John Gregg

John Gregg (12 January 1939 – 29 May 2021) was an Australian actor, who worked steadily over six decades.

Early life Gregg was born on a dairy farm in Campbell Town, a remote rural district in southern Tasmania. In his early years he milked cows and ploughed fields for neighbouring farms, and was interested in Aussie Rules football, cricket and rowing.

Gregg auditioned for NIDA at the age of 18, and started studying with its first intake of students in 1959, alongside Robyn Nevin, Elspeth Ballantyne, Elaine Cusack, Teddy Hodgeman and Peter Couchman.

Career After graduating from NIDA, Gregg was chosen to work with the Elizabethan Theatre Trust. He appeared in The Merchant of Venice with the John Alden Shakespeare Company in 1961.

From the 1960s, Gregg worked with the newly formed ABC drama department on television series including Contrabandits, Delta and The Oracle, while continuing to work in theatre.

In the early 1970s, Gregg headed to London to work successfully in theatre and then television. One of his most notable roles was as Lycett in Doctor Who. On his return to Australia he continued to work both on stage and screen.

Other television appearances included: Grass Roots, Special Branch, Armchair Thriller, Bodyline, Heatwave, Bootleg, Captain James Cook, Done Away with It, and was a featured player in Frederic Raphael's semi-autobiographical miniseries The Glittering Prizes for the BBC.

Gregg was Chair of the Actors Benevolent Fund (ABF) for six years from 2013, having joined the Committee in 2008. He passed the position on to Bruce Spence in 2019 upon his retirement.

Personal life Gregg met his future wife Jane Seldon on the set of David Hare's 1991 production of Racing Demon at Sydney Theatre Company, where Jane Seldon was working as Wardrobe Mistress. He had four children, Sophie Gregg (who is also an actor), Alice, Ben and Sam, and eight grandchildren, as well as two stepsons and step-grandchildren through his marriage to Jane.

Death Gregg died on 29 May 2021, aged 82.(1861)

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1982 Heatwave Philip Lawson Feature film 1985 Burke & Wills Alfred Erwin Feature film 1985 Bootleg T. C. Brown Feature film 1987 Travelling North Jim Feature film 1988 Two Brothers Running Nelson Feature film 1991 Deadly Minister Feature film 1994 Ebbtide Chalmers Feature film 1996 Turning April Attorney-General Feature film 2001 To End All Wars Camp Doctor Coates Feature film 2002 Black and White Rohan Rivett Feature film 2008 The View from Greenhaven Tobe Feature film 2022 A Stitch in Time Feature film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1965 Tartuffe Oleante TV play 1966 Done Away with It TV play 1967 Contrabandits TV series 1969 Delta Mallow TV series Special Branch TV series 1975 Doctor Who Lycett TV series, Story arc: The Ark in Space Armchair Thriller TV series 1979 The Oracle Steve Black TV series 1984 Bodyline Percy Fender TV miniseries 1984 Special Squad Golodkin TV series 1985 Captain James Cook Joseph Banks TV miniseries 1989 This Man... This Woman Joe Laurence TV series 1997 The Hostages Masters TV film Grass Roots Morgan Bartok TV series

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1959 Our Town UNSW 1959 Julius Caesar Citizens, soldiers, messengers, senators etc Elizabethan Theatre 1959 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial Orderly / Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (second cast) UNSW 1960 The Beautiful People Owen Webster UNSW 1960 The Green Pastures Adam / Third Gambler / Head Magician / Hezdrel The New Auditorium, Kensington 1960 Love's Labour's Lost Lord Dumaine UNSW 1961 Othello Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Elizabethan Theatre, Cremorne Orpheum 1961 The Merchant of Venice Shylock Palace Theatre, Sydney, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Elizabethan Theatre, Cremorne Orpheum with John Alden Shakespeare Company 1961 Macbeth Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Elizabethan Theatre, Cremorne Orpheum 1963 Hamlet UNSW Old Tote Theatre 1963 Camelot Sir Sagramore Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide 1965 Pinocchio Fox Comedy Theatre, Melbourne 1966 Chips with Everything Independent Theatre 1966 The Knack Russell Street Theatre 1967 The Servant of Two Masters Russell Street Theatre 1967 Incident at Vichy Russell Street Theatre 1967 The Right Honourable Gentleman Russell Street Theatre, Canberra Theatre 1967 A Flea in Her Ear Camille Chandebise Canberra Theatre, Russell Street Theatre, University of Melbourne 1968 The Crucible Russell Street Theatre, Canberra Theatre, Tasmania 1968 The Magistrate Russell Street Theatre, Canberra Theatre, Mildura Arts Centre, Broken Hill, King's Theatre Mt Gambier, Adelaide Teachers College 1969 Hamlet Hamlet University of Sydney 1970 The Prince and the Firebird UNSW Parade Theatre 1970 What the Butler Saw Russell Street Theatre 1971 So What About Love? Dicky Playhouse Theatre, Perth 1971 Long Day's Journey into Night Edmund Royal National Theatre 1972 Jumpers Jumper The Old Vic, National Theatre, Lyttelton, Royal Court Theatre 1972 The Great Exhibition Jerry Hampstead Theatre 1972–73 Macbeth Caithness Royal National Theatre, The Old Vic 1973 The Cherry Orchard Extra Royal National Theatre, The Old Vic 1973 The Bacchae Extra Royal National Theatre, The Old Vic 1973 Measure for Measure Escalus , Harlow Playhouse, The Old Vic, Royal National Theatre 1974 Next of Kin Timothy Hayes The Alexandra, Birmingham, The Old Vic with Royal National Theatre 1974 The Marriage of Figaro Double-Main The Old Vic 1975 Don's Party Royal Court Theatre 1976 While the Sun Shines Earl of Harpenden Theatre Royal, Windsor with Windsor Theatre Company 1980 Much Ado About Nothing Don Pedro Regent's Park Open Air Theatre with New Shakespeare Company 1980 A Midsummer Night's Dream Theseus, Duke of Athens Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, The Tilt Yard, Arundel with New Shakespeare Company The Threepenny Opera STCSA 1980–81 Celluloid Heroes Mike Fontaine Nimrod Upstairs, Theatre Royal, Sydney for Festival of Sydney 1982 Piaf: The Songs and the Story Princess Theatre, Melbourne 1982 The Importance of Being Earnest John Worthing JP Marian Street Theatre, Newcastle Civic Theatre 1983 The Perfectionist SGIO Theatre, Brisbane 1984 Medea Jason Melbourne Arts Centre 1985 Sons of Cain Rex Harding Theatre Royal, Sydney, Playhouse, Melbourne with Melbourne Theatre Company 1986 Pygmalion Phillip Street Theatre 1988 My Fair Lady Colonel Pickering Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney with Victoria State Opera 1989 Passion Play Sydney Opera House 1990 Henceforward... Marian Street Theatre 1991 Racing Demon Wharf Studio Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company 1993 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Mr Gatch / TV Compere University of Sydney, Lyric Theatre Sydney, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth 1994 Underwear, Perfume and Crash Helmet Lionel Malthouse Theatre 1995 Honour George Malthouse Theatre 1996 Coriolanus Cominius Melbourne Athenaeum, Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre 2003 These People Wharf 2 Theatre 2004–05 Flatfoot Crassus Dives Australian national tour 2008 Renaissance Leonardo Da Vinci Old Fitzroy Theatre 2008 The Happy Prince The Statue Newcastle Civic Theatre, Seymour Centre