Leonard Teale

Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was an Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is best remembered for his role in the long-running Australian police procedural drama Homicide as David "Mac" MacKay.

As a professional actor he adopted Teale – a homophone of his birth surname, Thiele – as a stage name.

Biography

Early life and military service Leonard George Thiele was born in Brisbane, Queensland, to Maude Henrietta Thiele, née Rasmussen, and Herman Albert Thiele, a chemist. He attended Milton State Primary School and Brisbane Grammar School (1934–38) on a scholarship. However, the family's financial situation during the Great Depression forced Leonard to leave school and enter the workforce. He worked as a junior clerk for Brisbane City Council's Electricity Supply Department. In his spare time, he took up amateur drama, with local repertory groups. From the age of 17, he augmented these activities with a role as a part-time radio announcer, after successfully auditioning at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Brisbane.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Thiele joined the Militia and served as a signaller. Interested in becoming a pilot, he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 10 October 1942. He graduated from flying school the following year and was commissioned as officer. In 1944, Thiele was posted to the Mediterranean theatre, where he served with No. 458 Squadron RAAF, a maritime patrol/strike unit, flying Vickers Wellingtons, from bases at Foggia, Italy, and Gibraltar. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in September 1945 and was discharged on 16 January 1946, after returning to Australia. Career Radio serials Thiele's career as a professional actor commenced in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in radio serials; his roles included that of Superman/Clark Kent and Tarzan.

Thiele was a co-compère of the radio ABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in its Muddle-Headed Wombat serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons. At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele" professionally.

He also made regular appearances in radio variety programs such as the Bonnington's Bunkhouse Show, and voiceovers in countless commercials.

PACT

His talent was nurtured and developed at the Producers Authors Composers and Talent Centre, which was founded in 1964.

Films He appeared in several feature films, including Smiley, Smiley Gets a Gun and Bungala Boys.

In the early 1950s, with Raymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, Thiele helped form the short-lived Australian Cultural Defence Movement, aimed at protecting local arts and crafts production from the perceived inroads being made by imported content, particularly from the US. However, the movement faltered after becoming a target of anti-communist activists, (His brother, Neville Thiele, was also targeted, for participating in left-wing theatre. )

TV presenter and actor Major television roles included a regular comedic role in the Mobil-Limb Show, host roles in variety programs Singalong and Folkmoot, and acting roles in locally produced drama series including Whiplash, The Hungry Ones, Adventure Unlimited , Split Level and Consider Your Verdict. He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay in Homicide from 1965 to 1973. Homicide was Australia's first-ever locally produced TV police drama. Teale won a Logie for best Australian actor in 1974. He also hosted a documentary about the series, The Homicide Story, in 1970. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott in Seven Little Australians (1973), and headmaster Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap opera Class of '74 (1974–75).

Narrator Teale narrated for ABC audio recordings, including the Banjo Paterson poem The Man from Snowy River, and a spoken-word version of the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven" on ABC-TV's The Money or the Gun. His reading of Dorothea Mackellar's poem "My Country", which included the lines "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" was so widely played in Australia during the 1970s that it was also frequently parodied.

Awards & honours Year Title Award Category Result 1974 Homicide Logie Award Best Australian Actor 1992 Leonard Teale Queen's New Years Honours List – Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) Services to the Performing Arts & Community

Personal life

Married three times, Leonard Teale had four children, Amanda, Juli, Jennifer and Melinda. He married his third wife, entertainer Liz Harris in 1968; Harris had appeared in three episodes of Homicide.

Leonard Teale died of a heart attack in 1994. A documentary, Homicide: 30 Years On, aired later that year which included reminiscences from former Homicide castmates and footage of an appearance made by himself and Homicide actors George Mallaby and Alwyn Kurts in 1992 presenting a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Series partially in character (with hilarious results).

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio Year Title Role Notes 1948 Hagen’s Circus Jim

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1939 The Invisible Duke / The Bride / Paradise Now Empire Chambers, Brisbane with Dulcie Scott Players 1940 Family Affairs Student Theatre, Brisbane with Dulcie Scott Players 1940 George and Margaret Princess Theatre, Woolloongabba with Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society 1947 French Without Tears Sydney Radio Theatre & Killara Soldiers Memorial Hall, Sydney with Mercury Theatres 1947 The Water Babies Theatre Royal Sydney with J. C. Williamson 1949 The Bushranger Sergeant Blogg Mosman Town Hall, Sydney with Mosman Children's Theatre 1949 The Tempest Independent Theatre, Sydney 1949 The Winter’s Tale Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 S.S Glencairn Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 In the Zone Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 Moon of the Caribees Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 The Long Voyage Home Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 Bound East for Cardiff Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 The Merchant of Venice Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 Home of the Brave Independent Theatre, Sydney 1950 The Pied Piper of Hamelin Theatre Royal Sydney with J. C. Williamson 1951 The Miser Independent Theatre, Sydney 1952 A Sleep of Prisoners Garrison Church, Sydney 1956 The Rivals Faulkland Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse, Perth with J. C. Williamson 1956 Twelfth Night Orsino Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Playhouse, Perth 1957 Macbeth Macbeth Independent Theatre, Sydney 1960 Inherit the Wind Independent Theatre, Sydney 1960 Hunger of a Girl Independent Theatre, Sydney 1963 Twenties Spectacular Compère Independent Theatre, Sydney 1963 The Fire on the Snow Independent Theatre, Sydney 1964 The Man from Snowy River AMP Theatrette, Sydney with Q Theatre Company 1964 The Caucasian Chalk Circle UNSW with Old Tote Theatre Company 1964 J.B. J.B. Independent Theatre, Sydney 1965 Two Plays in Rehearsal Independent Theatre, Sydney 1965 Down in the Valley / Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom Guitarist UNSW Old Tote Theatre with NIDA 1965 The Fire on the Snow (in rehearsal) Independent Theatre, Sydney 1975 Down Under Stables Theatre, Sydney with The King O'Malley Theatre Company 1977–1980 While the Billy Boils Henry Lawson Australian tour 1981 The Gin Game Weller Martin Queensland tour 1982 Einstein Albert Einstein SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with QTC 1983; 1984; 1985 84, Charing Cross Road Frank Marian Street Theatre, Sydney, Hoyts Prince Theatre, Hobart, Princess Theatre, Launceston, Civic Theatre, Burnie 1983 In Duty Bound Marian Street Theatre, Sydney 1984; 1985 The Quiet Achievers Reader Marian Street Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse, Canberra with Northside Theatre Company for Sydney Festival 1988 The Men Who Made Australia Reader Parramatta Cultural Centre

Discography Leonard Teale The Man From Snowy River - Leonard Teale Reading Bush Ballads By A. B. (Banjo) Paterson LP, CBS 1956 Leonard Thiele Henry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Thiele - When Your Pants Begin To Go LP, Festival Records 1957 Bruce Finlay, Leonard Teale & Jim Gussey Seven Cities Suite LP, His Master's Voice 1960 Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom Songs Of The Sundowners LP, CBS 1964 Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom Travelling Down The Castlereagh LP, CBS 1965 Leonard Teale Henry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Teale - His Life Story In His Own Verse LP, CBS 1965 Leonard Teale The Australiana Collection - Australian Verse Read By Leonard Teale LP, CBS 1980 Leonard Teale My Country - Traditional Australian Verse LP, CBS 1988 Leonard Teale Henry Lawson's Australia CD, CBS 1988 Leonard Teale: Leonard Teale's Australia CD, Sony Australia 1994 Peter Sullivan, Frank Strangio, Noel Watson & Leonard Teale Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River CD, PolyGram 1995 Leonard Teale: Famous Australian Poems 2011 *Leonard Teale My Country (Australian Verse Selected And Read By Leonard Teale) LP, Pacific Leonard Teale Henry Lawson's Australia Spoken By Leonard Teale LP, CBS Leonard Teale, Chips Rafferty, Kevin Brennan, Tex Morton and The Bush Music Club Songs & Poems Of Australia: Henry Lawson, John O'Brien, Adam Lindsay Gordon, C. J. Dennis LP, Festival Custom Recording