Peter Carroll (actor)
 | This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (May 2025) |
Peter Carroll | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Carroll at the 2015 Helpmann Awards | |
| Born | Peter John Carroll[1] 1944 (age 80–81)[1] Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Other names | Peter Carol |
| Education | University of Sydney University of New South Wales Central School of London |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Known for | Five Mile Creek (1983–1985) Melba (1987) The Christian Brothers (stage show) (1975 onwards) |
| Children | Tamsin Carroll |
Peter John Carroll AM (born 1944)[1] is an Australian actor and the father of actress Tamsin Carroll.
Early life and education
[edit]Peter Carroll was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1944 and grew up in Greenwich on Sydney’s lower north shore. He was educated by the Marist Brothers during the 1950s. In his youth, Carroll was a boy soprano and won five awards in the City of Sydney Eisteddfodd in 1963.[2][3]
Carroll attended the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts, and the University of New South Wales, where he earned a Master of Arts with Honours.[2] While undertaking his education at the University of Sydney, he commenced amateur acting,[2] After graduating, he worked as a drama teacher for two years.[2]
Carroll later attended the Central School of London, where he studied Speech and Drama. He also has a Diploma in Education from Sydney.[4]
Career
[edit]Carroll was part of a group of actors and directors who ushered in the new wave in Australian theatre.[4] His first professional stage role was in a 1961 production of Roundup on the Moon at the Pocket Playhouse in Sydney. He gained early stage experience with regular performances at the Genesian Theatre, one of Sydney's longest established theatre companies.[5] He then became an integral part of the formative days at Sydney's Nimrod Theatre Company.[4]
Carroll has performed in numerous plays, including classics by Shakespeare, Sophocles, Euripides, George Bernard Shaw, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde, Ibsen, T. S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Schiller, Bertolt Brecht and Oliver Goldsmith, as well as works from Australian playwrights such as David Williamson, Ron Blair, Nick Enright, Patrick White and Peter Kenna. He has also taken on musical theatre including Les Miserables, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats,[4] Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar (in which he played Pontius Pilate), and the title role in Sweeney Todd. His signature role was in Ron Blair's one-man play The Christian Brothers, having performed in the debut production at Nimrod Theatre in 1975, directed by John Bell. He has gone on to portray the role several times,[6] winning a Mo Award for his performance in a 2001 Sydney Theatre Company production of the show.[4]
Carroll has acted alongside his daughter Tamsin Carroll in several stage shows including Harbour and The Republic of Myopia, for Sydney Theatre Company. They also appeared together in a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, with the Melbourne Theatre Company – collaborating on the play once more in 2023, for Belvoir.[7] His most recent stage role was in a Sport for Jove production of The Player Kings: Shakespeare and Marlowe's History Cycle in 2025.[8][9]
Carroll has also appeared in numerous television series, including period drama The Sullivans in 1982. Other credits that same year included Aliens, Time Lapse, Limbo City, Issues and Learned Friends. He then played Charlie Withers in the western series Five Mile Creek, which featured Nicole Kidman in an early role. Carroll's daughter, Tamsin, also appeared in the series as an extra.[7] His other notable credits include the miniseries Melba (1988) starring Hugo Weaving, in which he played David Mitchell,[7] and Changi (2001).[4] He also featured in Grass Roots, playing the recurring role of Reverend Peter Summerhaze from 2000 to 2003.
Further miniseries credits include Ride on Stranger (1979), The Dismissal (1983),[4] Cyclone Tracy (1986), Captain James Cook (1987), The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy (1988), Cassidy (1989) and The Farm (2001). He has also had guest roles in Cop Shop, Rafferty's Rules, Water Rats, Farscape, Tales of the South Seas, Corridors of Power, Rake, Bloom, The Letdown, Bump, Colin from Accounts, Heartbreak High and Optics.
More recently, Carroll played recurring roles in comedy series Aftertaste and The Moth (both in 2021).
Carroll has also appeared in many feature films including 1977 Peter Weir mystery drama The Last Wave, 1978 Fred Schepisi drama The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, 1978 newsroom drama Newsfront and 1980 children's film Fatty Finn (based on the classic 1930s comic strip) alongside Bryan Brown. He also featured in 1986 Robyn Nevin drama The More Things Change..., 1990 romantic drama The Crossing (starring Russell Crowe in an early role) and 1998 British comedy Waking Ned.
He continued acting in films throughout the 2000s, including 2000 drama A Wreck A Tangle, and 2001 political drama Black and White, opposite Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance and Ben Mendelsohn. Carroll voiced a character in the 2006 George Miller animated musical comedy Happy Feet opposite a Hollywood-strong cast including Nicole Kidman, before appearing in 2011 erotic drama Sleeping Beauty and 2018 romantic comedy-drama Crazy Rich Asians. He most recently appeared in 2021 Academy Award-winning Jane Campion western The Power of the Dog, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst. He has also appeared in several made-for-television films including Hamlet and Spoiled (both 1974), Cass (1978), The John Sullivan Story (1979), Who Killed Baby Azaria? and A Descant for Gossips (both 1983), Australia's Faceless (1986), Doom Runners (1997) and The Diamond of Jeru (2001) as well as several short films. Carroll has also narrated several television films and documentaries.
Additionally, Carroll worked as a dialogue coach on the 1986 international hit comedy Crocodile Dundee starring Paul Hogan, and was also a voice coach on the 1995 film All Men Are Liars.
Carroll was a member of Actors Equity of Australia and chaired the National Performance Conference and the Federal Actors’ Council. He also served as a board member for SBS television.[4]
Honours
[edit]Carroll was honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the performing arts as an actor", in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.[10]
In 2003, Carroll received an honorary Doctorate of Creative Awards from the University of Wollongong.[11]
Awards
[edit]| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Queen's Jubilee | Medal for the Arts | Honoured | |
| 1978 | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | Nominated |
| 1986 | Green Room Awards | Best Male Performer | Master Class | Won |
| Green Room Awards | Best Actor | The Season at Sarsaparilla | Won | |
| 1988 | Variety Club of Australia Awards | Musical Theatre Actor of the Year | Sweeney Todd | Won |
| Penguin Award | Best Performance by a Male in a Drama Series | Rafferty's Rules | Won | |
| Sydney Theatre Critics' Circle Award | Significant Contribution to Sydney Theatre | Lifetime Achievement Award | Honoured | |
| Mo Awards | Best Actor in a Musical | Sweeney Todd | Nominated | |
| 1989 | Green Room Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Musical | Les Misérables | Nominated |
| 1992 | Mo Awards[12] | Best Supporting Musical Theatre Performer | Man of La Mancha | Won |
| 1992 | Mo Awards | Best Supporting Male Musical Theatrical Performer | Jesus Christ Superstar | Won |
| 1995 | Green Room Awards | Best Actor | Hamlet | Won |
| 2001 | Mo Awards | Best Actor | The Christian Brothers | Won |
| Glugs Theatrical Awards | Male Performer | Brothers | Won | |
| Glugs Theatrical Awards | Best Performer in a Musical | Lush | Won | |
| Mo Awards | Best Actor | The Christian Brothers | Won | |
| 2002 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Play | The Christian Brothers | Nominated |
| 2003 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Endgame | Won |
| 2004 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Musical | The Republic of Myopia | Nominated |
| 2007 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Play | The Season at Sarsaparilla | Nominated |
| 2008 | Green Room Awards | Best Male Performer | The Season at Sarsaparilla | Nominated |
| 2009 | Play Inaugural Awards | Lifetime Achievement from MEAA | Honoured | |
| 2015 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Play | Oedipus Rex | Nominated |
| 2018 | Helpmann Awards | Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Nominated |
| 2022 | Sydney Theatre Awards[13] | Best Performer in a Supporting Role in a Mainstage Production | The Tempest | Won |
Theatre
[edit]Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The Last Wave | Michael Zeadler | Feature film |
| 1977 | Buckley's Chance | Doctor | Short film |
| 1978 | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | McCready | Feature film |
| 1978 | Newsfront | Newsco scriptwriter | Feature film |
| 1979 | Temperament Unsuited | Short film | |
| 1981 | Anguish | Short film | |
| 1980 | Fatty Finn | Teacher | Feature film |
| 1980 | The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir in Paris | Anderson | Short film |
| 1986 | The More Things Change... | Roley | Feature film |
| 1990 | The Crossing | Narrator | Feature film |
| 1998 | Waking Ned | Villager of Tullymore | Feature film |
| 2000 | A Wreck A Tangle | Science Voiceover | Feature film |
| 2000 | Sunday | Herb | Short film |
| 2001 | Black and White | Viscount Simonds | Feature film |
| 2006 | Happy Feet | Elder | Animated feature film |
| 2011 | Sleeping Beauty | Man 1 | Feature film |
| 2013 | En Passant | Theo | Short film |
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Lord Calthorpe | Feature film[26] |
| 2021 | The Power of the Dog | Old Gent | Feature film |
As crew
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | Dialogue Coach | Feature film |
| 1995 | All Men Are Liars | Voice Coach | Feature film |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Hamlet | Marcellus / Fortinbras / Player King | TV movie |
| 1974 | Spoiled | TV movie | |
| 1978 | Cass | Tom | TV movie |
| 1978 | Cop Shop | Martin Sadler | 2 episodes |
| 1979 | The John Sullivan Story | Commissar Petrovic | TV movie |
| 1979 | Ride on Stranger | Mervyn Leggatt | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1982 | Aliens | ||
| 1982 | Time Lapse | Politician | |
| 1982 | Limbo City | Dean | |
| 1982 | The Sullivans | ||
| 1982 | Issues | Father | |
| 1982 | Learned Friends | ||
| 1982; 1992 | A Country Practice | Mr. Brown / Stewart Innes | 3 episodes |
| 1983 | Mississippi Challenge | Narrator | TV movie |
| 1983 | The Dismissal | Narrator / Liberal Party Official | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1983 | A Descant for Gossips | Robert Moller | Miniseries |
| 1983 | Who Killed Baby Azaria? | Mr. Phillips QC | Docufilm |
| 1983 | The Franklin Adventure | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1984 | Eureka Stockade | Narrator | Miniseries |
| 1984 | East Meets West | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1983–1985 | Five Mile Creek | Charles Withers | 32 episodes |
| 1986 | Whose Baby | Narrator | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Cyclone Tracy | Narrator | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Australia's Faceless Father | TV movie | |
| 1987 | Melba | David Mitchell | Miniseries, 8 episodes |
| 1987 | Captain James Cook | Dr. Daniel Solander | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Custody | Narrator | TV movie |
| 1988 | Rafferty's Rules | Percy Eliot | 1 episode |
| 1988 | The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy | Louis-Pierre Dillais | Miniseries |
| 1988 | Prejudice | Narrator | TV movie |
| 1989 | Police State | Narrator | TV movie |
| 1989 | Cassidy | Gotham | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1994 | Three Men and a Baby Grand | Performer Sammy Swain | |
| 1996 | Water Rats | Joseph Craig | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Doom Runners | William | TV movie |
| 2000 | Farscape | Gahv | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Tales of the South Seas | Spenser | 1 episode |
| 2000–2003 | Grass Roots | Warwick Marchant / Rev. Peter Summerhaze | Seasons 1–2, 10 episodes |
| 2001 | The Farm | Fenwick QC | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 2001 | Corridors of Power | Voice in Toilet | 1 episode |
| 2001 | The Diamond of Jeru | Clifton Vandover | TV movie |
| 2001 | Changi | Dr. Hurrell | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2001 | A Compassionate Rage | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2012 | Rake | Judge Walpole | 1 episode |
| 2019 | Bloom | Old Frank Warlie | 1 episode |
| 2019 | The Letdown | Dr Julian | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Aftertaste | Jim | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | The Moth Effect | Frank | |
| 2021 | Bump | Bruce | 1 episode |
| 2022 | Colin from Accounts | George | 1 episode |
| 2024 | Heartbreak High | Roger | 2 episodes |
| 2025 | Optics | Frank Fritz | 1 episode |
Narration (undated)
[edit]- Stations of the Cross
- Pandas: The Fight for Survival
- D.H. Lawrence
- Pirates of the South Seas
- Wollongong Colliery Dispute
- Children in Distress
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Carroll, Peter (1944)".
- ^ a b c d Richard McGregor. (19 March 1982.) "Carrol fascinated by challenge of Suicide", The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "I'll go down fighting: Peter Carroll's passion burns bright after 70 years". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Peter Carroll – Honorary Doctor of Creative Arts". University of Wollongong.
- ^ "The Genesian Theatre finds new stage in Rozelle". www.balmainrozelle.org.au.
- ^ "Remembered horrors of a religious education". World Socialist Web Site. 26 October 2001.
- ^ a b c d "Father and daughter reunite on stage for first time in 19 years". Australian Financial Review. 15 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Peter Carroll: I had a fur phobia for many years – after I performed in Cats". The Guardian. 23 March 2025.
- ^ a b "The Player Kings Part 1 & Part 2". Seymour Centre.
- ^ "Mr Peter Carroll". It's An Honour. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Goldie, Bernie (30 July 2003). "Mid-year graduations at University of Wollongong". University of Wollongong.
- ^ "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "2022 – Nominees and Winners". Sydney Theatre Awards. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Peter Carroll – Actor" (PDF). Shanahan.
- ^ Kamaralli, Anna (2009). "The War of the Roses Part 1 and Part 2 (review)". Shakespeare Bulletin. 27 (4): 662–668. doi:10.1353/shb.0.0118. S2CID 194093865. Project MUSE 368665.
- ^ "RealTime Arts - Magazine - issue 89 - the war within, the war without".
- ^ "The Pirates of Penzance | Stage Whispers".
- ^ "Review: The Great Fire (Belvoir Street Theatre)".
- ^ "Macbeth: Supernatural or Superstitious? – the Adelaide Review".
- ^ "Theatre review: The Tempest, Sydney Theatre Company". 24 November 2022.
- ^ "Do Not Go Gentle (Sydney Theatre Company) ★★★★1/2". 30 May 2023.
- ^ "'Funnier than Hamilton': Australia's biggest political drama gets the musical comedy treatment". ABC News. 15 September 2023.
- ^ "Coriolanus". Bell Shakespeare.
- ^ "Coriolanus". Sydney Opera House.
- ^ "Peter Carroll theatre credits". AusStage.
- ^ "Crazy Rich Asians (2018) - Cast & Crew". The Numbers. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
External links
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