Name Steve Spears Role Playwright | ||
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Occupation Playwright, writer, actor, singer Died October 16, 2007, Aldinga, Australia Books Drag Show: Featuring Peter Kenna's "Mates" and Steve J. Spears' "The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin". Movies and TV shows Mad Max 2, Space Stars, Trollkins, Those Dear Departed, More Winners: Mr Edmund Similar People Gordon Chater, Byron Kennedy, Peter Kenna, Richard Wherrett, Esben Storm | ||
Steven John Peter Spears (22 January 1951 – 16 October 2007) professionally Steve J. Spears, was an Australian playwright, actor, writer and singer. His most famous work was The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin (1976). He was cited as "one of Australia's most celebrated playwrights".
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Early life
Spears was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1951 and, after his parents separated when he was very young, grew up with relatives in the suburb of Mile End. He studied Law at the University of Adelaide, but through writing and performing student revues, was distracted into a career in the theatre.
Sydney
Spears moved to Sydney in the 1970s. In his own words, he was a "born-again Sydney-sider".
Later life
Spears died in Aldinga, South Australia from brain cancer in 2007, aged only 56.
Plays
Spears' theatrical works include:
His final theatre work was The Dance Angelic (1995).
Television
Spears appeared in A Country Practice (1981), Hey Dad! (1988), G.P. (1989), Heartbreak High (2004).
Film
Among other roles, Spears played the lead in Temperament Unsuited and "The Mechanic", a wheelchair-using paraplegic, in Mad Max 2.
Voice work
Spears also supplied the voice of Lion in the popular children's TV series Magic Mountain for ABC TV, Southern Star Entertainment and China Central Television.
Stage
Spears played "Eddie" and "Doctor Scott" in a 1981 Sydney production of Jim Sharman's The Rocky Horror Show.
Writing
Over his career, Spears wrote prolifically for television. His credits include:
Spears wrote an "anti-memoir" "In Search of the Bodgie", published in 1989
In 2004, Spears' detective novel Murder at the Fortnight was published. It was planned as the first of a thirteen part series, The Pentangeli Papers, but only one more, Innocent Murders (2006) was published before his death.