John Harvie Morris (born 23 March 1963) is an Australian actor and film producer. He is best known for playing doctor Philip Matheson in the television soap opera '' Home & Away'' and Andrew MacKenzie, the first gay character in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

''.

Career

Before taking up acting as a career Morris was a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Morris joined the cast of soap opera ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

'' in June 1988 as Doctor Philip Matheson, the uncle of

Steven Matheson Steven Matheson is a fictional character from the Australian Seven Network, Channel Seven soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Adam Willits. Steven was created by Alan Bateman as one of the serial's original characters and he first appeared i ...

(

Adam Willits Adam Charles Willits (born 18 February 1972) is an Australian former actor, best known for being an original cast member of the television soap opera ''Home and Away'' as foster child Steven Matheson from 1988 to 1991. In 1995, Willits returned ...

). Morris was among 150 actors to audition for the role, and he was proud of himself for securing a major role as he had very little acting experience. Philip was intended to boost the show's "hunk value" for viewers between twenty and forty. Morris left after five months with the reason being given as the character not working out as well as planned. Philip was killed off and Morris said he was the "first long-established character" to be killed off. Morris was unaware of how popular he was until he received thousands of letters and messages from fans, and said that he would have asked for the door to be left open for a future return if he had known. In 1994, Morris joined the supporting cast of ''

'' for 12-weeks as Andrew MacKenzie, the show's first gay character. Morris made a last-minute appearance as Oliver Mellors in the stage adaptation of ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

''. In 2001 Morris played Donald J. Watt in ''The Singing Forest'', a

Julia Britton Julia Britton (27 June 1914 – 5 November 2012) was an Australian playwright. Britton was perhaps best known for her literary adaptations and biographical plays. Life Julia Britton was born Hilda Hartt in Romiley, Cheshire 27 June 1914, the d ...

play based on Watt's memoir ''Stoker'' about the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. He had recently been working as a rigger due to his acting work drying up.

Personal life

Morris is the brother of federal MP

Madeleine King Madeleine Mary Harvie King (née Morris; born 31 March 1973) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia in the Albanese government sin ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John 1963 births Living people Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Male actors from Perth, Western Australia