ABC (U.S.), 1991 * Phil North, ''

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 ...

'', Network 10/ABC (Australia) * Dennis Taylor, ''

'' (also known as R.F.D.S.), Nine Network * Station Officer Nick 'The Boss' Connor, ''

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 a ...

'', Seven Network (Australia), 1995 * Alex Willis, ''

Police Rescue ''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by ABC and Southern Star Xanadu in association with the BBC. Apart from the 61 episodes, there was a 90-minute pi ...

'', ABC (Australia), 1995 * Abo Henry, '' Blue Murder'', ABC (Australia), 1995 * Jimmy Formica, '' Water Rats'', Nine Network (Australia), 1998 * Peter Church (Mike Fischer), '' Stingers'', Nine Network (Australia), 1998-2004 * Himself, ''Inside the Arena'', 2000 * Detective Inspector Joe Messina, '' Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities'', 2009 * Station Coordinator Vince Marchello, '' Rescue: Special Ops'', 2009 * Himself in guest appearance, '' The Joy of Sets'', Nine Network, 2011 * Alan Henderson, '' Home and Away'', Seven Network (Australia), 2012 * Paul Craven, ''

Mr & Mrs Murder ''Mr & Mrs Murder'' is a 13-part Australian crime comedy television series produced by FremantleMedia Australia in association with Bravado Productions. It originally ran on Network Ten on from 20 February to 15 May 2013. The murder mystery ser ...

'', Ten Network (Australia), 2013 * Warwick Wilcox, '' Wonderland'', 2013 * Mal Dwyer, '' Old School'', ABC (Australia), 2014 * Gary Morrow, '' Home and Away'', Seven Network (Australia), 2022

Film

* Theo, ''

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...

'', 1983 * Judah/Robert, ''

Playing Beatie Bow ''Playing Beatie Bow'' is a popular Australian children's novel, written by Ruth Park and first published on 31 January 1980. It features a time slip in Sydney, Australia. Plot summary Lynette Kirk has been a happy child, cheery about her paren ...

'', South Australian Film Corporation, 1986 * Eddie, '' Rock 'N' Roll Cowboys'', 1987 * Dave Mitchell, '' The Lighthorsemen'', 1987, Cinecom Pictures, 1988 * Patrick, ''Starlight Hotel'', 1987, Republic, 1988 * Ross Cameron, '' Breaking Loose'', Avalon Films, 1988 * Peter, ''Maya'', Trio Film, 1989 * Australian surfer, ''

'', Twentieth Century-Fox, 1991 * John Pope, ''Merlin'' (also known as ''Merlin: The True Story of Magic''), Hemdale Film Corporation, 1992 * Brian Petrie, ''The Feds: Betrayal'', Nine Network (Australia), 1993 * Dozer Brennan, ''Rough Diamonds'', Nine Network/Beyond Films/Film Australia/Film Queensland/Forest Home Films/Southern Star Entertainment, 1994 * Dr. Frank Jamison, ''Blackwater Trail'', Warnervision Entertainment, 1996 * Leo Megaw, ''Zone 39'', Phaedra Cinema, 1996 * Mick Webb, ''One Way Ticket'', 1997 * Presenter, ''Fire and Ice—The Many Moods of Thredbo and the Snowys'' (documentary), 1999 * Patrick Phelan, ''

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in ...

'', Palace Films, 2001 * Rod, ''

Teesh and Trude ''Teesh and Trude'' is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by New Zealander Melanie Rodriga, and was adapted from an original stage-play by Wilson McCaskill. The film was produced and shot entirely in Western Australia with Production Investmen ...

'', 2002 * Constable Lonigan, ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

'', 2003 * Jake, '' The Square'', 2008 * Mark, '' Stone Bros.'', 2009 * Skipper Joe, '' Caught Inside'', 2010

Awards and nominations

Stage appearances

Productions of: * '' The Club'' * ''Miranda'' by Stephen Sewell * ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...

'' * '' The Sum of Us'' * '' Rwelve Angry Men''

Writings

* Books: **''Sex without Madonna: The True Confessions of a Hired Gun in Tinseltown'' (autobiography), Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia, 1994 **''The Bulldog Track: A grandson's story of an ordinary man's war and survival on the other Kokoda trail'', Hachette Australia, 2018 * Contributor to magazines: including '' Harper's Bazaar''.

References

External links

* *
Peter Phelps at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Peter 1960 births Living people AACTA Award winners Australian Anglicans Australian male film actors Australian male soap opera actors Australian people of English descent Australian people of Scottish descent Australian people of Swedish descent Logie Award winners Musicians from Sydney Male actors from Sydney