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Steve Bisley
Bisley in February 2012
Born	(1951-12-26)26 December 1951 (age 73) Lake Munmorah, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation(s)	Actor, writer
Years active	1968-present
Spouse	Sally Burleigh ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2006)​
Children	6

Steve Bisley (born 26 December 1951) is an Australian writer, film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the filmsMad Max (1979) andThe Great Gatsby (2013). On television, some of his better-known roles include Detective Sergeant Jack Christey inWater Rats and Jim Knight inDoctor Doctor.

Bisley was born atLake Munmorah, New South Wales and grew up on a small farm called Stillways.^[1] The son of schoolteachers, he moved to Sydney just after his seventeenth birthday. After a few years of working in various jobs, he enrolled in theNational Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating with a degree in acting in 1977. Other actors in his class includedMel Gibson,Judy Davis,Debra Lawrance andSally McKenzie.^[2]

While still training at NIDA, Bisley and his friendMel Gibson made their film debuts inSummer City (1977). Towards the end of the course, they were approached by directorGeorge Miller and asked to audition for parts inMad Max (1979). Both were successful and Bisley went on to play "Jim Goose", the best friend and partner to Gibson'stitular character.Mad Max has since become acult classic and it launched Mel Gibson to mainstream stardom. After this, Bisley played the lead role in the thrillerThe Chain Reaction (1980), with Mel Gibson making a brief appearance. His other early film credits include roles inThe Highest Honor (1983),The Winds of Jarrah (1983),Fast Talking (1984) andSilver City (1984).

In 1980, Bisley played Joe Byrne inThe Last Outlaw, a critically acclaimed TV mini-series aboutNed Kelly. He was also seen inA Town Like Alice,The Boy in the Bush and the original 1985 miniseries of the medical dramaThe Flying Doctors.

In 1986, he and his family temporarily relocated to London where he took the lead role in the BBC seriesCall Me Mister.^[3]

Back in Australia, he played the lead role in the 1988 TV movieThe Clean Machine. For his role as Inspector Ed Riordan, he won the Best Actor in a One-off Drama accolade at the 1988Penguin Awards.^[4] In 1990 he co-starred withBen Mendelsohn in the cult teen comedyThe Big Steal. His performance as shonky car salesman Gordon Farkas remains one of his most remembered roles.

In 1992, Bisley joined the cast ofPolice Rescue, playing Senior Sergeant Kevin 'Nipper' Harris. He appeared in 29 episodes, leaving in 1995. He was next seen as Dr Henry King in the ABC-TV seriesG.P. After this, he became a regular in the third and final season of the critically acclaimedsatirical television seriesFrontline.

In 1998, he began to appear as a guest in Nine’s police drama seriesWater Rats, playing Detective Jack Christey. The following year, he became one of the lead actors on the show, replacingColin Friels who had quit due to ill health. Bisley left the show in 2001 but it turned out that his final episode was also the series’ swansong.

Also a stage actor, Bisley has appeared in drama productions. His stage roles include parts inRay Lawler'sSummer of the Seventeenth Doll (1985/1995) and asBanjo Paterson in the musical theatre production ofThe Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular (August–October 2002). In July 2003, he presented a season of television documentaries on theNational Geographic Channel.

From 2007-2009, he played CMDR Steve Marshall inSea Patrol. From 2016 to 2018, he was seen in the first two series ofDoctor Doctor, playing the father of the lead character. In 2016, Bisley appeared asHarry Firth in the two-part Australian miniseriesBrock onNetwork Ten. The miniseries was based on the life of Australian motor racing legendPeter Brock.^[5]

In 2013, he appeared as Dan Cody inBaz Luhrmann's adaptation ofThe Great Gatsby. He was also seen in the Australian filmsRed Hill (2010) andBoar (2017). He has revealed that he turned down a role in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 filmRomeo + Juliet because he read the script and thought "this is going nowhere".^[6] In 2022 he appeared inMystery Road:Origins.

In 2013, Bisley published his first book,Stillways: A Memoir. The book recounted his life growing up in Lake Munmorah, finishing when he was in his mid-teens. The book was well received and was subsequently shortlisted for the 2014 Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction in theNSW Premier's Literary Awards, theQueensland Literary Awards, and the 2014National Biography Award. In 2017, Bisley published his second book, a memoir calledAll the Burning Bridges. Picking up whereStillways had left off, it covered his adult life. He has said he does not plan to write any more memoirs. Instead, he is concentrating on writing his first novel.

Steve Bisley has been married once. Prior to his marriage, he had four children with long-time partner Shauna Forrest.^[7] During the 1980s Forrest was a costume designer for models and actresses.^[8]

He married Sally Burleigh, a media publicist, in 2000. They had two children before divorcing in 2006.^[9] In September 2009 Bisley was charged with assaulting Burleigh and, on 15 September 2010, he was found guilty and sentenced to 300 hours of community service.^[10][11] Bisley lodged an appeal against the conviction.^[11] In July 2013 while promoting his autobiography,Stillways: A Memoir, he described the assault as "a push and shove incident with high emotion displayed on both sides".^[7]

• WinnerAFI award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1984 filmSilver City.
• WinnerAFI award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1990 filmThe Big Steal.
• Member of theAustralian Film Walk of Fame in recognition of his film and television career.^[12]

• "The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia – Theatre . Film . Radio . Television – Volume 1" – Ann Atkinson, Linsay Knight, Margaret McPhee – Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., 1996
• "The Australian Film and Television Companion" – compiled by Tony Harrison – Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994

• Steve Bisley atIMDb
• Steve Bisley'sWater Rats profile – Australian Television Information Archive

• 1951 births
• 20th-century Australian male actors
• 21st-century Australian male actors
• Australian male film actors
• Australian male musical theatre actors
• Australian male stage actors
• Australian male television actors
• Australian memoirists
• Living people
• National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni

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