Geoff Morrell (actor)

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Geoff Morrell
Born (1958-02-19) 19 February 1958 (age 66)
OccupationActor
Children2

Geoff Morrell (born 19 February 1958) is an Australian actor.

Career[edit]

Morrell began his career in theatre acting, becoming a founding member of the Theatre South organisation. In 1983, he briefly moved to England, featuring in a number of productions there.

In 1985, he branched into film acting, with a minor role in a telemovie version of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. Over the next few years, he moved between film and theatre, starring in productions such as Macbeth and King Lear, as well as several supporting roles in films, telemovies, miniseries and regular series. These included notable Australian films Blackrock and Oscar and Lucinda. He has had guest roles in the series The Secret Life of Us, Stingers and Farscape.

Morrell starred as Harry in Australia's first production of Michael Gow's play Away, which was performed by the Griffin Theatre Company and premiered at the Stables Theatre, Sydney on 7 January 1986.[1]

After filming Oscar and Lucinda, Morrell won the role of forensic scientist Lance Fisk in the series Murder Call, which screened from 1997 to 1999. In 2000, he won one of his most significant roles to date, as the protagonist of the ABC series Grass Roots. The series was not renewed after the 2001 season, and Morrell followed this with a major role in the ABC telemovie Marking Time, as the father of a boy in love with an asylum seeker.

Morrell won the 2000 AFI Award for Best Actor for Grass Roots, and has been nominated four times, for Fallen Angels (1997), Grass Roots 2nd series, Changi (2001) and Marking Time. He has been nominated for three silver Logies for Grass Roots (first and second series) and Changi (2001).

In 2004, Morrell made a move into the mainstream when he became one of four new actors to join the long-running police series Blue Heelers, on which he played Sergeant Mark Jacobs. In September 2004, there was speculation that the ABC would commission a third series of Grass Roots. However, Morrell stated that the ABC "may have missed its chance", and as he remained contracted to Blue Heelers, would likely not have been able to participate if the series did return. Due to family commitments, Morrell chose to leave Blue Heelers.

He has also been involved in the film Right Here Right Now. In 2010 Morrell made a return to ABC to star alongside Richard Roxburgh in the first series of Rake. Morrell played the role of Joe Sandilands, a fictional NSW Attorney-General involved in the inside wheeling and dealing of the NSW Labor. In 2015, he appeared as Inspector Clive Small, in the 2-part miniseries Catching Milat. He continues to act in both theatre and films. He appeared in the feature film Rogue, and Anthony Hayes' feature film debut Ten Empty. In 2010 he began work on the set of Cloudstreet, a television miniseries version of Tim Winton's novel. He plays the role of Lester Lamb.

Morrell has since appeared in numerous other productions including Catching Milat,[2] [3] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.[4] In 2023 Morrell was named as part of the cast in Foxtel drama High Country, and Stan series Thou Shalt Not Steal.[5]

In 2024, Morrell was named as part of the cast for the Liam Neeson led The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky.[6]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Type
1985 Lady Windemere’s Fan TV movie
1991 Strangers Frank Feature film
1992 Dusty Hearts Short film
The Girl Who Came Late (aka Daydream Believer) Feature film
1994 No Worries Ben Bell Feature film
1996 Mr. Reliable (aka My Entire Life) Feature film
1997 Blackrock Stewart Ackland Feature film
Oscar and Lucinda Charley Fig Feature film
1998 Never Tell Me Never
2000 Looking for Alibrandi Mr. Barton Feature film
2001 My Husband, My Killer TV movie
2003 Ned Kelly Robert Scott Feature film
2004 Go Big TV movie
Right Here Right Now
2005 Second Chance TV movie
2007 Curtin Ben Chifley TV movie
Lucky Miles Peter Coode Feature film
Rogue Allen Smith Feature film
2008 Emerald Falls Jack Donnelly TV movie
Ten Empty Feature film
The View from Greenhaven Theodore Feature film
2009 Coffin Rock George Feature film
2010 Not Available Short film
Oranges and Sunshine Walter Feature film
2011 Ragtime Short film
2012 Census Short film
Dripping in Chocolate TV movie
2013 Novr Short film
2013 Shelter Short film
2014 The Mule John Feature film
2015 Foal Short film
2017 Red Christmas Joe Feature film
2020 A Day in Your LIfe Andy Short
TBA The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky TBA Feature film

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Type
1985 Theatre Night Mr Hopper 1 episode
1986 The Bill Rod TV series
The Monocled Mutineer Aussie Gas Mask TV series, 2 episodes
1988 Rafferty's Rules Alan Tillaman TV series
Captain James Cook Perry TV miniseries
1989 Round the Twist Porter TV series
1991 The Flying Doctors Rex Waddington TV series
1993 G.P. Neil Gordon TV series
1994 Heartbreak High Allan Masters TV series
1995 Bordertown Bates TV series
Blue Murder Les Knox TV series
1996 Fallen Angels Jack Landers TV series
1997-99 Murder Call Lance Fisk TV series
1998 Good Guys, Bad Guys Beckett TV series
2001 BackBerner 1 episode
Changi Major Dr. Rowdy Lawson TV miniseries
The Secret Life of Us TV series
2000-03 Grass Roots Col Dunkley TV series
2003 Farscape TK Holt TV series
Stingers Ron Moore TV series
Marking Time Geoff Fleming TV miniseries
2004-05 Blue Heelers Sergeant Mark Jacobs TV series
2006 All Saints Chris Harrison TV series
2007 Bastard Boys Chris Corrigan TV miniseries
2008 Sea Patrol Lieutenant Commander Jack Freeman TV series, season 2
Bed of Roses Tibor Havel TV series
2009 Rogue Nation John McArthur 2 episodes
Packed to the Rafters Tim Connelly TV series
2010 Rake Joe Sandilands TV series, season 1
2011 Small Time Gangster Les TV series
Cloudstreet [7] Lester Lamb TV miniseries
Winners & Losers Paul Armstrong TV series
2011-12 Home and Away Geoffrey King TV series
2013 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Bob Ryan TV series
Serangoon Road Philip Tuckworth TV series
2015 Open Slather Special Guest 3 episodes
8MMM Aboriginal Radio Dave Cross TV series
Catching Milat Inspector Clive Small TV miniseries
2016 The Code David Banks TV series
Deep Water Don Lustigman TV series
2015-16 Please Like Me Bruce TV series
2017 Top of the Lake: China Girl Ray TV series
2017 Fucking Adelaide Geoff TV miniseries 2 episodes
2018 Nippers of Dead Bird Bay Judge 1 episode
2019 Blue Water Empire Government Official
Harrow D r. Laurie Badcoe TV series, season 2
2022 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Waldreg 6 episodes
2023 Wolf Like Me Peter Stenning 2 episodes
2024 High Country Brian Harris TV series
Thou Shalt Not Steal

Theatre[edit]

Year Title Role Type
Macbeth
King Lear
1986 Away Harry Griffin Theatre Company at Stables Theatre (written by Michael Gow)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gow, Michael (1986). Away. Sydney: Currency Press. ISBN 978-0-86819-211-6.
  2. ^ Knox, David (6 February 2015). "Catching Milat: trailer | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. ^ Knox, David (10 May 2015). "Airdate: Catching Milat | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  4. ^ Knox, David (4 December 2020). "More cast join Lord of the Rings | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  5. ^ Knox, David (14 September 2023). "Cameras roll on Stan drama Thou Shalt Not Steal | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  6. ^ Slatter, Sean (16 January 2024). "Jonathan Hensleigh's 'Ice Road' sequel to film in Victoria with Liam Neeson, Bernard Curry, Grace O'Sullivan, Geoff Morrell". IF Magazine. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  7. ^ https://tvtonight.com.au/2010/02/cast-announced-for-cloudstreet.html

External links[edit]