Ken Wayne (1925–1993) was an Australian actor of radio, theatre, film and television.

Career

Wayne made his film debut in ''

Sons of Matthew ''Sons of Matthew'' is a 1949 Australian film directed and produced and co-written by Charles Chauvel (filmmaker), Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia, and the studio sequences in Sydney. ''Sons of Matt ...

'' (1949) and appeared in a number of movies including '' Dust in the Sun'' (1958). Wayne had a featured role as a submarine officer using an American accent in 1959's '' On the Beach'' filmed in Melbourne. He also worked in radio, and was best known for his role as private eye Larry Kent in the series ''I Hate Crime''. Wayne auditioned for the part of Larry Kent, after the first choice for the lead felt through. He played him for all three seasons. According to colleague and friend Charles Tingwell, being so identified with Larry Kent hurt Wayne from being cast in other roles. Wayne relocated to Britain in the early 1960s where he worked in London for 13 years, appearing in series such as '' The Saint'', ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV (TV network), ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' ...

'', ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 ...

'' and ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''. He returned to Australia in 1972 to become a regular guest artist on television movies and series,'Larry Kent Comes Home', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Thursday, 28 December 1972 p4 including the miniseries '' Serpent in the Rainbow'' (1973) and '' Power Without Glory'' (1976), police procedural series ''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'' and ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for The 0-10 Network (now known as Network 10) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Ma ...

'', sitcom '' Doctor Down Under'' and soap operas ''

Punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

'', ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...

'' and '' E Street'', continuing to act until the early 1990s. He also had a minor role as a bartender in the 1989 American film ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...

'', which was filmed in Australia. On stage in Australia, Wayne appeared in productions of '' These Positions Vacant'' (1945), ''Get a Load of This'' (1945), '' Ah, Wilderness!'' (1948), ''

The Big Knife ''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 American melodrama film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod S ...

'' (1957), ''

Curly on the Rack Curly is a surname, given name, nickname or stage name. It may refer to: First name, nickname or stage name * Crazy Horse (1840–1877), Oglala Sioux war chief nicknamed "Curly" * Curly (scout), nickname of Ashishishe (1923), Crow Indian scout ...

'' (1958) and ''

That Championship Season ''That Championship Season'' is a 1972 play by Jason Miller. It was the recipient of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1973 Tony Award for Best Play. Plot synopsis The setting is 1972 at the Coach's home in Scranton, Pennsylvania. ...

'' (1974). His stage credits in the UK included ''Happy as a King'' (1953), ''Licence to Murder'' (1963), '' Twelve Angry Men'' (1963–1964) and '' The Odd Couple'' (1966–1967).

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Radio (partial)

References

External links

Ken Wayne
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

*
Cuttings on Ken Wayne
at

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

Australian theatre credits
at

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayne, Ken 1925 births 1993 deaths Male actors from Sydney 20th-century Australian male actors Australian male film actors Australian male radio actors