Richard 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
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] 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
Richard was the son of Leslie Meikle, an engineer, and Alma May Meikle née Milsted.[5] 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.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Starlight Theatre | Radio | |
| 1957 | A Fourth for Bridge | TV movie | |
| 1957 | The Importance of Being Earnest | TV movie | |
| 1957 | In the Zone | TV movie | |
| 1958 | Radio Cab | Scott Sullivan | Radio |
| 1958 | This Land Australia | Short | |
| 1959 | On the Beach | Davis | |
| 1959 | Not to be Taken | Steven Davies | Radio (original voice) |
| 1960 | ITV Play of the Week | Lindsey Stone | Episode: "The Night of the Big Heat" |
| 1961 | No Hiding Place | Arthur Wolf | Episode: "The Long Stretch" |
| 1961 | Whiplash | Pecos Denvers | Episode: "Episode in Bathurst" |
| 1961 | A Night Out | Gidney | TV movie |
| 1962 | The Taming of the Shrew | TV movie | |
| 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 Affair | TV movie | |
| 1965 | My Brother Jack | Dud Rosevear | 1 episode |
| 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 | Love and War | TV movie | |
| 1967 | The Sinners of Sonoma | Robby Barrow | Radio |
| 1967 | Contrabandits | Sam Kodiak | Episode: "Target, Smokehouse" |
| 1968 | Borrasca | Logan Berkeley | Radio |
| 1968 | Kinkhead | Warren Butler | Radio |
| 1968 | Undercover | Guy Marriott | Radio |
| 1968 | The Battlers | TV movie | |
| 1968 | Hunter | Phan Lin | Episode: "Brain Storm" |
| 1968-1969 | I've Married a Bachelor | Guru Chanderadas | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | Riptide | Alex Kolonis | Episode: "Good Friday Island" |
| 1969 | Delta | Bill Prescott | Episode: "The Devil Take the Blue Tongue Fly" |
| 1969 | Woobinda, Animal Doctor | Episode: "No Love for Theodore" | |
| 1969-1973 | Division 4 | Gil Williamson / Ian Taylor / James Marshall | 8 episodes |
| 1970 | The Rovers | Professor Anderson | Episode: "A Present for Jenny" |
| 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 |
| 1972 | Barrier Reef | Joe Francis | Episode: "The Speckled Stone Fish" |
| 1972 | Homicide | Barrington | Episode: "From the Top" |
| 1972 | Catwalk | Christopher Kemper | Episode: "Try Anything Twice" |
| 1972 | The Prince and the Pauper | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1972-1976 | Matlock Police | Roy 'Tiger' Donovan / Neil Thomas / Norman West | 3 episodes |
| 1973 | The Count of Monte Cristo | TV movie | |
| 1973 | The Three Musketeers | TV movie | |
| 1973 | Certain Women | George Lindsay | 6 episodes |
| 1974 | Moving On | ||
| 1976 | Bluey | Martin Gruman | Episode: "The First Bloody Day" |
| 1976 | The Young Doctors | Les Bradley | 1 episode |
| 1976 | Silent Night, Holy Night | TV movie | |
| 1977 | Glenview High | Michael Wilson | Episode: "Quiet Nights and Silent Deaths" |
| 1977 | Dot and the Kangaroo | Jack the Farmhand | Voice / casting director |
| 1978 | The Restless Years | Senator Ross Lindsay | 26 episodes |
| 1978 | Chopper Squad | George Deacon | Episode: "8:52 A.M." |
| 1979 | Harvest of Hate | John Camden | TV movie |
| 1979 | The Little Convict | Sergeant Bully Langton | Voice, casting director / production manager |
| 1979 | Cop Shop | Frank Dobson | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | Doctors and Nurses | The President | |
| 1982 | The Castlereagh Line | Jim Holly / William Holly | Radio |
| 1982-1987 | A Country Practice | Fred Murray / Arthur Ryan / Jim Higgins | 6 episodes |
| 1983 | Scales of Justice | Premier Cooper | Episode: "The Numbers" |
| 1983 | Who Killed Baby Azaria? | Coroner Galvin | TV movie |
| 1984 | For Love or Money | Himself | Documentary |
| 1984 | The Last Bastion | General Vasey | TV Mini-Series |
| 1985 | The Pickwick Papers | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1985 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1985 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1985 | Sons and Daughters | Colonel Gerrard Bainbridge | 5 episodes |
| 1985 | Stock Squad | TV movie | |
| 1985 | Robbery | Major General | TV movie |
| 1986 | Kidnapped | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1986 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Voice, TV movie | |
| 1988 | The Dirtwater Dynasty | Mr. J. James | 1 episode |
| 1990 | Home and Away | Paramedic | 1 episode |
| 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
- "Richard Meikle". AusStage. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- James, Reg (2015). A Theatre in my Mind. Fremantle, Western Australia: Vivid Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-925341-34-8.
- James, Reg (2015). A Theatre in my Mind. Fremantle, Western Australia: Vivid Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-925341-34-8.
- "Harvest of Hate". OzMovies. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- New South Wales Electoral Rolls