John Clarke
Acting
Biography
CLARKE, John, Dip Lid, PhD in Cattle (Oxen). Advisor and comforter to various governments. Born 1948. Educ. subsequently. Travelled extensively throughout Holy Lands, then left New Zealand for Europe. Stationed in London 1971-73. Escaped (decorated). Rejoined unit. Arrived Australia 1977. Held positions with ABC radio (Sckd), ABC Television (Dfnct), Various newspapers (Dcd), and Aust Film Industry (Fkd). Currently a freelance expert specialising in matters of a general character. Recreations: Whistling. Address: C/– the people next door. Or just pop it inside the door of the fusebox. Should be back Friday.
Born: July 29, 1948
Place of Birth: Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand
Known For
Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke
For over 40 years, the iconic John Clarke tickled the funny bones of Australian and New Zealand audiences. Now, in this intimately produced documentary, hear his story in his own words. In a remarkable series of recorded conversations between John and his daughter, writer/director Lorin Clarke, he traces his steadfast resistance to authority back to his childhood and offers delightful insights into his four decades in the entertainment industry.
Sporting Nation
The late sports lover and renowned satirist John Clarke looks at how Australia came to take its sport so seriously and what it means to be a sporting nation.
Crackerjack
When dwindling membership and increasing overheads makes a local bowling club a prime candidate for a takeover, it's all hands on deck to save the club, in what turns into an epic battle where young meets old, greed meets good and people rise to the occasion in extraordinary circumstances.
Kath & Kim
Kath & Kim is a character-driven Australian television situation comedy series. The series was created by, and is written by Jane Turner and Gina Riley who play the title characters: a suburban mother and daughter with a dysfunctional relationship. The series main characters consist of Kath Day-Knight, a cheerful 50-year-old woman, her self-indulgent daughter Kim Craig, Kath's boyfriend and second husband, the metrosexual Kel Knight, as well as Kim's estranged husband Brett Craig and her lonely, overweight "second best friend" Sharon Strzelecki. The series is set in the fictional suburb of Fountain Lakes in Melbourne. It is primarily filmed in Patterson Lakes. The series was conceived by Turner and Riley in the early 1990s as a weekly segment of the Australian comedy series Fast Forward. The skit was then developed into a full-series. The first series of Kath & Kim premiered on ABC TV on 16 May 2002, with three further series following, while a television movie, entitled Da Kath and Kim Code, was broadcast nationally on 25 November 2005. Kath & Kim has garnered much critical acclaim since its debut, winning two Logie Awards, for "Outstanding Comedy Programme" and the "Best Television Drama Series" award at the Australian Film Institute Awards. In Australia, it has become a pop culture phenomenon, and is a success with audiences nationwide. Internationally, the series has spawned a cult fanbase, and in 2006 it was announced an American version of the series would be produced, to air on NBC. Riley and Turner served as executive producers on the US version. The American version was also picked up by Seven, which debuted the program on 12 October 2008, just three days after its debut in the United States.
The Brush-Off
The political adviser to Australia's Minister of the Arts investigates the suspicious death of a disgruntled artist.
The Games
The Games was an Australian mockumentary television series about the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The series was originally broadcast on the ABC and had two seasons of 13 episodes each, the first in 1998 and the second in 2000. 'The Games' starred satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe along with Australian comedian Gina Riley and actor Nicholas Bell. It was written by John Clarke and Ross Stevenson. The series centred on the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and satirised corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media. An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them, to enhance the illusion of a documentary on the Sydney Games.
Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale
Featuring the characters from Murray Ball's "Footrot Flats" (New Zealands most beloved local cartoon strip), questions to be answered include: Will Wal Footrot win the affections of Cheeky Hobson over the sleazy Spit Murphy? Will the Dog win the affections of the lovely Jess? Will Wal make a good impression on the selectors at Saturday's rugby match? Can Rangi and Pongo save Cooch's prize stag from the depths of Blackwater Station, home of the Murphys, their vicious dogs and deadly croco-pigs? All this and more will be answered as the small town of Raupo comes to life on the big screen.
The Ex-PM
As our third longest serving Prime Minister, Andrew Dugdale mattered. He dined with presidents and kings, hosted world summits and changed the lives of millions of his fellow Australians. But now he's retired; a not-so-elder statesman with time on his hands to ponder the question - was it all worth it? Not that he's asking of course. No, his inquisitive and over enthusiastic ghostwriter Ellen has an unhelpfully insatiable appetite for the truth.
A Month of Sundays
Frank Mollard, divorced but still attached, can't move on and also can't sell a house in a property boom, much less connect with his teenage son. One night Frank gets a phone call from his mother. Nothing out of the ordinary there – apart from the fact that she died the year before.
Death in Brunswick
A reserved man in need of a job, Carl Fitzgerald finds employment at a Greek restaurant. Upon meeting waitress Sophie, Carl begins dating the attractive woman. Though it seems things are improving for Carl, an unexpected situation leads to the death of Mustafa, a shady coworker, and Carl must figure out how to cover up the incident. Unsure of what to do, Carl enlists the help of his buddy, Dave, to get rid of Mustafa's corpse.
Filmography
as Phillip Lang
as Henry Coates
as Tom
as Self
as Various
as Self - Presenter
as Fred Dagg
as Ken Sproule
as Bernie Fowler
as Paul Collins
as John
as Magistrate
as Dave
as Sheedy
as Car Salesman
as Inspector Jerry
as Mike Rooke
as Wal (voice)
as Alan
as Dr. Frederick Z. Daggenheimer
as Fred Dagg
as Expatriate