Jonathan Martin Biggins is an Australian actor, singer, writer, director, and comedian. He has appeared on film, stage and television as well as in satirical sketch comedy television programmes.

Early life and education

Jonathan Martin Biggins was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, and attended Newcastle Boys' High School in the mid-1970s. He said that it was "a fairly intimidating place to be if you weren't great at sports or maths. However once joined the debating team, and went on to win the state finals, things started looking up."

Career

Film

Biggins' film appearances include '' Thank God He Met Lizzie'', '' Gettin' Square'' and '' A Few Best Men''.

Television

His television appearances include '' The Dingo Principle'' and ''Three Men and a Baby Grand'', satirical sketch television comedy programmes (for which he was a writer/performer with Phillip Scott and Drew Forsythe). Jonathan has been seen on TV as a recurring guest panellist on '' Spicks and Specks''.

Hosting

Biggins has hosted the afternoon radio shift for Sydney's 702. He presented the art panel programme ''Critical Mass''. He hosted the ''New Year's Eve Gala Concert'' in 2010 at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

, and ''An Audience with Stephen Sondheim'' (nominated for a 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Special event). He has hosted the AFI Awards, APRA Awards,

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

, Parramatta Riverside's 20th Anniversary Gala, national and international conferences for AMP. He has also made appearances for KPMG, ICI, Commonwealth Bank, ABN-AMRO and the Art Gallery of NSW.

Stage

Biggins' has performed in numerous stage productions, as actor, singer, comedian and MC. Theatre credits include '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' (as John Worthing, replacing Geoffrey Rush), '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' and ''

Orpheus in the Underworld ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "op ...

''. He starred as

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

in ''Ying Tong'', a play about

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

and The Goons, which was an Australian-wide hit. He has appeared on stage consistently over the years with the

Wharf Revue The Wharf Revue is a series of musical comedy revues presented by the Sydney Theatre Company. Each show features four comedians – usually Jonathan Biggins, Phillip Scott (actor), Phillip Scott and Drew Forsythe, accompanied by a female performe ...

. He also performed in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas '' Ruddigore and

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''.Jonathan Biggins
on

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

Writing/directing

Biggins has directed the

since 2000. In 2004 Jonathan co-wrote and directed '' The Republic of Myopia'' for

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 ...

. He directed the Australian production of '' Avenue Q'' (2009–10). He also co-wrote, with Phillip Scott, some of the dialogue for '' The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular'', a stage musical based on the poem " The Man from Snowy River". He has written for the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' weekly magazine '' Good Weekend'', ''Australian Wine Selector'' and is the author of four books, including ''The 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective People''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Jonathan Biggins acting résumé
(2022). Lisa Mann Creative Management Pty. Ltd.

Theatre

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Year ! Nominated work ! Award ! Category ! Result , - , 2000 , Jonathan Biggins , Mo Awards , Male Comedy Performer of the Year , , - , 2010 , '' Avenue Q'' , Helpmann Award , Best Direction of a Musical , , - , 2021 , Jonathan Biggins , Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours , Service to the performing arts through theatre ,

Personal life

He is married to Australian actress Elaine Smith, best known as Daphne Clarke in the soap opera ''

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 ...

''. He and Smith have twin daughters born in February 2000.

References

External links

*
The Wharf Revue

Jonathan Biggins
– Supporting Newcastle and Hunter Talent
Jonathan Biggins
– The Wharf Revue – Queensland Musical Festival

– on ABC TV's ''Q&A'' – 26 February 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Biggins, Jonathan 1960 births Australian male comedians Australian male film actors Australian male musical theatre actors Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian operatic baritones Australian theatre directors Helpmann Award winners Living people People educated at Newcastle Boys' High School People from Newcastle, New South Wales Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni