Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in '' Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), ''

Police Rescue ''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC and Southern Star Entertainment, Southern ...

'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), '' Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33, 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinar ...

'' (as

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

), '' Stingers'' (as DI Luke Harris) and '' House Husbands'' (as Lewis Crabb).

Early life

Sweet attended Brighton High School in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. He later obtained a teaching degree and took up drama while at Sturt Teachers' College.watch/transcripts/s1071337.htm The Larrikin Grows Up
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 17 June 2002]

Career

Sweet's first role was in low-budget horror film '' Nightmares (1980 film), Nightmares''. In the early 1980s, he became recognisable through the ongoing role of Leslie "Magpie" Maddern in the TV series '' The Sullivans''. In 1984, Sweet had his first major role as

in the miniseries ''

'', the story of the 1932–33

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

series between England and Australia. Early films included a lead role in the 1985 film '' An Indecent Obsession'', as well as a role in 1987's '' The Lighthorsemen''. From 1990 to 1996, Sweet starred in a leading role in the TV drama series

as Sgt. Steve "Mickey" McClintock. This role led him to win several major television awards, including an AFI Award for Best Lead Actor in a TV Drama (in 1991 and 1992), the Variety Club Heart Award for TV Actor of the Year (1993), and a ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

'' Silver Logie Award for Most Popular Actor and Most Outstanding Actor (1994). Sweet starred in '' Big Sky'', and '' Dog's Head Bay''. He took a continuing role in the police drama series '' Stingers'' until the show's conclusion in 2004. Other prominent television roles have included '' The Circuit'', ''

Rain Shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

'' and police drama '' Cops L.A.C.''. In 2008, he narrated the documentary series '' Sudden Impact''. From 2012 to 2017 Sweet had a leading role in the drama/comedy '' House Husbands''. Notable film roles have included '' The Tracker'', '' Alexandra's Project'' and ''

Gettin' Square ''Gettin' Square'' is a 2003 Comedy film, comedy Crime film, crime thriller film directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and written by Chris Nyst. An international co-production between Australia and the United Kingdom, it stars Sam Worthington, David ...

''. He appeared in the acclaimed independent drama film '' 2:37'', as well as in a modern-day imagining of ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', alongside Sam Worthington. Internationally, Sweet appeared in American studio film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' as Lord Drinian. He also featured in the miniseries '' The Pacific''. Sweet was a contestant on Season 5 of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' and made it to the final seven. His partner was dancer Eliza Campagna. Sweet has also appeared in several stage productions, including '' The Club'', and Tony McNamara's play ''The Recruit''. He has appeared in the

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

-tribute musical ''Oh, What a Night'', and in

Trevor Ashley Trevor Ashley is an Australian musical theatre actor, cabaret, and drag artist based in Sydney. He also has appeared on television in ''The Very Trevor Ashley Show''. Early life and education Ashley grew up in the south of Sydney and studied ...

's musical comedy ''Little Orphan trAshley'' with

Rhonda Burchmore Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer, most notable as an actress, recording artist and singer in musical theatre, she has appeared in numerous television shows and briefly ...

. On 29 October 2024, Sweet was named as part of the cast in the feature film ''Scoby.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcast

Other appearances

Theatre

Music

Sweet dabbled in the Australian music scene with limited success in the early 1990s. Sweet released a cover of

Billy Thorpe William Richard Thorpe AM (29 March 1946 – 28 February 2007) was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Iv ...

's "Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)" in 1994 through Polygram Records Australia. The single peaked at number 52 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, and spent seven weeks in the top 100.

Singles

Awards

Film Walk of Fame Ritz Cinema Sydney 022

Sweet has won several awards in his acting career, including two

Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...

s – one in 1982 for '' The Sullivans'' (Most Popular New Talent) and one in 1994 for ''

'' (Most Popular Actor). In 2011, Sweet was initiated into the Australian Film Walk of Fame on 13 March, as part of the closing night celebrations of the Australian Film Festival.

Awards

Controversy

In 2004, Sweet become the public face of "The Performance Pack Initiative", an information campaign for men with impotence problems from

Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

and Impotence Australia. Bans against direct advertising prescription medicines meant that Sweet was unable to directly mention the drug, Levitra, but this code was broken when Sweet mentioned Levitra on an Adelaide radio programme. The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's '' Media Watch'' reported that Sweet was being investigated by the

Therapeutic Goods Administration The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency of the Australian Government. As part of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the TGA regulates the safety, quality, efficacy and advertisi ...

for possible breach of advertising codes.

Personal life

Sweet is divorced from his third wife, television presenter and former

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

swimmer,

Johanna Griggs Johanna Leigh Griggs (born 17 October 1973) is an Australian television presenter and former competitive swimmer. She won a bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Griggs has been at the Seven Network since 1993 where she joined ...

. They have two sons. Sweet has two children from his second marriage, to Jill Miller. Following in his father's footsteps, Frank Sweet is also an actor. Sweet's first marriage was to actress Lenore Smith. Gary Sweet is an ambassador and ex player for the Glenelg Tigers, an

Australian rules football 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club who play in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

.Glenelg Football Club Ambassadors
He is also a supporter of the

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

club who play in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

References

External links

* * ''The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia – Theatre . Film . Radio . Television – Volume 1'' – Ann Atkinson, Linsay Knight, Margaret McPhee – Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., 1996 * ''The Australian Film and Television Companion'' – compiled by Tony Harrison – Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, Gary 1957 births Living people AACTA Award winners Australian male film actors Australian male singers Australian male television actors Australian male stage actors Glenelg Football Club players Logie Award winners Male actors from Melbourne