Richard Meikle

Richard Meikle (10 October 1929 – 2 June 1991) was an Australian actor who worked extensively in radio, theatre, and television, (TV movies and guest in serials^[1]), He was the father of screenwriter and director Sam Meikle and he also worked in England.^[1]

Meikle began his career as a stage actor. His first recorded role was in the Metropolitan Theatre's 1947 production of Ned Kelly. He also appeared in Shakespearean roles including Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.^[2]

In the 1950s, Meikle moved into radio acting, most prominently with Grace Gibson Productions. He landed many major roles with the company, as both an actor and an announcer. Meikle was included in Reg James' list of his favourite Grace Gibson performances, for his starring role alongside John Unicomb in the serial Becket.^[3] Meikle's ability to perform his own sound effects, saw him highly sought after, as Grace Gibson Productions' budget did not cover a professional sound effects person. He would often compete for rights to do sound effects with his co-stars Ron Roberts and James Condon.^[4]

In 1959, Meikle was cast alongside Gregory Peck as London-based spy Guy Marriott, Stanley Kramer's in Melbourne-filmed anti-nuclear love story On the Beach.

1966 produced several roles for Meikle. He had the dual role of Mickey Higgens and narrator (reading the opening credits) in The Shame of Sefton Ridge, an adaptation of Hamilton Basso's novel The View from Pompey's Head. He also played Paul Kruger in Phillip Mann drama The Red Gardenia, as well as reading the end credits of a few episodes. Another major role in the 1960s was as Logan Berkeley in Ross Napier's adaptation of the novel Borrasca. Borrasca was another example of Grace Gibson using Meikle as an announcer.

Principios de la década de 1970 también fue una época ajetreada para Meikle, con Grace Gibson y las series de televisión de Crawford Productions . Tuvo otro trabajo como actor y locutor en So Help Me God de Ross Napier en 1970, donde leía los créditos de cada episodio e interpretaba al criminal Toby Laird. Meikle tuvo papeles protagónicos en las series de 1971 I Killed Grace Random y I, Christopher Macaulay , donde interpretó al redactor publicitario Curtis Miller y al personaje principal, respectivamente.

A medida que la producción de televisión local comenzó a hacerse más frecuente, Meikle comenzó a diversificarse a finales de la década de 1970. Apareció en varias películas para televisión, incluyendo Harvest of Hate , donde reemplazó a Sir Robert Helpmann en el papel del propietario de viñedos John Camden. ^{[ 5 ] [ 6 ]} En 1976, Meikle tuvo un papel importante como Martin Gruman en el episodio piloto de una hora del drama televisivo Bluey .

En 1982, Meikle regresó a Grace Gibson Productions, uniéndose al elenco de la serie más popular de la compañía, The Castlereagh Line , interpretando a Jim Holly.

Meikle era hijo de Leslie Meikle, un ingeniero, y Alma May Meikle ( de soltera  Milsted ). ^{[ 7 ]} Meikle se casó dos veces: primero en 1955 con Lola Edna Brooks , una actriz, con quien tuvo un hijo; y segundo en 1968 con Helen Millicent Madgwick, con quien tuvo otros cuatro hijos.

Meikle murió en Gosford, Nueva Gales del Sur , el 2 de junio de 1991. ^{[ 1 ]}

• Richard Meikle en IMDb
• Richard Meikle en el Archivo Nacional de Cine y Sonido