Leonard George Thiele^[1]AO (26 September 1922 – 14 May 1994), professionallyLeonard Teale, was an Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonantbaritone voice. He is best remembered for his role in the long-running Australian police procedural dramaHomicide as David "Mac" MacKay.^[2]

Leonard Teale
Teale in 1954
Born	Leonard George Thiele (1922-09-26)26 September 1922 Brisbane,Queensland, Australia
Died	14 May 1994(1994-05-14) (aged 71) Sydney,New South Wales, Australia
Education	Brisbane Grammar School
Occupations	Actor radio announcer TV presente narrator
Years active	1939–1986
Spouse	Liz Harris ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	4

As a professional actor he adopted Teale – ahomophone of his birth surname, Thiele – as astage name.

Leonard George Thiele was born inBrisbane,Queensland, to Maude Henrietta Thiele, née Rasmussen, and Herman Albert Thiele, a chemist. He attendedMilton State Primary School andBrisbane Grammar School (1934–38) on a scholarship. However, the family's financial situation during theGreat Depression forced Leonard to leave school and enter the workforce. He worked as a junior clerk forBrisbane City Council'sElectricity Supply Department. In his spare time, he took up amateur drama, with local repertory groups. From the age of 17, he augmented these activities with a role as a part-time radio announcer, after successfully auditioning at theAustralian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Brisbane.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Thiele joined theMilitia and served as a signaller. Interested in becoming a pilot, he transferred to theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 10 October 1942. He graduated from flying school the following year and wascommissioned as officer. In 1944, Thiele was posted to theMediterranean theatre, where he served withNo. 458 Squadron RAAF, amaritime patrol/strike unit, flyingVickers Wellingtons, from bases atFoggia, Italy, andGibraltar. He was promoted toFlight Lieutenant in September 1945 and was discharged on 16 January 1946, after returning to Australia.

Thiele's career as a professional actor commenced in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in radio serials; his roles included that ofSuperman/Clark Kent andTarzan.

Thiele was a co-compère of the radioABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in itsMuddle-Headed Wombat serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons.^[3] At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele" professionally.^[4]

He also made regular appearances in radio variety programs such as theBonnington's Bunkhouse Show, and voiceovers in countless commercials.

His talent was nurtured and developed at theProducers Authors Composers and Talent (PACT) Centre, which was founded in 1964.^[5]

He appeared in several feature films, includingSmiley,Smiley Gets a Gun andBungala Boys.

In the early 1950s, withRaymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, Thiele helped form the short-livedAustralian Cultural Defence Movement, aimed at protecting local arts and crafts production from the perceived inroads being made by imported content, particularly from the US. However, the movement faltered after becoming a target of anti-communist activists,^[6] (His brother,Neville Thiele, was also targeted, for participating in left-wing theatre.^[7])

Major television roles included a regular comedic role in theMobil-Limb Show, host roles in variety programsSingalong andFolkmoot, and acting roles in locally produced drama series includingWhiplash,The Hungry Ones,Adventure Unlimited,Split Level andConsider Your Verdict.^[8] He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role^[9] as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay inHomicide from 1965 to 1973.Homicide was Australia's first-ever locally produced TV police drama. Teale won aLogie for best Australian actor in 1974. He also hosted a documentary about the series,The Homicide Story, in 1970. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott inSeven Little Australians (1973), and headmaster Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap operaClass of '74 (1974–75).

Teale narrated for ABC audio recordings, including theBanjo Paterson poemThe Man from Snowy River, and a spoken-word version of the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven" on ABC-TV'sThe Money or the Gun. His reading ofDorothea Mackellar's poem "My Country", which included the lines "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" was so widely played in Australia during the 1970s that it was also frequently parodied.^{[citation needed]}

Married three times, Leonard Teale had four children, Amanda, Juli, Jennifer and Melinda. He married his third wife, entertainerLiz Harris in 1968; Harris had appeared in three episodes ofHomicide.

Leonard Teale died of a heart attack in 1994. A documentary,Homicide: 30 Years On, aired later that year which included reminiscences from formerHomicide castmates and footage of an appearance made by himself andHomicide actorsGeorge Mallaby andAlwyn Kurts in 1992 presenting aLogie Award for Most Outstanding Series partially in character (with hilarious results).^[11]

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• Leonard TealeThe Man From Snowy River - Leonard Teale Reading Bush Ballads By A. B. (Banjo) Paterson LP, CBS 1956
• Leonard ThieleHenry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Thiele - When Your Pants Begin To Go LP, Festival Records 1957
• Bruce Finlay, Leonard Teale & Jim GusseySeven Cities Suite LP, His Master's Voice 1960
• Leonard Teale & Andy SundstromSongs Of The Sundowners LP, CBS 1964
• Leonard Teale & Andy SundstromTravelling Down The Castlereagh LP, CBS 1965
• Leonard TealeHenry Lawson Spoken By Leonard Teale - His Life Story In His Own Verse LP, CBS 1965
• Leonard TealeThe Australiana Collection - Australian Verse Read By Leonard Teale LP, CBS 1980
• Leonard TealeMy Country - Traditional Australian Verse LP, CBS 1988
• Leonard TealeHenry Lawson's Australia CD, CBS 1988
• Leonard Teale:Leonard Teale's Australia CD, Sony Australia 1994
• Peter Sullivan, Frank Strangio, Noel Watson & Leonard TealeBanjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River CD, PolyGram 1995
• Leonard Teale:Famous Australian Poems 2011^[24]*Leonard TealeMy Country (Australian Verse Selected And Read By Leonard Teale) LP, Pacific
• Leonard TealeHenry Lawson's Australia Spoken By Leonard Teale LP, CBS
• Leonard Teale, Chips Rafferty, Kevin Brennan, Tex Morton and The Bush Music Club ’‘Songs & Poems Of Australia: Henry Lawson, John O'Brien, Adam Lindsay *Gordon, C. J. Dennis LP, Festival Custom Recording

• Leonard Teale atIMDb
• Photo of Leonard Teale in an article about "Homicide" atThe Sydney Morning Herald
• Interview with Leonard Teale atClassic Australian Television