John McTernan

John McTernan is an Australian actor, known for several theatre and television roles.

Early life A former sailor, McTernan emigrated to Australia from the United States in 1968. After graduating from university with an Economics degree, he began studying at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre.

Career

Theatre McTernan's first job was singing and dancing in cabaret shows. One of his earliest professional jobs was in a vocal comedy act with friend Timothy Bean, both writing and performing their material. He went on to work in theatre for seven years in Sydney, performing "everything from Godspell to Shakespeare".

McTernan is also well known for his work in musical theatre. He performed in a Harry M. Miller production of Grease at Melbourne's Metro Theatre, in 1972, just three months after its Broadway debut. In 1975, he took on the task of the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in a production that featured Mark Holden in the titular role of Joseph. In 1979, he appeared in two-act musical comedy The Venetian Twins, for the inaugural season of the Sydney Theatre Company, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House. The production went on to tour throughout 1981 to Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne and Geelong.

In 1986, McTernan played Benny Southstreet in an Adelaide Festival Centre production of Guys and Dolls, alongside Anthony Warlow, which was consistently met with standing ovations and rave reviews in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. He reprised the role in a fundraiser concert spectacular at Melbourne Concert Hall in 1990, and then again for The Production Company in 2000. More recently, McTernan has appeared as Grandfather in a 2019 staging of Ragtime, once again for The Production Company.

McTernan's other musical credits include Godspell, Sunset Boulevard, The History of Australia, Shout, Into the Woods, and Assassins, She Loves Me, Gypsy and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

McTernan's long-running series credits included a role in long-running police drama Cop Shop, as Irish Detective Sergeant Tom Shannon from 1981 to 1994, He won Logie Awards for his roles in both series.

McTernan's numerous other television credits have included The Young Doctors, The Flying Doctors, City Homicide, All Saints, Blue Heelers, Stingers, Something in the Air, Good Guys, Bad Guys, MDA and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

McTernan's work in feature films and made-for-television movies has included The Understudy (1977), ABC feature Fuzzy (1984), The Brown Out Murders (1988), The Four Minute Mile (1988) and Evil Never Dies (2003).

Awards Year Work Award Category Results Ref. 1981Cop ShopLogie AwardsBest Lead Actor in a Series