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Michael Preston

Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938)[1] is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston.

Life and career

Preston was born in Hackney, London, England.[2] He was a boxer and then became a singer.[3]

He appeared on Oh Boy! and his third record, "Dirty Old Town" (1959) was produced by Joe Meek.[4] He had three Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including reaching No. 12 with his cover version of "Mr. Blue" in November 1959,[3] before emigrating to Australia where he worked as a nightclub singer.

He then became a host on television, and also an actor. He was a regular host on In Melbourne Tonight in 1968, and in 1969 was a guest celebrity on the game show The Celebrity Game and went on to host the revival in 1976–1977.

His first ongoing starring role on television was in the long-running police drama series Homicide as Sen. Det. Bob Delaney from 1972 to 1973. He then had a recurring role in the soap opera Bellbird as Fr. John Kramer between 1974 and 1976. He later took a lead role in the prison-based soap opera Punishment (1981) but this series was short-lived. In 1984, he had an ongoing role in Hot Pursuit, as the character Alec Shaw.

Preston has made numerous guest appearances in television series, including The A-Team, Max Headroom, Airwolf, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Alien Nation, Ellen, and Highlander. He also made an appearance in the series Baywatch Nights.[5]

Preston has also acted in films. His first feature film was Surabaya Conspiracy (1969); other film roles included playing Pappagallo in Mad Max 2 (1981), his best-known role, and Jared-Syn in the science fiction B-movie Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983). He was nominated for the 1979 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in The Last of the Knucklemen[6] and he won two Logies for most popular male personality in Victoria.[7]

Selected TV and filmography

Discography

See also

References

  1. ^ "Music birthdays in May". Bitter Suite band. Births & Deaths. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  2. ^ "Michael Preston". bio. IMDb.com. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 1992/3. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  4. ^ "Wolf". Fortune City. Greenfield. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  5. ^ "Blues Boy". Baywatch Nights (TV). Season 1. Episode 9.
  6. ^ Kuipers, Richard. "The Last of the Knucklemen (1979)". Australian Screen. NFSA. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  7. ^ Murphy, Jim (11 March 1981), "Mike hits the right note", The Australian Women's Weekly, p. 54
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 238. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, UK: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 437. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.

External links