Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was an Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

voice. He is best remembered for his role in the long-running Australian police procedural drama ''

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 ...

'' as David "Mac" MacKay. As a professional actor he adopted Teale – a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

of his birth surname, Thiele – as a

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Biography

Early life

Leonard George Thiele was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, to Maude Henrietta Thiele, née Rasmussen, and Herman Albert Thiele, a chemist. He attended Milton State Primary School and

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

(1934–38) on a scholarship. However, the family's financial situation during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

forced Leonard to leave school and enter the workforce. He worked as a junior clerk for Brisbane City Council's Electricity Supply Department. In his spare time, he took up amateur drama, with local repertory groups. From the age of 17, he augmented these activities with a role as a part-time radio announcer, after successfully auditioning at the

Australian Broadcasting Commission 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 a ...

(ABC) in Brisbane.

Military service

Following the outbreak of World War II, Thiele joined the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

and served as a signaller. Interested in becoming a pilot, he transferred to the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) on 10 October 1942. He graduated from flying school the following year and was commissioned as officer. In 1944, Thiele was posted to the Mediterranean theatre, where he served with No. 458 Squadron RAAF, a maritime patrol/ strike unit, flying

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...

s, from bases at

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

, Italy, and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in September 1945 and was discharged on 16 January 1946, after returning to Australia.

Radio serials

Thiele's career as a professional actor commenced in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in radio serials; his roles included that of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

. Thiele was a co-compère of the radio ABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in its ''

Muddle-Headed Wombat The Muddle-Headed Wombat is a fictional wombat featured in the radio serials and later in the children's books of the same name written by Australian author Ruth Park. The books are considered classics of Australian children's literature. Histor ...

'' serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons. At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele" professionally. He also made regular appearances in radio variety programs such as the ''Bonnington's Bunkhouse Show'', and voiceovers in countless commercials.

PACT Pact, The Pact or PACT may refer to: Entertainment * The Pact (novel), ''The Pact'' (novel), by Jodi Picoult, 1998 * The Pact (2002 film), ''The Pact'' (2002 film), adaptation of Picoult's ''The Pact (novel)#Film adaptation, The Pact'' * The Pac ...

His talent was nurtured and developed at the Producers Authors Composers and Talent (PACT) Centre, which was founded in 1964.

Films

He appeared in several feature films, including ''

Smiley A smiley, sometimes called a smiley face, is a basic ideogram representing a Smile, smiling face. Since the 1950s, it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram or as a form of communication, such as em ...

'', '' Smiley Gets a Gun'' and '' Bungala Boys''. In the early 1950s, with Raymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, Thiele helped form the short-lived Australian Cultural Defence Movement, aimed at protecting local arts and crafts production from the perceived inroads being made by imported content, particularly from the US. However, the movement faltered after becoming a target of anti-communist activists, (His brother, Neville Thiele, was also targeted, for participating in left-wing theatre.)

TV presenter and actor

Major television roles included a regular comedic role in the ''Mobil-Limb Show'', host roles in variety programs ''Singalong'' and '' Folkmoot'', and acting roles in locally produced drama series including '' Whiplash'', '' The Hungry Ones'', '' Adventure Unlimited '', ''Split Level'' and '' Consider Your Verdict''. He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay in ''

'' from 1965 to 1973. ''Homicide'' was Australia's first-ever locally produced TV police drama. Teale won a Logie for best Australian actor in 1974. He also hosted a documentary about the series, ''The Homicide Story'', in 1970. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott in '' Seven Little Australians'' (1973), and headmaster Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap opera '' Class of '74'' (1974–75).

Narrator

Teale narrated for ABC audio recordings, including the Banjo Paterson poem '' The Man from Snowy River'', and a spoken-word version of the Led Zeppelin song "

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

" on ABC-TV's '' The Money or the Gun''. His reading of Dorothea Mackellar's poem " My Country", which included the lines "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" was so widely played in Australia during the 1970s that it was also frequently parodied.

Awards & honours

Personal life

Married three times, Leonard Teale had four children, Amanda, Juli, Jennifer and Melinda. He married his third wife, entertainer Liz Harris in 1968; Harris had appeared in three episodes of ''Homicide''. Leonard Teale died of a heart attack in 1994. A documentary, ''Homicide: 30 Years On'', aired later that year which included reminiscences from former ''Homicide'' castmates and footage of an appearance made by himself and ''Homicide'' actors George Mallaby and

Alwyn Kurts Alwyn Cecil Kurts (28 October 1915 – 4 May 2000) was an Australian drama and comedy actor of radio, television and film, best remembered for his role as gruff Inspector Colin Fox in the TV series ''Homicide''. Biography Kurts' father, Donal ...

in 1992 presenting a

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 ...

for Most Outstanding Series partially in character (with hilarious results).

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

Theatre

Discography

*Leonard Teale ''The Man From Snowy River - Leonard Teale Reading Bush Ballads By A. B. (Banjo) Paterson'' LP, CBS 1956 *Leonard Thiele ''Henry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Thiele - When Your Pants Begin To Go'' LP, Festival Records 1957 *Bruce Finlay, Leonard Teale & Jim Gussey ''Seven Cities Suite'' LP, His Master's Voice 1960 *Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom ''Songs Of The Sundowners'' LP, CBS 1964 *Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom ''Travelling Down The Castlereagh'' LP, CBS 1965 *Leonard Teale ''Henry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Teale - His Life Story In His Own Verse'' LP, CBS 1965 *Leonard Teale ''The Australiana Collection - Australian Verse Read By Leonard Teale'' LP, CBS 1980 *Leonard Teale ''My Country - Traditional Australian Verse'' LP, CBS 1988 *Leonard Teale ''Henry Lawson's Australia'' CD, CBS 1988 *Leonard Teale: ''Leonard Teale's Australia'' CD, Sony Australia 1994 *Peter Sullivan, Frank Strangio, Noel Watson & Leonard Teale ''Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River'' CD, PolyGram 1995 *Leonard Teale: ''Famous Australian Poems'' 2011*Leonard Teale ''My Country (Australian Verse Selected And Read By Leonard Teale)'' LP, Pacific *Leonard Teale ''Henry Lawson's Australia Spoken By Leonard Teale'' LP, CBS *Leonard Teale, Chips Rafferty, Kevin Brennan, Tex Morton and The Bush Music Club ’‘Songs & Poems Of Australia: Henry Lawson, John O'Brien, Adam Lindsay *Gordon, C. J. Dennis'' LP, Festival Custom Recording

References

External links

*
Photo of Leonard Teale in an article about "Homicide"
at

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

Interview with Leonard Teale
at ''Classic Australian Television'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Teale, Leonard 1922 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Australian male actors Australian male radio actors Australian radio personalities Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Logie Award winners Male actors from Brisbane Officers of the Order of Australia Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Australian World War II pilots People educated at Brisbane Grammar School Australian World War II bomber pilots