Peter Carroll (actor)

Peter John Carroll (born 1944) is an Australian actor and the father of actress Tamsin Carroll.

Early life and education

Peter Carroll was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1944 and grew up in Greenwich on Sydney’s lower north shore. He was educated by the Marist Brothers during the 1950s. In his youth, Carroll was a boy soprano and won five awards in the City of Sydney Eisteddfodd in 1963.

Carroll attended the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts, and the University of New South Wales, where he earned a Master of Arts with Honours.Richard McGregor. (19 March 1982.
"Carrol fascinated by challenge of ''Suicide''"
''The Sydney Morning Herald''. While undertaking his education at the University of Sydney, he commenced amateur acting, After graduating, he worked as a drama teacher for two years.

Carroll later attended the Central School of London, where he studied Speech and Drama. He also has a Diploma in Education from Sydney.

Career

Carroll was part of a group of actors and directors who ushered in the new wave in Australian theatre. His first professional stage role was in a 1961 production of ''Roundup on the Moon'' at the Pocket Playhouse in Sydney. He gained early stage experience with regular performances at the Genesian Theatre, one of Sydney's longest established theatre companies. He then became an integral part of the formative days at Sydney's Nimrod Theatre Company.

Carroll has performed in numerous plays, including classics by Shakespeare, Sophocles, Euripides, George Bernard Shaw, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde, Ibsen, T. S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Schiller, Bertolt Brecht and Oliver Goldsmith, as well as works from Australian playwrights such as David Williamson, Ron Blair, Nick Enright, Patrick White and Peter Kenna. He has also taken on musical theatre including '' Les Miserables'', Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ''Cats'', '' Evita'' and ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (in which he played Pontius Pilate), and the title role in ''Sweeney Todd''. His signature role was in Ron Blair's one-man play '' The Christian Brothers'', having performed in the debut production at Nimrod Theatre in 1975, directed by John Bell. He has gone on to portray the role several times, winning a Mo Award for his performance in a 2001 Sydney Theatre Company production of the show.

Carroll has acted alongside his daughter Tamsin Carroll in several stage shows including ''Harbour'' and '' The Republic of Myopia'', for Sydney Theatre Company. They also appeared together in a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim’s ''Into the Woods'', with the Melbourne Theatre Company – collaborating on the play once more in 2023, for Belvoir. His most recent stage role was in a Sport for Jove production of ''The Player Kings: Shakespeare and Marlowe's History Cycle'' in 2025.

Carroll has also appeared in numerous television series, including period drama '' The Sullivans'' in 1982. Other credits that same year included ''Aliens'', ''Time Lapse'', ''Limbo City'', ''Issues'' and ''Learned Friends''. He then played Charlie Withers in the western series ''Five Mile Creek'', which featured Nicole Kidman in an early role. Carroll's daughter, Tamsin, also appeared in the series as an extra. His other notable credits include the miniseries '' Melba'' (1988) starring Hugo Weaving, in which he played David Mitchell, and ''Changi'' (2001). He also featured in ''Grass Roots'', playing the recurring role of Reverend Peter Summerhaze from 2000 to 2003.

Further miniseries credits include ''Ride on Stranger'' (1979), '' The Dismissal'' (1983), ''Cyclone Tracy'' (1986), ''Captain James Cook'' (1987), '' The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy'' (1988), '' Cassidy'' (1989) and '' The Farm'' (2001). He has also had guest roles in ''Cop Shop'', ''Rafferty's Rules'', '' Water Rats'', ''Farscape'', '' Tales of the South Seas'', '' Corridors of Power'', ''Rake'', '' Bloom'', ''The Letdown'', ''Bump'', '' Colin from Accounts'', ''Heartbreak High'' and ''Optics''.

More recently, Carroll played recurring roles in comedy series ''Aftertaste'' and ''The Moth'' (both in 2021).

Carroll has also appeared in many feature films including 1977 Peter Weir mystery drama '' The Last Wave'', 1978 Fred Schepisi drama ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'', 1978 newsroom drama ''Newsfront'' and 1980 children's film '' Fatty Finn'' (based on the classic 1930s comic strip) alongside Bryan Brown. He also featured in 1986 Robyn Nevin drama '' The More Things Change...'', 1990 romantic drama '' The Crossing'' (starring Russell Crowe in an early role) and 1998 British comedy ''Waking Ned''.

He continued acting in films throughout the 2000s, including 2000 drama '' A Wreck A Tangle'', and 2001 political drama ''Black and White'', opposite Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance and Ben Mendelsohn. Carroll voiced a character in the 2006 George Miller animated musical comedy ''Happy Feet'' opposite a Hollywood-strong cast including Nicole Kidman, before appearing in 2011 erotic drama ''Sleeping Beauty'' and 2018 romantic comedy-drama '' Crazy Rich Asians''. He most recently appeared in 2021 Academy Award-winning Jane Campion western '' The Power of the Dog'', alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst. He has also appeared in several made-for-television films including ''Hamlet'' and '' Spoiled'' (both 1974), ''Cass'' (1978), '' The John Sullivan Story'' (1979), ''Who Killed Baby Azaria?'' and '' A Descant for Gossips'' (both 1983), ''Australia's Faceless'' (1986), '' Doom Runners'' (1997) and ''The Diamond of Jeru'' (2001) as well as several short films. Carroll has also narrated several television films and documentaries.

Additionally, Carroll worked as a dialogue coach on the 1986 international hit comedy '' Crocodile Dundee'' starring Paul Hogan, and was also a voice coach on the 1995 film '' All Men Are Liars''.

Carroll was a member of Actors Equity of Australia and chaired the National Performance Conference and the Federal Actors’ Council. He also served as a board member for SBS television.

Honours

Carroll was honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the performing arts as an actor", in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.

In 2003, Carroll received an honorary Doctorate of Creative Awards from the University of Wollongong.

Awards

Theatre

Filmography

Film

As crew

Television

Narration (undated)

* ''Stations of the Cross''
* ''Pandas: The Fight for Survival''
* ''D.H. Lawrence''
* ''Pirates of the South Seas''
* ''Wollongong Colliery Dispute''
* ''Children in Distress''

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Peter
1944 births
Living people
Members of the Order of Australia
Australian male film actors
Australian male television actors
Helpmann Award winners
Male actors from Sydney