Roger Oakley

Roger Oakley (born 21 August 1943, Auckland) is a New Zealand-born Australian and former British actor and theatre director noted for his performances in television serials, mini-series, and television films. He is also active as a theatre performer and voice-over, Oakley, has been a professional working actor for over 50 years. His best known roles include original character of foster father Tom Fletcher in Home and Away between 1988-1990, (the role originally auditioned by Ray Meagher), and controversial politician Doug Rutherford in Something in the Air. Roger appeared in his only feature film role in 1977 in his native New Zealand in the movie Sleeping Dogs starring Sam Neill, but has appeared in numerous telemovies and mini-series including the 12-part serial The Damnation of Harvey McHugh[1]

Roger Oakley
Born	(1943-08-21) 21 August 1943 Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Occupation	Actor theatre director voice-over
Years active	1967–present
Known for	The Sullivans Home and Away Something in the Air

Early life and careering England

Oakley was born in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand on 21 August 1943 and had a regular suburban upbringing. After leaving Auckland Grammar School, he studied languages in New Zealand, before moving to England and appearing on the stage. He emigrated to Australia in 1978, carving out a successful screen career, although he has continued to appear in stage roles, a genre he has ben a regular performer, since th late 1970s[2]

Career

Television and stage

Oakley joined the cast of the high rating period drama soap The Sullivans as Major Barrington. He also appeared in The John Sullivan Story, a spin-off from The Sullivans. He has appeared in numerous mini-series and television movies.

He is best known as an original cast member of Home and Away, playing foster father Tom Fletcher from 1988 to 1990, opposite co-star Vanessa Downing who originated the part of wife Pippa Fletcher before the role was re-cast in 1990 with Debra Lawrance, he made briefly a guest appearance in 2008.[3] His other role was as Doug Rutherford in Something in the Air in 2000.

Other TV credits include: Cop Shop, Prisoner, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Good Guys Bad Guys, Blue Heelers, The Young Doctors and Neighbours. As of 2020, he remains active in the industry. He featured in the stage production of My Fair Lady His most recent theatre productions were The NightWatchman, Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker, and The Golden Dragon by contemporary German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig. He also appeared in the television series Underbelly and Winners and Losers.

Film

Film roles include Sara Dane, Travelling North, The Far Country and The Last of the Ryan's

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1978	The Sullivans	Major Barrington
1977	Sleeping Dogs	Assassin leader
1977	The McKenzie Affair	Sidebottom
1977	Hunters Gold	Cameron
1978	Against the Wind	Father Dixon
1978	Cop Shop	Dick Davies/Peter Miller
1979	Skyways	Joe D, Angelo
1979	The John Sullivan Story	Major Barrington
1982	Sons and Daughters	Dr. Parker
1982	Sara Dane	Major Foveaux
1982	Women of the Sun	Mr. Johnson
1983	Prisoner	Chris Young
1982-1984	A Country Practice	Chilla Yates / Bill Young
1984	Eureka Stockade	Scobie
1987	Travelling North	Stan
1987	The Flying Doctors	Bert Webster
1987	Ground Zero	Commercial director
1988	The Far Country	Immigration officer
1990	Motormouth	unknown
1994	The Damnation of Harvey McHugh | Bernard
1995	Correlli	Jack Glennen
1996	Shark Bay
1997	Hercules: The Legendary Journey	King Xenon
1997	The Last of the Ryans	Justice Starke
1997	Good Guys Bad Guys	Ron "Maddog" Morello
1998	Halifax f.p.	Frank Bailey
1998	State Coroner	Barry Randall
1999	Duggen	Brigadier Endacott
1999	Joe Wilkinson	Mr. Wilkinson
2000	Blue Heelers	Russ Cavell
2000-2002	Something in the Air	Doug Rutherford
2006	Court of Lonely Royals
2007	Blue Heelers	Sam Curtis
1988-2008	Home and Away	Tom Fletcher
2008	Neighbours	Jim Parker
2008	The Hollowmen
2008	Satisfaction	Greg
2009	My Year Without Sex	Natalie's Father
2011	Underbelly Files: The Man That Got Away	customs officer
2011	Game	Simon
2011	The Last Waltz	Liam
2013	Winners and Losers	Uncle Pat O'Keefe
2017	Utopia	Chairman of Independent Board
2017	Serving Joy	unknown role
2019	Glitch (TV series)	Mike

1. "Australian Screen".
2. "Roger Oakley". AusStage.
3. Tom Fletcher – Home and Away Characters – Back to the Bay

External links

• Roger Oakley on IMDb