| John Howard | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 October 1952 Corowa, New South Wales, Australia |
John Howard (born 22 October 1952 in Corowa, New South Wales) is an Australian stage and screen actor.
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Career
Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, the Australian comedy film, The Crop and the television series SeaChange and Always Greener. He has just finished the regular role of Dr. Frank Campion in the Australian medical TV drama, All Saints which finished in October 2009. Overseas, he is best known as the villain Silverthorn from the The Girl From Tomorrow tv series, and as the villain Preston Preston in the film Young Einstein. He has also appeared in David Williamson's play, Dead White Males in the lead role of Dr Grant Swain.
Early in his career, he decided (partly in response to a recognised tendency for successful Australian actors to end up in England or the US) that he would only appear in Australian productions.[citation needed]
Name confusion
After the politician John Howard was elected Prime Minister of Australia in 1996, jokes about the coincidence entered Australian comedy - notably in an episode of the satirical television series The Games. Often characters in The Games had the same names as the actors playing them - Howard's episode mocked the Sydney Olympics when staff hired the actor (played by himself) as a stand in for the Prime Minister, as they supposed foreign dignitaries wouldn't know the difference.
John Howard the actor, identifying himself only as "John Howard", said "Sorry" to Indigenous Australians for their treatment by English settlers and their descendants. This was a direct comment on the repeated refusal of the then Prime Minister to make an apology on behalf of the Government of Australia.
The actor also appeared on the Australian "news channel" television show CNNNN (a mock 24 hour news channel comedy series) as a guest to discuss the Iraq war, being criticised by a presenter confusing him with John Howard the Prime Minister.
He is the subject of the song John Howard The Actor (an opening in protest) by Ross McLennan, ex-frontman of the band Snout, featuring the lyrics: My sympathies go out/Go out to John Howard the actor/His nomenclature/Messed up under history's tractor.[1]
Personal life
Howard is married to actress Kim Lewis and is the father of two children.[citation needed]
External links
References
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009) |
- ^ "Ross McLennan - Hits from the Brittle Building". Retrieved on August 10, 2009
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