Dan O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor is an Australian television actor and singer, who came to attention in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. He is also known for playing Ned Parker in the Australian soap opera Neighbours and Ally Gorman in the British soap opera Hollyoaks.

Early life O’Connor grew up as the middle child of his family He auditioned with the church classic, "I Surrender All" written by Judson W. Van DeVenter. Despite Dicko's dislike of religious songs, he gave O'Connor a "yes", along with Mark Holden and Marcia Hines, sending him into the top 100.

During O'Connor's Top 30 performance, he performed "Amazing" by Josh Kelley and he was subsequently voted into the Final 12. Also put through from his group of ten, were Casey Donovan, Em Rusciano and Ricki-Lee Coulter. he was eliminated second, placing him 11th overall.

O'Connor then appeared in 2005 mobile soap opera, Random Place, in which he played the character of Bo Edwards. The series provided a fly-on-the-wall view of the lives of five twenty-somethings sharing a house near Bondi Beach. This was Australia's first mobile soap opera, based on 2003 Dutch series Jong Zuid.

In 2005, O'Connor was cast as Ned Parker in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, after someone from the series contacted his agent expressing interest in him auditioning for the show. O'Connor had not considered acting before and had to audition twice as nerves got the better of him. He moved from rural New South Wales to inner city Melbourne for the role. His character was introduced as the brother of series regular Stuart Parker (Blair McDonough), and he first appeared at Stuart's wedding, before returning to join the permanent cast. During his time on the show, his character had several relationships, discovered he had a son, and survived a fire and a car crash.

In 2006, O'Connor received a nomination for the Logie Award for Most Popular New Male Talent. In 2007, O'Connor and co-star Natalie Blair (Carmella Cammeniti) were named "King and Queen of Teen" at Dolly magazine's Dolly Teen Choice Awards.

O'Connor had a cameo in Ricki-Lee Coulter's "Can't Touch It" music video in 2007, playing a bartender and her love interest. During his time in Neighbours, he also made guest appearances in Ready Steady Cook, Thank God You're Here and Australia's Brainiest quiz show.

In February 2008, it was announced that O'Connor would be departing Neighbours later that year, along with co-stars David Hoflin (Oliver Barnes), Jesse Rosenfeld (Marco Silvani) and Sweeney Young (Riley Parker), with O'Connor wanting to revisit his music career and release an album.

O'Connor relocated to the UK in June, where he appeared in reality series CelebAir, and began recording his album. He later appeared in 2010 film The Green Door, portraying the character Greg, before appearing in a 2011 episode of BBC One's Death in Paradise.

In December 2011, it was reported that O'Connor had joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Ally Gorman, an Australian military medic, recently returned from Afghanistan. He originally auditioned twice for a separate role, before being asked to try out for the part of Ally. After securing the role, he began filming his scenes three days later, He initially signed up for an initial twelve episode stint, but his contract was extended, seeing him join the regular cast. He left the show in late 2012, after having appeared in over 75 episodes. before appearing in three episodes of drama series Winners & Losers in the role of Nate Simpson

After this time, O'Connor relocated to Los Angeles, where he began working as a personal trainer, whilst looking for his Hollywood break.

Acting credits

Film and television Year Title Role Notes Ref 2004 Australian Idol Contestant;Top 12 finalist Season 2, 6 episodes 2005 Random Place Bo Edwards Mobile phone series 2005–2008 Neighbours Ned Parker Series regular;450+ episodes 2008 CelebAir Contestant 8 episodes 2010 The Green Door Greg Film 2011 Death in Paradise Stefan 1 episode 2011–2012 Hollyoaks Ally Gorman Series regular;76 episodes 2013 Mr & Mrs Murder Brody Bennett 1 episode Winners & Losers Nate Simpson 3 episodes Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Vince Barlow 1 episode

Music video Year Title Role Notes Ref 2007 Ricki-Lee Coulter – "Can't Touch It" Bartender / Love interest Music video

Theatre Year Title Role Notes Ref 2007–2008 Jack and the Beanstalk Jack Trot New Theatre, Hull

Awards Year Work Award Category Result Ref 2006 Neighbours Logie Awards Most Popular New Male Talent 2007 Dan O'Connor (with Natalie Blair) Dolly Teen Choice Awards King and Queen of Teen