Garry McDonald

Career

McDonald was born in Glen Innes, in the New England area of Northern New South Wales and was educated at Cranbrook School. During his time at Cranbrook, McDonald developed an interest in acting and, despite family objections, went on to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he obtained a Diploma in Acting in 1967.

Norman Gunston

It was while working on The Aunty Jack Show in 1973, that McDonald first performed the character for which he would become best-known, the gauche and inept TV personality, Norman Gunston. Gunston's first appearance was in a series of brief sketches written by Wendy Skelcher which saw him reporting uncomfortably on a "sex-scandal drought" in his home town, the New South Wales city of Wollongong; a drought he eventually breaks by appearing nude on camera.

In 1975 McDonald revived the Gunston character for TV with the help of a writing team that included Morris Gleitzman (now a successful children's author) and veteran TV comedy writer Bill Harding, who had written for the Australian TV satire The Mavis Bramston Show.

Gunston's trademark outfit consisted of an iridescent-blue tuxedo jacket, black stovepipe trousers, and sneakers with white socks. Gunston had a comb over type hairstyle and used makeup to make his face deathbed white and had bits of tissue drying on shaving nicks.

The series, which satirised many aspects of Australian culture and show business, was a mixture of live and pre-recorded interviews, awkward musical segments – excruciatingly sung by Gunston himself in the broadest 'strine' accent – and continuing comedy sketches such as "Norman's Dreamtime" (in which Norman read stories to a group of children, such as "Why Underpants Ride Up").

Using Gunston's gormless personality as a cover to break down the defences of his "victims", McDonald pioneered the satirically provocative "ambush interview" technique which was used to great effect in interviews with Paul McCartney, Muhammad Ali, Keith Moon, Leif Garrett and actress Sally Struthers. When Gunston interviewed Elton John, who was in Australia to promote Tommy, Gunston began by asking "Are you going to premiere in Wollongong?" "No, but I've played tennis with her", John responded. "You're thinking of Evonne Wollongong", Gunston said, "I'm talking about the city."

As Norman Gunston, McDonald also had a successful recording career, releasing a string of satirical novelty pop records that anticipated the pop parodies of "Weird Al" Yankovic. Norman's Top 40 chart hits included his interpretation of the Tom Jones classic "Delilah", the punk rock send-up "I Might Be A Punk But I Love You, Baby" and "We're All Marching In The KISS Army", a parody of the KISS single "I Was Made For Loving You".

Mother and Son

McDonald played Arthur Beare in the successful television series Mother and Son, starring alongside Ruth Cracknell over six seasons from 1984 until 1994. He won several Logie Awards for his role in the show (see below).

Offspring

McDonald joined the cast of the Network Ten drama series Offspring in 2012 (series three), and is now a series regular. He plays Doctor Philip Noonan.

Other work

He has had lead roles and guest roles in several theatrical stage roles, and well as television appearances.

Personal

Early in his career he met his wife, the actress Diane Craig, during a production of Let's Get A Divorce. They have two grown children, David and Kate, and live in Berry on the New South Wales south coast.

Suffering from both depression and anxiety, McDonald talks openly about his condition and has become an advocate. He is an ambassador and former Board director of beyondblue, an Australian national depression initiative and serves as patron of the NSW branch of the Anxiety Disorders Foundation of Australia. McDonald is quoted in the press discussing a link between his own anxiety and that of his grandfather and mother.

McDonald's condition first came to the public's attention when he reached crisis point after an abortive attempt to revive the Gunston character in 1993. Then again in 1997, McDonald suffered a severe episode during the launch of a new series, Rip Snorters. McDonald's condition also caused him to withdraw from a production of Howard Katz in 2003.

Honours

In 2003, for his work in the area of mental illness, in addition to his services in the entertainment industry, McDonald was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia. In 2015, he was a featured subject on the ABC documentary series Australian Story.

Feature films

Television

Theatre

Art portraits

Two portraits of McDonald have won awards at the Archibald Prize. In 1999 a portrait by artist Deny Christian won the Packing Room award and, in 2007, Paul Jackson's "All the world's a stage" won the Peoples Choice award. In 2016, yet another painting of McDonald was a finalist in The Archibald Prize by Kirsty Neilson entitled "There's No Humour in Darkness".