Steve Bisley

Steve Bisley (born 26 December 1951) is an Australian writer, film and television actor.

After a few years of working in various jobs, he enrolled in the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating with a degree in acting in 1977.

Other actors in his class included Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Debra Lawrance and Sally McKenzie.

While still training at NIDA, Bisley and his friend Mel Gibson made their film debuts in Summer City (1977).

He is best known for his roles in the films Mad Max (1979) and The Great Gatsby (2013).

On television, some of his better-known roles include Detective Sergeant Jack Christey in Water Rats and Jim Knight in Doctor Doctor.

Bisley was born at Lake Munmorah, New South Wales and grew up on a small farm called Stillways.

The son of schoolteachers, he moved to Sydney just after his seventeenth birthday.

Towards the end of the course, they were approached by director George Miller and asked to audition for parts in Mad Max (1979).

Both were successful and Bisley went on to play "Jim Goose", the best friend and partner to Gibson's titular character.

Mad Max has since become a cult classic and it launched Mel Gibson to mainstream stardom.

After this, Bisley played the lead role in the thriller The Chain Reaction (1980), with Mel Gibson making a brief appearance.

In 1980, Bisley played Joe Byrne in The Last Outlaw, a critically acclaimed TV mini-series about Ned Kelly.

His other early film credits include roles in The Highest Honor (1983), The Winds of Jarrah (1983), Fast Talking (1984) and Silver City (1984).

He was also seen in A Town Like Alice, The Boy in the Bush and the original 1985 miniseries of the medical drama The Flying Doctors.

His stage roles include parts in Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1985/1995) and as Banjo Paterson in the musical theatre production of The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular (August–October 2002).

In 1986, he and his family temporarily relocated to London where he took the lead role in the BBC series Call Me Mister.

Back in Australia, he played the lead role in the 1988 TV movie The Clean Machine.

For his role as Inspector Ed Riordan, he won the Best Actor in a One-off Drama accolade at the 1988 Penguin Awards.

In 1990 he co-starred with Ben Mendelsohn in the cult teen comedy The Big Steal.

His performance as shonky car salesman Gordon Farkas remains one of his most remembered roles.

In 1992, Bisley joined the cast of Police Rescue, playing Senior Sergeant Kevin 'Nipper' Harris.

He appeared in 29 episodes, leaving in 1995.

He was next seen as Dr Henry King in the ABC-TV series G.P. After this, he became a regular in the third and final season of the critically acclaimed satirical television series Frontline.

He has revealed that he turned down a role in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet because he read the script and thought "this is going nowhere".

In 2022 he appeared in Mystery Road:Origins.

In 1998, he began to appear as a guest in Nine’s police drama series Water Rats, playing Detective Jack Christey.

The following year, he became one of the lead actors on the show, replacing Colin Friels who had quit due to ill health.

Bisley left the show in 2001 but it turned out that his final episode was also the series’ swansong.

Also a stage actor, Bisley has appeared in drama productions.

In July 2003, he presented a season of television documentaries on the National Geographic Channel.

From 2007-2009, he played CMDR Steve Marshall in Sea Patrol.

He was also seen in the Australian films Red Hill (2010) and Boar (2017).

In 2013, he appeared as Dan Cody in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

In 2013, Bisley published his first book, Stillways: A Memoir.

The book recounted his life growing up in Lake Munmorah, finishing when he was in his mid-teens.

From 2016-2018.

he was seen in the first two series of Doctor Doctor, playing the father of the lead character.

In 2016, Bisley appeared as Harry Firth in the two-part Australian miniseries Brock on Network Ten.

The miniseries was based on the life of Australian motor racing legend Peter Brock.