| Lewis Fiander | |
| Birth Name: | Lewis Ernest Fiander |
| Birth Date: | 12 January 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Death Place: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Lewis Ernest Fiander (12 January 1938 – 24 May 2016) was an Australian film, stage, and television actor.
Fiander was born in Melbourne to Mona Jane (née King) and Walter Lewis Fiander, and educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew.[1]
He began his stage career as a schoolboy with the Australian National Theatre Movement in Melbourne.[2]
Fiander became a successful radio actor in Sydney and appeared in the first Australian television play, The Sub-Editor’s Room for ABC TV.[3]
Moving to the UK from his native Australia, initially to appear in the play The One Day of the Year, Fiander appeared in such films as I Start Counting (1970), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), The Abdication (1974), Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Not Now, Comrade (1976), Sweeney 2 (1978), The Doctor and the Devils (1985), Georgia (1988) and Paperback Romance (1994). His first major role on television was Mr. Darcy in the BBC's first colour adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (1967).[4]
In 1970, Fiander originated the role of John Adams in the London stage production of 1776, a role he reprised in Australia. Other stage appearances in West End musicals included the roles of Lord Melbourne and Disraeli in I and Albert, Noël Coward in Noel and Gertie and Puccini in Cafe Puccini.
During the 1970s, he was cast as Professor Tryst in the Doctor Who episode "Nightmare of Eden" and after discussion with his friend Tom Baker chose to give the character a hybrid accent as would befit an alien in the future. In 1974, he appeared as Casimir Dudevant playing opposite Rosemary Harris in the BBC series Notorious Woman and performed the role of Thomas Becket on a cast-album of the musical Thomas and The King.
On radio, he played the eponymous lead role in the comedy series Patterson.
He returned to Australia in the early 1980s and continued his acting career.
In 2004 he contributed the voice for airship engineer Kemp in Anthony Lucas's Oscar nominated animation, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello.
Lewis Fiander's last known film appearance was in the Don Percy short film Two Moments in Time. Fiander's scenes were shot in late September 2015. The film was completed in 2017, and premiered at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2018.[5]
Fiander died on 24 May 2016, following a stroke.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | The Password Is Courage | Pringle | Feature film | |
| 1963 | The V.I.P.s | Third Reporter (uncredited) | Feature film | |
| 1970 | I Start Counting | Priest at Church | Feature film | |
| 1971 | Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde | Howard Spencer | Feature film | |
| 1972 | Dr. Phibes Rises Again | Baker | Feature film | |
| 1974 | The Abdication | Father Dominic | Feature film | |
| 1976 | Who Can Kill a Child? | Tom | Feature film | |
| 1976 | Not Now, Comrade | Rudi Petrovyan | Feature film | |
| 1978 | Sweeney 2 | Gorran | Feature film | |
| 1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Dr. Thornton | Feature film | |
| 1986 | On Wings of Fire | Tansar | Feature film | |
| 1988 | Georgia | Scarlatti | Feature film | |
| 1994 | Paperback Romance (aka Lucky Break) | Mr. Bruce Wrightman | Feature film | |
| 2004 | The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello | Kemp (voice) | Animated film | |
| 2015 | Two Moments in Time | Short film (last appearance) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Pride and Prejudice | TV series | ||
| 1974 | Notorious Woman | TV miniseries | ||
| 1979 | Doctor Who | Professor Tryst | TV series, episode: "Nightmare of Eden" | |
| 1982 | Ranjeet | TV series, 7 episodes | ||
| 1989 | Tanamera – Lion of Singapore | Papa Jack | TV miniseries |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Accolade | Tom | National Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1953; 1955 | The Merchant of Venice | Launcelot Gobbo | National Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1953 | The New Adventures of Ginger Meggs | Bang Bang the Clown | National Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1955 | The Poltergeist | National Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1955 | Twelfth Night | Feste | National Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1955 | Shakespeare Festival 1955 | National Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1955 | Hamlet | Player Queen / Horatio | National Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1955 | The Lady from the Sea | National Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1955 | Vulture's Eye | National Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1959 | Moby Dick—Rehearsed | Ishmael | Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney, University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | The Waltz of the Toreadors | Gaston | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | Arms and the Man | Major Plechanoff | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | The Party | Soya Marshall | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | Venus Observed | Edgar | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | The Rape of the Belt | Zeus | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959 | The Ghost Train | Richard Winthrop | University of Melbourne | |
| 1959; 1960 | Sweeney Todd | Dr Aminadab Lupin | University of Melbourne, | |
| 1960 | Prisoners' Country | Cunningham | University of Melbourne | |
| 1960 | The Entertainer | Frank Rice | University of Melbourne | |
| 1960 | Ah, Wilderness! | Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney | ||
| 1961 | The Mystery of a Hansom Cab | Brian Fitzgerald | University of Melbourne, Russell Street Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1961 | A Taste of Honey | Geoff | ||
| 1961 | The Glass Menagerie | Palace Theatre, Sydney | ||
| 1961 | The Merchant of Venice | Launcelot Gobbo / Shylock | Palace Theatre, Sydney with Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney | |
| The Hostage | Leslie | |||
| 1961 | The One Day of the Year | Hughie Cook | Theatre Royal Stratford East with Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney | |
| 1962 | The School for Scandal | 1st Gentleman | Theatre Royal, London Haymarket Theatre, London with Tennent Productions | |
| 1963 | Virtue in Danger | Lory | Strand Theatre, London & Mermaid Theatre, London with Mermaid Theatre Company | |
| 1963 (64?) | The Royal Hunt of the Sun | Domingo | The Old Vic Theatre, London with British National Theatre Company | |
| 1963–64 | Saint Joan | Canon de Courcelles | The Old Vic Theatre, London & Chichester Festival Theatre with British National Theatre Company | |
| 1963–64 | Hamlet | Court Ladies, Courtiers, Soldiers, Servants | The Old Vic Theatre, London with British National Theatre Company (understudied Peter O’Toole for lead role of Hamlet) | |
| 1964 | Andorra | Extra | The Old Vic Theatre, London | |
| 1964 | Philoctetes | Chorus | The Old Vic Theatre, London with British National Theatre Company | |
| 1966 | Stephen D. | Stephen | Citizens Theatre, Glasgow | |
| 1966 | The Comedy of Errors | Antipholus of Syracuse | New Zealand tour with Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1967 | The Pursuit of Love | Christian Talbot | The Old Vic Theatre, London with Theatre Royal | |
| 1967 | She Stoops to Conquer | Oxford Playhouse | ||
| 1968 | The Silent Woman | Truwit | Oxford Playhouse | |
| 1968 | The Duel | Deacon Pobyedov | Duke of York's Theatre, London | |
| 1969 | Saint Joan | Warwick | Oxford Playhouse | |
| 1969 | The Bootleg Gentleman | |||
| 1969 | A Talent to Amuse | Phoenix Theatre, London | ||
| 1970 | Peer Gynt | Peer Gynt | Nuffield Theatre, Southampton & Oxford Playhouse | |
| 1970–71 | 1776 | John Adams | New Theatre, London, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Sydney | |
| 1972 | Volpone | Mosca | Bristol Old Vic with Theatre Royal | |
| 1972–73 | I and Albert | Benjamin Disraeli / Lord Melbourne | Piccadilly Theatre, London | |
| 1974; 1975 | Follow the Star | Herod | Chichester Festival Theatre & Westminster, UK | |
| 1975 | Thomas and The King | Her Majesty’’ Theatre, London | ||
| 1976 | Same Time Next Year | George | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Sydney, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide | |
| 1977–78 | Wild Oats | Jack Rover | Aldwych Theatre, London & Piccadilly Theatre, London with Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1978 | Arms and the Man | Bluntschli | Greenwich Theatre, London | |
| 1979 | Clouds | Owen Shorter | Criterion Theatre, London | |
| 1980 | Old Heads and Young Hearts | Littleton Coke | Chichester Festival Theatre | |
| 1981 | The Killing Game | Lt. Colonel Guy Holden | Apollo Theatre, London | |
| 1985 | Cavalcade | Robert Marryot | Chichester Festival Theatre | |
| 1986 | Cafe Puccini | Puccini | Wyndham’s Theatre, London | |
| 1986 | Noël and Gertie | Donmar Warehouse Theatre, London | ||
| 1986–87 | Aren’t We All? | Willie Tatham | His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney with Remarkable Enterprises | |
| 1988 | My Fair Lady | Henry Higgins | ||
| 1988 | The Browning Version and Harlequinade | Jack Wakefield / Frank Hunter | Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Canberra Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth | |
| 1980s | Perchance to Dream | Ivor Novello | Northcott Theatre, Exeter | |
| 1990 | Rumors | Lenny Ganz | Australian tour | |
| 1990 | Love Letters | Andrew Makepeace Ladd III | Playhouse, Melbourne | |
| 1991 | The Woman in Black | The Actor | Sydney Opera House, Manning Entertainment Centre, Laycock Street Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane | |
| 1991 | The Phantom of the Opera | Princess Theatre Melbourne with The Really Useful Theatre Company | ||
| 1992 | Dear Liar | Geelong Arts Centre, Monash University | ||
| 1993 | Follies | State Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1994 | A Flea in Her Ear | Carlos Homenides / Histangua | Playhouse, Melbourne with Melbourne Theatre Company for Melbourne International Comedy Festival | |
| A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Solo recital | |||
| Enoch Arden | Solo recital | |||
| Townhall Cavalcade | Solo recital | Mietta's, Melbourne | ||
| The Long Farewell | Solo recital | Mietta's, Melbourne | ||
| 1994 | There's One In Every Marriage | Mietta's, Melbourne | ||
| 1994 | Kismet in Concert | The Wazir of Police | Arts Centre, Melbourne | |
| 1995–96 | Arcadia | Bernard | Playhouse, Melbourne, Suncorp Piazza, Brisbane | |
| 1995 | Ruddigore | Sir Despard Murgatroyd | State Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1996 | Private Lives | Elyot Chase | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with Melbourne Theatre Company | |
| 1997 | Sweet Charity | Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 1999 | A Return to the Brink | Colonel Campbell | Malthouse, Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 2000; 2001 | Australian Philharmonic Orchestra | Compère | Sydney Opera House | |
| 2000 | The Best of British | MC | Melbourne Concert Hall | |
| 2000 | New Years Eve Extravaganza | Melbourne Concert Hall | ||
| 2001 | God Only Knows | Marian Street Theatre | ||
| 2001 | An Evening In Paris | Melbourne Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House | ||
| 2002 | Pop Goes Gilbert & Sullivan | Narrator | Melbourne Concert Hall | |
| 2002 | The Night They Invented Champagne | Sydney Opera House, Costa Hall, Geelong, Melbourne Concert Hall, Festival Theatre, Adelaide | ||
| 2002 | Vienna Waits for You | MC | Melbourne Concert Hall, Adelaide Convention Centre | |
| 2002 | Keene / Taylor Theatre Project (Two Shanks) | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne | ||
| 2003 | The Visit | The Burgomeister | Playhouse, Melbourne with Melbourne Theatre Company | |
| 2003 | Hats Off! | |||
| 2004 | Afterplay | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne | ||
| 2004 | I'm In Love With Vienna | Sydney Opera House | ||
| 2004 | Morning Melodies: The Piccadilly Music Hall | Nambour Civic Centre | ||
| 2006 | Silver Jubilee Concert | Hamer Hall, Melbourne | ||
| 2006 | Not New Year's Eve | Sydney Opera House | ||
| 2007 | Musically Speaking | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne | ||
| 2007 | He's Never Done This Before | Phee Broadway Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| 2007 | Enlightenment | Gordon | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne | |
| 2008–09 | Travelling North | Saul Morgenstein | Randall Theatre, Melbourne, Playhouse, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company, Star Court Theatre, Lismore, Z-Pac Theatre, Hervey Bay, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Westside Performing Arts Centre, Mooroopna, Riverside Theatres Parramatta, Mildura Arts Centre | |
| 2011 | Be Watched by Gary Files (preliminary readings 1) | Denzil | Majestic Cinemas, Sydney |