Francis Greenslade (born 3 October 1962) is an Australian comedic actor and acting teacher.[1]
Greenslade was born in Honiara, Solomon Islands to Australian parents. In the 1980s, Greenslade studied at the University of Adelaide where he first met Shaun Micallef. They performed together in the university's Footlights Club.[2] Greenslade was the President of the South Australian Debating Association (SADA) in 1992 and represented University of Adelaide at the World Universities Debating Championship where he was the Best Speaker in 1988.[3]
Greenslade has performed with Micallef in many television shows including The Micallef Program, Welcher & Welcher, Micallef Tonight and Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell. They both also appeared in Full Frontal.[citation needed]
Greenslade has also appeared on children's comedy Pig's Breakfast, SeaChange, Blue Heelers, Water Rats, The Games and Marshall Law as well as in the 2003 Australian feature film Take Away (with Stephen Curry). He stars as Brian Gross in the Seven Network show Winners & Losers alongside Denise Scott who plays his on-screen wife Trish.[2]
Greenslade has appeared in numerous productions for the Malthouse Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre, State Theatre Company of South Australia and the Magpie Theatre Company.[4]
Greenslade teaches acting including drama at The National Theatre Drama School[5] and at the Film & Television Studio International[6]
Greenslade in 2015 appeared in The Ex-PM, he then made an appearance in the channel 9 tele-movie Schapelle after Schapelle Corby's high profile legal case, where he played Alexander Downer.[7]
In 2022 Greenslade appeared in Netflix series Irreverant he played Ron.[8][9]
Greenslade was a guest host at The Impossible Orchestra: 24 Hour Concert where Australia and New Zealand musicians played a world-first 24-hour symphony concert to raise awareness of the Care Aware campaign.[10]
Greenslade and his wife, Louise, have three children.[2] He plays a range of musical instruments; clarinet, keyboard, accordion, guitar, ukulele and recorder.[2] He is also a debater and has won various awards.[5]
Despite sharing a surname, he is not related to his Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell co-star Tosh Greenslade.[11][12]
Greenslade is a narrator of audio books including:-
Melbourne Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
Playbox
Malthouse
State Theatre Company (SA)
Magpie Theatre
Arena Theatre Company
Red Shed
Patch
The Marat Pack
Other
In 2017, Greenslade's portrait by artist/animator Phil Meatchem was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. The 153 x 117 cm portrait has him sitting on a couch dressed in a suit, looking out at the viewer, that Meatchem said was "inspired by the elegant Oscar-night celebrity portraits by photographer Mark Seliger."[13]