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Colin Friels
Friels in 2009
Born	(1952-09-25)25 September 1952 (age 73) Kilwinning,Ayrshire, Scotland
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Judy Davis ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	2

Colin Friels (born 25 September 1952) is an Australian actor of stage, film and television. He has received numerous accolades, includingAACTA/AFI Awards forBest Actor in a Leading Role (for the 1986'sMalcolm) andBest Lead Actor in a Television Drama (forNine Network'sHalifax f.p.), twoHelpmann Awards forBest Male Actor in a Play, and twoLogie Awards.

Friels was born inKilwinning,Ayrshire, Scotland.^[1] His mother was a mill worker andFrench polisher, and his father acarpenter.^[2][3] He lived inKilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving inDarwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb ofBentleigh. He worked as a bricklayer's labourer before studying at theNational Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1976.^[4]

Friels career began with work mostly in theatre and television. In 1980, Friels was a presenter on the Australian version ofPlay School, the series for young children. His first film role was in the unreleasedPrisoners (1981), appearing withDavid Hemmings andTatum O'Neal.^[5]

His first appearance in a released film was inHoodwink (1981), alongside his future wife,Judy Davis.^[6]

In 1986, he played the title role inMalcolm, about a shy mechanical genius, for which he was awarded the 1986AFI Award forBest Actor. Friels was also nominated for the Best Actor award the following year, for his role inGround Zero, but did not win: the film received mixed reviews, with one describing him as "a proficient enough actor, but...miscast".^[7] Friels later won anotherAFI Award in 1995 for his starring role in the 1994Halifax f.p.telemovieHard Corps. Friels has played a range of other roles. He was a megalomaniac corporate executive in the 1990 feature filmDarkman.

From 1996 to 1999, he played Frank Holloway onWater Rats,^[8] a role which won him theLogie Award for Most Outstanding Actor atthe 1997 awards.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2003, Friels has appeared as the main character in theBlackJack series of telemovies. In 2010 he also starred inKilling Time where he played notorious underworld figureLewis Moran. In 2018, he played Tony Ballantyne in the TV miniseriesMystery Road, again opposite Judy Davis.

In 2021, Friels appeared as Jack Ramsay in the second season of the ABC seriesTotal Control, a Coalition MP facing off against independent candidate Alex Irving.

Friels has been married to actressJudy Davis since 1984; the couple have two children. Their relationship was briefly in the media when an argument led to a domestic violence court order against Friels: however, they remained together.^[9]

In late 1997, Friels was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer. However, his treatment was successful, and he is one of the very few sufferers of this disease to go into long-term remission.^[1] During his treatment he continued to work on the set ofWater Rats, until eventually the impact of thechemotherapy stopped him working, and he chose to have his character written out of the series by sending him on a sailing journey around the world. At this time, however, he also continued his stage work, and was performing inSydney Theatre Company'sMacbeth.

Friels believes that social and political awareness comes with acting, and is known for his engagement in policy debates, including industrial issues such as workplace relations and free trade.^[1] He publicly criticisedBush administration policy in the Middle East, and supported theSydney Peace Foundation.^[10] His engagement with social issues has been evident in his acting work, with two prominent examples being his lead role inGround Zero, in which he played a cameraman investigatingBritish nuclear testing in South Australia, and his appearance in the ABC television dramaBastard Boys, in which he played union official John Coombs.^[11]

^[12]

• Colin Friels atIMDb

• 1952 births
• Australian male film actors
• Australian people of Irish descent
• Australian people of Scottish descent
• Best Actor AACTA Award winners
• Australian children's television presenters
• Helpmann Award winners
• Living people
• Logie Award winners
• National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni
• People from Kilwinning
• Scottish male film actors
• Male actors from North Ayrshire
• Australian male television actors
• Australian male stage actors
• Scottish emigrants to Australia

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