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Richard Meikle

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Richard Meikle
Born(1929-10-10)10 October 1929
Died2 June 1991(1991-06-02) (aged 61)
OccupationActor
Spouses
  • (m. 1955)
  • Helen Millicent Madgwick
    (m. 1968)
Children5, including Sam Meikle

Richard Meikle (10 October 1929 – 2 June 1991) was an Australian actor who worked extensively in film, theatre, and radio. He was the father of writer Sam Meikle.

Career

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Meikle began his career as a stage actor. His first recorded role was in Metropolitan Theatre's production of Ned Kelly in 1947.[1]

In the 1950s, Meikle moved into radio acting, most prominently with Grace Gibson Radio Productions. Meikle's voice landed him many major roles with the company as both an actor and an announcer. Meikle was included in Reg James' list of his favourite Grace Gibson performances for his starring role alongside John Unicomb in the serial Becket.[2] Another factor working in Meikle's favour was his ability and desire to perform his own sound effects. Grace Gibson Productions' budget did not cover a professional sound effects person and as such actors who could do effects themselves were highly sought after. Reg James noted Meikle would often compete for rights to do sound effects with his co-stars Ron Roberts and James Condon.[3]

Meikle played London-based spy Guy Marriott. 1966 produced several roles for Meikle. He was used in the dual role of actor and announcer in The Shame of Sefton Ridge, an adaptation of Hamilton Basso's novel The View from Pompey's Head. Meikle read the opening credits and played the character of Mickey Higgens. Meikle's other role that year was that of henchman Paul Kruger in another Phillip Mann drama The Red Gardenia. Meikle also read the end credits of a few episodes. Another major role in the 60s for Meikle was as Logan Berkeley in Ross Napier's adaptation of the novel Borrasca. Borrasca was another example of Grace Gibson using Meikle as an announcer.

The early 1970s also proved to be a busy time for Meikle with Grace Gibson. He had another actor/announcer job in the form of Ross Napier's So Help Me God in 1970, where he read the credits for each episode and played criminal Toby Laird. Meikle had starring roles in the 1971 shows I Killed Grace Random and I, Christopher Macaulay, where he played copywriter Curtis Miller and the titular character respectively.

As television started to become more prevalent, Meikle began to branch out in the late 1970s. He appeared in several television movies, including Harvest of Hate, where he replaced Sir Robert Helpmann in the role of vineyard owner John Camden.[4][5] In 1976, Meikle had a major role as Martin Gruman in the one hour pilot episode of the television drama Bluey.

In 1982, Meikle returned to Grace Gibson and joined the cast of Grace Gibson's most popular serial, The Castlereagh Line. Meikle played Jim Holly.

Personal life

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Richard was the son of Leslie Meikle, an engineer, and Alma May Meikle (née Milsted).[6][full citation needed] Richard married twice: in 1955 to Lola Edna Brooks, an actress, with whom he had a son. He married again in 1968, to Helen Millicent Madgwick, by whom he had another four children. Richard's obituary appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 June 1991.[7]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1960 ITV Play of the Week Lindsey Stone Episode: "The Night of the Big Heat"[5]
1961 No Hiding Place Arthur Wolf TV series
Episode: "The Long Stretch"[5]
1961 Whiplash Pecos Denvers TV series
Episode: "Episode in Bathurst"
1965 My Brother Jack[8] Dud Rosevear TV series, 1 episode
1967 Contrabandits Sam Kodiak TV series
Episode: "Target, Smokehouse"
1968 Hunter Phan Lin TV series,
Episode: "Brain Storm"
1968-1969 I've Married A Bachelor Guru Chanderadas TV series, 2 episodes
1969 Riptide Alex Kolonis TV series
TV series
Episode: "Good Friday Island"
1969 Delta Bill Prescott TV series
Episode: "The Devil Take the Blue Tongue Fly"
1969 Woobinda, Animal Doctor TV series
Episode: "No Love for Theodore"
1969-1973 Division 4 Gil Williamson / Ian Taylor / James Marshall TV series
8 episodes
1970 The Rovers Professor Anderson TV series
Episode: "A Present for Jenny"
1972 Barrier Reef Joe Francis TV series
Episode: "The Speckled Stone Fish"
1972 Homicide Barrington TV series
Episode: "From the Top"
1972 Catwalk Christopher Kemper TV series
Episode: "Try Anything Twice"
1972-1976 Matlock Police Roy 'Tiger' Donovan / Neil Thomas / Norman West TV series, 3 episodes
1973 Certain Women George Lindsay TV series, 6 episodes
1976 Bluey Martin Gruman TV series
Episode: "The First Bloody Day"
1976 The Young Doctors Les Bradley TV series, 1 episode
1977 Glenview High Michael Wilson TV series
Episode: "Quiet Nights and Silent Deaths"
1978 The Restless Years Senator Ross Lindsay TV series, 26 episodes
1978 Chopper Squad George Deacon TV series
Episode: "8:52 A.M."
1979 Cop Shop Frank Dobson TV series, 4 episodes
1982-1987 A Country Practice Fred Murray / Arthur Ryan / Jim Higgins TV series, 6 episodes
1983 Scales of Justice Premier Cooper Miniseries
Episode: "The Numbers"
1984 The Last Bastion General Vasey Miniseries
1985 Sons and Daughters Colonel Gerrard Bainbridge TV series, 5 episodes
1988 The Dirtwater Dynasty Mr. J. James Miniseries, 1 episode
1990 Home and Away Paramedic TV series, 1 episode

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1957 A Fourth for Bridge TV movie
1957 The Importance of Being Earnest Algernon TV movie
1957 In the Zone TV movie
1958 This Land Australia Short film
1959 On the Beach Davis [5]
1961 A Night Out Gidney TV movie
1962 The Taming of the Shrew Voice TV movie
1965 The Affair TV movie
1967 Love and War TV movie
1968 The Battlers TV movie
1972 The Prince and the Pauper Voice TV movie (animated)
1973 The Count of Monte Cristo Voice TV movie (animated)
1973 The Three Musketeers Voice TV movie (animated)
1974 Moving On
1976 Silent Night, Holy Night TV movie
1977 Dot and the Kangaroo Jack the Farmhand (voice) TV movie (animated)
Also casting director
1979 Harvest of Hate John Camden TV movie[5]
1979 The Little Convict Sergeant Bully Langton (voice) TV movie (animated)
Also casting director & production manager
1981 Doctors and Nurses The President
1983 Who Killed Baby Azaria? Coroner Galvin TV movie
1984 For Love or Money Himself Documentary film[5]
1985 The Pickwick Papers Voice TV movie (animated)
1985 The Adventures of Robin Hood Voice TV movie (animated)
1985 The Man in the Iron Mask Voice TV movie (animated)
1985 Stock Squad TV movie
1985 Robbery Major General TV movie
1986 Kidnapped Voice TV movie (animated)
1986 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Voice TV movie (animated)

Radio

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Year Title Role Notes
1954 Starlight Theatre Radio
1958 Radio Cab Scott Sullivan Radio
1959 Not to be Taken Steven Davies Radio (original voice)
1962 Sara Dane Irish rebel convict Radio
1963 The Robe Marcellus Gallio Radio
1964 Too Young to Die Larry Gates Radio
1964 Pray for a Brave Heart Radio
1965 The Tilsit Inheritance Jim Radio
1965 Becket King Henry II Radio
1966 The Red Gardenia Paul Kruger / Announcer Radio
1966 The Shame of Sefton Ridge Mickey Higgens / Announcer Radio
1967 The Sinners of Sonoma Robby Barrow Radio
1968 Borrasca Logan Berkeley Radio
1968 Kinkhead Warren Butler Radio
1968 Undercover Guy Marriott Radio
1970 So Help Me God Toby Laird / Announcer Radio
1971 I Killed Grace Random Curtis Miller / Announcer Radio
1971 I, Christopher Macaulay Christopher Macaulay Radio
1982 The Castlereagh Line Jim Holly / William Holly Radio
Unknown Crisis Point Narrator TV Radio
Unknown Requiem for Paul Jason Eric Millgate Radio
Unknown The Silent Witness Les Callaghan / End Credits Radio
Unknown Step into Deep Waters Leslie Galvin Radio

References

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  1. ^ "Richard Meikle". AusStage. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. ^ James, Reg (2015). A Theatre in my Mind. Fremantle, Western Australia: Vivid Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-925341-34-8.
  3. ^ James, Reg (2015). A Theatre in my Mind. Fremantle, Western Australia: Vivid Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-925341-34-8.
  4. ^ "Harvest of Hate". OzMovies. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Richard Meikle | BFI". British Film Institute. Retrieved 9 October 2020.[dead link]
  6. ^ New South Wales Electoral Rolls
  7. ^ "Actor played full range of roles on screen and stage". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 June 1991. Retrieved 9 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Vagg, Stephen (22 January 2022). "Forgotten Australian Mini-series: My Brother Jack". Filmink. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
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