Steven Vidler (actor)

Steven Vidler
Born	(1960-08-09) August 9, 1960 Sydney, Australia
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art
Occupation(s)	Actor, screenwriter, director
Years active	1980–current
Known for	Two Hands (1999) Jeopardy (2005) Home and Away (2007–2008) Dance Academy (2013)

Steven Vidler (born 9 August 1960) is an Australian actor, screenwriter and director known for his part in the Scottish–Australian series Jeopardy.

Early life and education

Vidler was born on 9 August 1960 in Sydney, Australia. He formally trained at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art and Acting. He continued his studies at NIDA, undertaking an Actor-Director relationship course, run in collaboration with AFTRS. He also obtained a research PhD in screenwriting, from Macquarie University, which used cognitive neuroscience to explore viewer engagement with characters in film.

Career

Vidler's first film credit was the 1984 television film The Blood of Others, followed by 1985 miniseries, The Dunera Boys.

He played Sugar, the younger brother who 'knew' his brother's wife, in 1987 film The Good Wife (also known as The Umbrella Woman) alongside Rachel Ward. Other early film credits included Robbery Under Arms (1985), Incident at Raven's Gate (1988) and Outback (1989) also known as Minnamurra.

Vidler made his feature film directorial debut with the award-winning 1997 film Blackrock, known for being Heath Ledger’s first film role. Together with Nicholas Hammond, Vidler co-wrote 1998 miniseries A Difficult Woman, which won the Silver World Medal for best miniseries at the New York Festivals.

Vidler played 2nd Lieutenant Gore in 1998 American war epic The Thin Red Line. He again worked with Ledger, when he played alongside him as 'The Man' in 1999 crime thriller Two Hands. That same year, he played Captain William in 1999 survival film Dog Watch, alongside Joel Edgerton.

Vidler had recurring roles in several television series in the 1990s, including Heartland, Frankie's House, Janus and MDA, and also appeared in the 1998 miniseries The Day of the Roses.

Beginning in 2002, Vidler played the part of well-meaning teacher, Mr Simmons in BAFTA award-winning children's sci-fi drama series Jeopardy. He had roles in the films The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002) and Bad Eggs (2003) and starred in the miniseries' The Mystery of Natalie Wood, Through My Eyes and Salem's Lot (all in 2004).

In 2006, Vidler appeared as Steve in critically-acclaimed series Love My Way, alongside Claudia Karvan and Asher Keddie. He played officer Frank Williams in 2006 horror film See No Evil, as well as its sequel the following year. From 2007 to 2008, he played the recurring role of Noel Anderson on long-running soap opera Home and Away.

In 2012, Vidler played the recurring role of a police commander in the 2012 season of Underbelly (Underbelly: Badness). In 2013, he played Neil Webster, Tara's father in the Australian drama Dance Academy. He also had recurring roles in Packed to the Rafters (2013) and Rake (2014).

Throughout his career Vidler has also had guest roles in numerous television series including A Country Practice, G.P., Bony, Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, Halifax f.p., Police Rescue, State Coroner, Big Sky, Wildside, Water Rats, Stingers, SeaChange, Young Lions and McLeod's Daughters.

Vidler wrote and directed 2019 film Standing Up for Sunny, starring Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte. The film won the award for Best Indie Film at the 2020 AACTA Awards. Vidler currently works as a screenwriter, director and script assistant with his company Sidekick Pictures, based in Hollywood.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Note
1984	The Blood of Others	Autre Manifestant
1984	Displaced Persons	Alexander	TV movie
1985	Robbery Under Arms	Dick Marston
1987	The Good Wife	Sugar Hills	Also known as The Umbrella Woman
1987	The Perfectionist	Erik	TV movie
1988	Incident at Raven's Gate	Eddie
1989	Outback	Jack Donaghue	Also known as Minnamurra
1990	Harbour Beat	Lance Cooper
1993	Desperate Journey: The Allison Wilcox Story	Lieutenant Commander Jack Harkin
1994	No Worries	Gary Hay
1995	Napoleon	Snake/Galah/Mouse
1996	The Territorians	Robert McCabe
1998	The Thin Red Line	2nd Lieutenant Gore
1999	Two Hands	The Man
1999	Dog Watch	The Captain
2000	The Love of Lionel's Life	Robbie	TV movie
2001	Finding Hope	Nobby
2001	Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story	Darryl Zanuck	TV movie
2001	Blonde	Warren	TV movie
2002	The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course	Deputy Director Ansell
2002	A Ring of Endless Light	Mr. Gray
2003	Bad Eggs	Detective Pendlebury
2004	The Mystery of Natalie Wood	Richard Gregson	TV movie
2004	Through My Eyes	Inspector Graeme Charlwood
2004	Small Claims	Ross	TV movie
2006	See No Evil	Officer Frank Williams
2007	The Home Song Stories	Bill
2007	See No Evil 2	Officer Frank Williams

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note
1985	The Dunera Boys	Tropp	Miniseries
1991	A Country Practice	Phillip Dalton	2 episodes
1991	G.P.	Doug	1 episode
1991	Bony	Jackson	1 episode
1991	Heartland	Phil McCarthy	6 episodes
1992	Frankie's House	Steve Cotler
1995	Snowy River: The McGregor Saga	Daniel Larson	1 episode
1995	Janus	Danny Wyatt	4 episodes
1995	Halifax f.p.	Steve Kingsley	1 episode
1995	Police Rescue	Scuderi	1 episode
1997	State Coroner	Salmon	1 episode
1997	Big Sky	Cameron	1 episode
1998	The Day of the Roses	Dick Lamb	Miniseries
1998	Wildside	Trevor Kierney	1 episode
1999	Water Rats	Brian Geary	1 episode
1999	Stingers	Todd Tregear	1 episode
1999	SeaChange	The Ghost	1 episode
1999	MDA	Nick Clarke	3 episodes
1999	Young Lions	Sergeant Brian Graham	1 episode
2004	Salem's Lot	Sheriff Parkins Gillespie	Miniseries
2005	Jeopardy	Gerry Simmons	19 episodes
2006	Love My Way	Steven	9 episodes
2006	McLeod's Daughters	Hugh Doyle	1 episode
2007-2008	Home and Away	Noel Anderson	23 episodes
2009	Satisfaction	Terence	3 episodes
2012	Underbelly: Badness	Police Commander	8 episodes
2013	Packed to the Rafters	Mark Mackey	3 episodes
2013	Dance Academy	Neil Webster	8 episodes
2014	Rake	NSW Premier	3 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Note
1980	The Jubilee Horror or Sherlock Holmes' Finest Hour	Q Theatre Workshop member	Bankstown Town Hall Theatre Restaurant with Q Theatre
1982	Spring Awakening	Melchior	NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1982	The Cherry Orchard	Simeonov-Pishchik	NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1982	Measure for Measure	Angelo	NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1983	The Money or the Box?		NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1983	Traitors	Joseph Rubin	NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1983	Love's Labour's Lost	Dull	NIDA Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse, Canberra, University of Newcastle
1983	Summer Rain	Peter Bannister	NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1985	A Midsummer Night's Dream		Seymour Centre, Sydney
1987	Hamlet / Henry IV, Part 1		Sydney Theatre Company
1987	Away		Sydney Opera House with Sydney Theatre Company
1988	1841		Sydney Opera House with Sydney Theatre Company, Playhouse, Adelaide & STCSA
1988	Summer of the Seventeenth Doll / Away		Pepsico Summerfare New York, New York with Sydney Theatre Company
1988	The Seagull	Kinstantin	Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA
1988	Away		Sydney Opera House with Sydney Theatre Company
1989	The Tempest		Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA
1990	Words of One Syllable		Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
1991	Henry IV, Part 1		Sydney Olympic Park, Blackfriars Theatre, Sydney with Sydney Theatre Company
1991	King Golgrutha	Achilles / Simon from Loans / Georg, the Ex	Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA
1992	Britannicus		NIDA Theatre, Sydney
1993	Picasso at the Lapin Agile		Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company
1994	Hamlet		Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result
1987	The Good Wife	AFI Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
1995	Hell, Texas & Home	AFI Awards	Best Screenplay in a Short Film	Nominated
1995	Halifax f.p. (episode: "Hard Corps"	AFI Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Drama	Won
1997	Blackrock	Mystfest	Best Film	Nominated
2019	Standing up for Sunny	AACTA Awards	Best Indie Film	Won