John McTernan is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

actor, known for several theatre and television roles.

Biography

Early life

A former sailor, McTernan started acting when he came to Australia from the United States in 1968. His thirty year-plus career in theatre, television and film began with training and then performing at the

Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales. History It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...

in Sydney.

Theatre

McTernan's first job was singing and dancing in cabaret shows. One of his earliest professional jobs was in a vocal comedy act with friend Timothy Bean, both writing and performing their material. McTernan has appeared with all the major theatre companies. He has appeared in several productions at

including ''Lovers'', ''The Comedians'', ''Boy Meets Girl'', ''6 Rms Riv Vu'', ''Sonny'' and ''Same Difference'', and most recently ''Wrong Turn at Lungfish'' in 2008. His work at 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 ...

includes '' Born Yesterday'', ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'', ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'', ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. The origin of the term is the medieval Order of Assassins, a sect of Shia Islam 1090–1275 CE. Assassin, or variants, may also refer to: Fictional characters * Assassin, in the Japanese adult ...

'', ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mo ...

'', '' The Real Thing'', '' Serious Money'', ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

'', ''

Art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

'', ''

Take Me Out A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

'' and '' Boy Gets Girl''. Plays for Nimrod Theatre Company include ''Young Mo'', ''

Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...

'', ''Inside the Island'', '' The Orestia'', ''Clouds'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', '' Henry IV'' and ''

Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farce, farcical Shakespearean comedy, comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addit ...

''. He appeared in the following

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...

productions: '' The Sunny South'', ''

The Venetian Twins ''The Venetian Twins'' (, or "The two Venetian twins") is a 1747 play by Carlo Goldoni, based on Plautus's ''Menaechmi''. It was performed by Il Teatro Stabile of Genoa at the 1965 Edinburgh International Festival, directed by Luigi Squarzina ...

'', ''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' () is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than the baby's wealthy b ...

''. Work for other theatre companies included ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'', '' Oleanna'', '' What Did We Do Wrong?'' among others. McTernan is also well known for his work in music theatre with major stage roles in '' Grease'', ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

'', ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'', ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'', '' The History of Australia'', ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice mu ...

'', '' Shout'', ''

'', and ''

''. Also for

The Production Company The Production Company was an Australian not-for-profit theatre company that staged a series of usually three musicals at the Arts Centre Melbourne each year. It was launched in 1999 by Jeanne Pratt AC with the goal of providing "professional o ...

in Melbourne: ''She Loves Me'', ''

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying''.

Film and TV roles

His work in film includes: ''The Brown Out Murders'', the ABC feature ''Fuzzy'', ''The Understudy'' and ''Evil Never Dies''. He is known to television audiences for roles in popular Australian drama series and soap operas. Long running series roles include: ''

Cop Shop ''Cop Shop'' is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes. Synopsis The show revolved arou ...

'' and '' G.P.'', for which he won

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. He played a gay man later revealed as a psychopathic blackmailer in soap opera '' Number 96'' in 1977, and played a prison teacher in ''

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 or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

'' in 1986. He played Lee Gordon in the miniseries '' Shout! The Story of Johnny O'Keefe'' Other television roles include ''

City Homicide ''City Homicide'' is an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 and 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne. The main charact ...

'', '' All Saints'', ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...

'', '' Stingers'', '' Something in the Air'' and '' Scooter: Secret Agent''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

McTernan won the 'Best Lead Actor' award in 1982 and 1983 at the

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

for his role in ''

''. For his role in '' G.P.'', he was nominated for Logies as Best Actor in 1990 and Outstanding Actor in 1991, and went on to win the Outstanding Actor award in 1992. He has also won a Green Room Award in 1987 for Best Supporting Actor as Feste in ''

'' for the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McTernan, John Australian people of American descent Australian male television actors Living people Logie Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)