Bruce Spence
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Bruce Spence | |
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Spence taking a break during an ADR session, November 2008 | |
Born | Auckland, New Zealand | 17 September 1945
Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand actor, having spent most of his career performing in Australia.
Early life
Spence was born in Auckland, New Zealand and attended Henderson High School in West Auckland.[citation needed] Bruce's two younger brothers Bill and Ross are the founders of Matua Wines.
Career
He is known for his roles as the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2, as Jedediah the pilot in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and as "Zedd" (Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander) in Legend of the Seeker. He won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy Stork.
He performed the voice of Chum in Finding Nemo, the Mouth of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the Trainman in The Matrix Revolutions, and Tion Medon in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
At six feet, seven inches tall (2.01 m), Spence is one of the tallest actors to have played a leading role.
He acted as the palaeontologist (Huxley) alongside fellow actor Felix Nobis, in the Australian performance of BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience. In his role, Spence narrates the activities of life-sized mechanical dinosaurs operated by teams of puppeteers and drivers.
In 2008, Spence joined the television series Legend of the Seeker, based on the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, in the role of Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, co-starring with Craig Horner and Bridget Regan. The show ran for two seasons.
In 2014, Spence played prison inmate George Corella in episode 3.1 of Rake.
Filmography
- Stork (1971) – Graham 'Stork' Wallace
- Certain Women (1973) TV Series – Julius 'Big Julie'
- Three Old Friends (1974)
- The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) – Charlie
- The Firm Man (1975) – Messenger
- The Great Macarthy (1975) – Bill Dean
- Let the Balloon Go (1976) – Chief Gifford
- Oz (1976) – Bass player/Blondie the Surfie
- Mad Dog Morgan (1976) – Heriot
- Eliza Fraser (1976) – Bruce McIver
- Barnaby and Me (1977) (TV) – Tall Baddie
- Newsfront (1978) – Redex trial driver
- Dimboola (1979) – Morrie McAdam
- And Here Comes Bucknuckle (1981) TV Series
- Mad Max 2 (1981) – The Gyro Captain
- Deadline (1982) (TV) – Towie
- Kingswood Country (1982) .... TV Series – Dentist
- Double Deal (1983) – Doug Mitchell
- The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) – Midnight's Doctor
- Midnite Spares (1983) – Wimpy
- Buddies (1983) – Ted
- Pallet on the Floor (1984) – Basil Beaumont-Foster
- Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen (Where the Green Ants Dream) (1984) – Lance Hackett
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) – Jedediah the Pilot
- Great Expectations, the Untold Story (1986) (TV) – Joe Gargery
- Bullseye (1987) – Purdy
- The Year My Voice Broke (1987) – Jonah
- The Dirtwater Dynasty (1988) (mini) TV Series – Lonely Logan
- Bachelor Girl (1988) – Alistair Dredge Jr
- Rikky and Pete (1988) – Ben
- Zucker (1989) (TV)
- Tanamera – Lion of Singapore (1989) (mini) TV Series – Hammond
- Dearest Enemy (1989) TV Series – Lenny (1989/1992)
- ...Almost (1990) – Ronnie
- The Shrimp on the Barbie (1990) – Wayne
- Sweet Talker (1991) – Norman Foster
- Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left (1992) TV Series – The Chief
- Hercules Returns (1993) – Sprocket
- Over The Hill (1994/1995) TV Series - Tall Bob
- Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) – Gahjii
- The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (1996) - Mr. Gateman
- Return to Jupiter (1997) TV Series – Ed Unit
- Halifax f.p.: Isn't It Romantic (1997) (TV) – Eric Washburn
- Bullpitt!(1997) TV Series – Darcy
- Dark City (1998) – Mr. Wall
- Moby Dick (1998) (TV) – Elijah
- BeastMaster (1999) (TV series) – Annubis
- Farscape (2002) (TV) – Prefect Falaak
- Queen of the Damned (2002) – Khayman
- Inspector Gadget 2 (2003) (V) – Baxter
- Finding Nemo (2003) (voice) – Chum
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003) – TrainMan
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) – Mouth of Sauron (Extended Edition only)
- Peter Pan (2003) – Cookson
- The Brush Off (2004) (TV) – Philip Veale
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – Tion Medon
- Aquamarine (2006) – Leonard
- RAN (Remote Area Nurse) (2006) – Vince
- Solo (2006) – Kennedy
- Nightmares & Dreamscapes (2006) TV – Hans Morris
- Equal Opportunity (2006) TV – Death
- Legend of the Seeker (2008–2010) TV – Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander
- Double The Fist (2008) TV – Mayor McCarthy
- Australia (2008) – DR. Barker
- All Saints (2009) TV – Barry Goldsworthy
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) – Lord Rhoop
- Mystery Road (2012) – Jim the Coroner
- I, Frankenstein (2014) – Molokai
- Gods of Egypt (2016) - Head Judge
- Blue World Order (2016) - Whippett
Video games
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! - Scav Gyro, Sir Dennis, Tony Van Adobe, Tony Slows, Taunting Scav #2[1]
- Enter the Matrix - The Trainman[2]
References
- ^ 2K Australia, Gearbox Software. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!. 2K Games. Scene: Closing credits, 3:39 minutes in.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Shiny Entertainment. Enter the Matrix. Atari Games.
External links
- Bruce Spence at IMDb