John Wood (actor, born 1946)

John Wood
Born	(1946-07-14) 14 July 1946 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA)
Occupation(s)	Actor, scriptwriter
Years active	1966 – present
Known for	Rafferty's Rules (TV series) as Michael Rafferty Blue Heelers (TV series) as Tom Croydon
Spouse	Leslie Wood
Children	2

John Wood (born 14 July 1946) is an Australian television Gold Logie Award-winning actor and scriptwriter.

Wood has appeared in numerous theatre and TV productions, but is best known for his roles in the legal drama Rafferty's Rules as Stipendiary Magistrate Michael Rafferty and in the long-running police drama Blue Heelers, as Tom Croydon both for the Seven Network.

Biography

Early career

Wood began his acting career in 1966, attending National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and doing a play called Eh? directed by Max Gillies and co-starring Tony Taylor. In 1970 he became a professional actor and worked for the Old Tote Theatre Company in a production of Death of a Salesman.

Career-Television

His first professional TV role was in Minus Five with Ken James and Rowena Wallace which went to air with the title Barrier Reef.

A common misconception is that his first role was a guest role in Bellbird, an Australian television series. He then appeared in several Australian drama series and mini-series in minor roles. He played the co-lead role of Stokey in the ABC drama series The Truckies in 1978, writing an episode. John also wrote eleven episodes of the series Prisoner, and several episodes of Cop Shop. It wasn't until 1987 that John Wood became a well-known actor, taking the lead in Rafferty's Rules, as magistrate Michael Rafferty. Wood twice won a Logie for "Most Outstanding Actor" for his role in the show during its four seasons.

In 1993 Wood landed a leading role in Blue Heelers as Tom Croydon. This show became a big hit in Australia. As well as starring in the show, he also wrote several episodes. The show was cancelled in 2006, and Wood is one of only two actors (the other being Julie Nihill) to star in Blue Heelers from its beginning in 1993 to its end in 2006, although Wood's character is the only one to be seen in every single episode. Wood also wrote three episodes for the series.

In 2005 he hosted the mini-documentary series Made in Melbourne about 50 years of HSV7.

Wood was a contestant in the 2004 edition of the Australian Dancing with the Stars. In 2007, Wood appeared on Channel Ten's tele-movie, Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback, where he played barrister Grant Algie. He currently hosts Channel Nine's travel series Wine Me, Dine Me.

In 2009, Wood appeared in the drama The Cut on ABC1, in the historical dramatised documentary Rogue Nation, also on ABC1, and in Channel Nine's drama-series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities playing Murray Farquhar.

In 2010, Wood had a recurring role in Offspring. In June 2011, it was announced that Wood had joined the cast of Neighbours for a six-month guest role as Martin Chambers. He made his first on screen appearance in September.

In 2012, he appeared in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and had a recurring role in The Doctor Blake Mysteries. In 2013, Wood had a guest role on It's a Date (TV series).

Memoirs

In August 2020 his memoir, How I Clawed My Way Back to the Middle, was published by Viking.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2018	How to Stay Married	Morrey	1 episode
	Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell	Unorganised Funerals Salesman	1 episode
2013-17	The Doctor Blake Mysteries	Patrick Tyneman	23 episodes
2017	True Story with Hamish & Andy	Principal Scott	1 episode
2015	Open Slather	Special Guest	2 episodes
	We Are Not Real People	Guest Speaker	1 episode
2014	Fresh Blood: Aunty Donna	Crooked Cop	1 episode
2013	It’s a Date	Rex	1 episode
	Paper Giants: Magazine Wars	Ken Crowley	2 episodes
2012	The Strange Calls	Deputy Commissioner Banks	1 episode
	Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries	Mr Jones	1 episode
2011-12	Neighbours	Martin Chambers	5 episodes
2011	Killing Time	Allan Bond	1 episode
2010	Sleuth 101	Bill	1 episode
	Offspring	Gareth	4 episodes
2009	The Cut	Bill Telford	6 episodes
	Underbelly	Murray	2 episodes
	Rogue Nation	Governor William Bligh	1 episode
1994-06	Blue Heelers	Tom Croydon	510 episodes
1993-94	Newlyweds	Frank	4 episodes
1992	Dearest Enemy	Anderson Morley	7 episodes
1991	All Together Now	Detective Grant	1 episode
1987-91	Rafferty's Rules	Michael Rafferty	86 episodes
1990	G.P.	Hugh Daly	1 episode
1987-90	The Flying Doctors	Frank O'Leary / Dennis Cleary	2 episodes
1986-87	The Challenge	Alan Bond	TV miniseries, 6 episodes
1985	One Summer Again	Sir Walter Corry	TV docudrama miniseries, 3 episodes
1984	Special Squad	Barron / Crawley	2 episodes
	The Last Bastion	Robert Menzies	TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1981	The Sullivans	Army Surgeon	2 episodes
1978-80	Cop Shop	Jack / John / John Harwood	7 episodes
1980	Lawson's Mates	One Eyed Bogan	1 episode
1978	The Truckies	Stokey	12 episodes
	Catspaw	Billo	1 episode
1977	Bellbird		2 episodes
1976-77	Bluey	Cusack / Terry Carter	2 episodes
1976	Power Without Glory	Sugar Renfrey	21 episodes
1972-75	Homicide	Max Reed / John Hill	2 episodes
1973-75	Matlock Police	Jacko / Cliff	2 episodes
1974	Out of Love		TV anthology series, 1 episode
1972	Redheap	George	3 episodes
	Catwalk	Ricky Novak	7 episodes
	A Nice Day at the Office	Brian	1 episode
1971	Barrier Reef	Chris	1 episode
1970	Dynasty	Danny Bernac	1 episode

Television (self appearances)

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2021	Celebrity Mastermind	Self
2019	The New Full Monty	Self
2012	Who Do You Think You Are?	Self	1 episode

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2023	Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism	Detective Chambers
2022	Beat	Dr. Mondon
2017	Bye Bye Baby		Short film
2016	Brown Paper Bag	School Principal	Short film
2013	Backyard Ashes	Merv
2011	Waiting for Robbo	Eric	Short film
2009	Remembering Nigel	John Wood
2007	Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback	Grant Algie	TV movie
2004	Hooked	Sir Richard	Short film
1987	The Bit Part	John Bainbridge	Feature film
	Bullseye	Bluey McGurk	Feature film
1985	The Empty Beach	Parker	Feature film
1982	Ginger Meggs	Constable Brady
1979	Burn the Butterfiles		TV movie
1977	Blue Fire Lady	Gus	Feature film
1977	No Room for the Innocent		TV movie
1973	The Taming of the Shrew	Hortensio	TV play
1972	The Office Picnic	Clyde	Feature film

As writer

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995-97	Blue Heelers	Writer	3 episodes
1989	Sugar and Spice	Writer	2 episodes
1980-81	Cop Shop	Writer	9 episodes
1979-80	Prisoner	Writer	11 episodes
1978	Truckies	Writer	1 episode
1974	Flash Nick from Jindavick	Writer

Theatre

Wood is also an experienced stage actor. Notable roles include: The Wizard in 'The Wizard Of Oz' Arena Specular (2019)The Club, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, ART, Born Yesterday, The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, Cats, Chess , Love Letters, Blood Relations, The Real Inspector Hound, Strange Bedfellows: The Musical and Stephen Sewell's It Just Stopped (2006). He played the Bishop of Basingstoke in the 25th anniversary concert of Jekyll & Hyde.

Awards

John Wood has won several TV Week Logie Awards over the years and has also been nominated for several.

In 1988 and 1989, Wood received the TV Week Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Actor' for his work on Rafferty's Rules. In 2006, he was nominated in the same category for his role in Blue Heelers.

Wood was nominated for the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television every year from 1997 to 2007, for his role in Blue Heelers. After nine consecutive Gold Logie nominations without a win, he was awarded the prize in 2006.

Wood has won the Most Popular Actor award twice (in 2005 and 2006) and has been nominated another eight consecutive times (1996–2003) for his role in Blue Heelers.

External links

• John Wood at IMDb
• John Wood–Australian Broadcasting Corporation