George Spartels
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George Spartels | |
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| Born | George Bernard Spartels 25 April 1954 Australia |
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George Bernard Spartels (born 25 April 1954) is an Australian actor, presenter, director, playwright and children's musician of Greek descent on his father's ancestry, and English and Irish on his mother's. He remains best known for his role on the television soap opera Neighbours, playing family patriarch Benito Alessi,[1] along with Prisoner and Bellbird star and soap veteran Elspeth Ballantyne as his wife Cathy Alessi, two sons Felice Arena And Dan Falzon, the Alessi family of Italian descent were added to the series in mid-1992, as a new family, joining already cast cousins, the Blakeney sisters.
Spartels was also a children's television presenter, having had a long tenure on ABC's Play School, over 14 years between 1985 and 1999.[2][3][4][5] Other roles include Cop Shop in 1978, Prisoner in 1979, Punishment in 1981, the Bluestone Boys and Blackfinger in the movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, alongside Mel Gibson and Tina Turner.
Spartels' photoportrait, by Ivan Gaal, is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.[6]
Personal life[edit]
Spartels was previously married to Sue Spartels, followed by actress Elizabeth Alexander; married, in April 2013, to Mary Spartels and resided in Sydney, Australia. Divorced from Mary in 2017, he returned to Melbourne and commutes.
Spartels has guest starred in many other Australian television series from the 1970s to the present and has appeared in a number of episodes of medical drama series All Saints and serial Packed to the Rafters as Carbo's father. In 2014, he toured in Canada, LA and Australia in "The Last Confession" with David Suchet.[7]
Awards[edit]
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | George from Play School | Best Children's Album | Nominated |
| 1998 | Let's Go Out | Nominated | |
| 2001 | George Meets The Orchestra | Nominated |
References[edit]
- ^ Michelle Arrow, Jeannine Baker and Clare Monagle; Michelle Arrow, Jeannine Baker and Clare Monagle. "Monash University EPress". books.publishing.monash.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Play School: the early years". ABC Radio National. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Don't tell the children". The Age. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Play School is 'rife with double entendres'". NewsComAu. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Through the windows". The Monthly. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "George Spartels, early 1970's". National Portrait Gallery collection. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ "'The Last Confession': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
External links[edit]
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