Kym Gyngell
Kym Gyngell (born 15 April 1952), sometimes also credited as Kim Gyngell, is an Australian comedian and film, television and stage actor. Gyngell won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988 for his role as Ian McKenzie in Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Career
Television
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in The Comedy Company and developed several popular characters, a few of which survived beyond The Comedy Company. One of his characters, Col'n Carpenter (who neglects to pronounce the letter 'i' in his name Colin), is a slow Australian with unique speech mannerisms. Col'n went on to have his own sitcom that ran for two seasons, in the early 1990s.
Also in the early 1990s, Gyngell appeared (as Carpenter) in a series of public service announcements for the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand.
Gyngell was a regular on the popular Australian series Full Frontal during the mid-1990s, where he starred alongside Eric Bana before Bana attained Hollywood fame. His most notable characters included; "Leon" (Art critic who used to show up on talk shows and say the word "Crap"); and as characters sending up Kerry O'Brien (host of the ABC's The 7.30 Report) and John Laws (former 2UE radio broadcaster).
Once he left Full Frontal, he had a few guest roles, including comedy programs The Micallef Program and Pizza, and on drama series The Secret Life of Us, CrashBurn and Love My Way.
Since 2007, Gyngell played Father Harris on the ABC comedy The Librarians.
In 2008, Gyngell had a role in Underbelly for the Nine Network and also in ABC1's comedy Very Small Business.[1]
In 2010, he had a role in the TV series Lowdown. In 2012, Gyngell played Paddy the Montebello family's shady accountant in The Straits. Both aired on ABC1.
Film
In 1985, Gyngell starred in his first film Wills & Burke playing William John Wills. In 1988, he played Ian McKenzie in Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which earned him an AFI award for Best actor. In 1988, he appeared in Bachelor Girl (1988) and in Grievous Bodily Harm. In 1990, he was in What the Moon Saw, and starred in Heaven Tonight which earned him an AFI nomination.
In 2000, he starred in the surprise hit of the year, the comedy The Wog Boy, playing the Supervisor; In 2002, he played the character of Paul in The Hard Word and as Richard in Blow.
In 2005, he was in The Writer.
Film awards
Gyngell received an AFI award in 1988 for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" for his role in Boulevard of Broken Dreams which starred John Waters who won the AFI Best Actor award; Gyngell was also nominated for his performance in Heaven Tonight (1990).[2] In 2005 Gyngell won the Best Actor award at the St Kilda Film Festival for his role in The Writer.[3]
Theatre
Gyngell played with various theatre collectives in the early 1970s, such as La Mama, The Pram Factory, Hoopla (the predecessor of the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne). In the late 1970s, he performed with the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2003, Gyngell played Robert in a production of David Auburn's play Proof. In 2008 Gyngell played William in the two-hander Ninety by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC); Later that year he played Tartuffe in Molière's The Hypocrite at the MTC opposite Marina Prior and Garry McDonald.[4] In 2012, Gyngell performed in Sydney Theatre Company's production of Pygmalion.
Personal life
His second cousin is the former CEO of the Nine Network, David Gyngell, and his older brother is former diplomat and Office of National Assessments head Allan Gyngell.
Selected works
Le Club Foote: Music
Gyngell played keyboards in the Melbourne band Le Club Foote, who released their only album Cinema Qua in 1984, along with a couple of singles. The album was produced by Colin Hay of the band Men at Work.[5]
Albums
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [6] | |||
| 1984 | "Party"/"Happy" | 56 | Cinema Qua |
| "Warning"/"Life in Ice" | - |
Television
- Kaboodle (1986) – Magic Mirror in the episode Snow White and the Dreadful Dwarves (Series 1)
- The Comedy Company (1988–89) – Col'n Carpenter
- Col'n Carpenter (1990–91) – Col'n Carpenter
- Full Frontal (1993–97) – various characters
- "Greed" by Joanna Murray-Smith, episode in The Seven Deadly Sins for ABC Television (1993)
- Fire (1995) – Jimmy Runyon
- The Micallef Program (1999) – Various Characters
- Pizza
- The Secret Life of Us (2003) – Dr. Vander
- Love My Way (2007)
- Wilfred (2007) – Dr. Jack Underwood
- The Librarians (2007) – Father Harris
- Underbelly (2008) – Keith Faure
- Very Small Business (2008) – Ray Leonard
- Lowdown (2010) – Howard Evans
- The Straits (2012) – Paddy
- Rake (2016) – Reggie
Films
- Wills & Burke (1985) – William John Wills
- Just Us (1986) – The Mouth
- With Love to the Person Next to Me (1987) – Wallace
- Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark)[7] (1988) – Actor
- Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988) – Ian McKenzie
- Bachelor Girl (1988) – Karl Stanton
- Grievous Bodily Harm (1988) – Mick
- What the Moon Saw (1990) – Jim Shilling
- Heaven Tonight (1990) – Baz Schultz
- The Making of Nothing (1993) – Davo
- Love and Other Catastrophes (1996) – Professor Leech
- The Wog Boy (2000) – Supervisor
- The Hard Word (2002) – Paul
- Blow (2002) – Richard
- Josh Jarman (2004) – Stan Billows
- The Writer (2005) – Jonathan
- The Little Death (2014) – Steve
- Bleeding Steel (2017) – Dr. James
- Brothers' Nest (2018) – Rodger
On stage
- Proof (2003) – Robert
- Ninety (2008/2009) – William
- The Hypocrite (2008) – Tartuffe
References
- ^ "The Librarians – TV Review". The Age. Melbourne. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ IMDb: Kim Gyngell – Awards
- ^ IMDb: St. Kilda Film Festival 2005
- ^ "Gyngell finds his rhythm" by Tonya Turner, The Courier-Mail, Supplement etc, p. 10, (18 July 2009)
- ^ Le Club Foote: "Party" on YouTube
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 175. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "A Cry in the Dark (1988) – Release dates". IMDb.com. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
External links
- Kym Gyngell at IMDb
- Kym Gyngell family tree
- "Profile – Kim Gyngell" by Amanda Zachariah, Geelong Advertiser (26 September 2008)
- "The Hypocrite – Melbourne Theatre Company" by Carol Middleton, Australian Stage Online (14 November 2008)