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Terry McDermott (1928 – 14 December 2018)^[1] was an Australian stage, radio and television actor known for his roles in the seriesHomicide andBellbird.

McDermott was born in Sydney, Australia and his family later moved to Adelaide.^[2]

McDermott's began his career performing in the theatre, appearing in plays for theAdelaide Repertory Theatre and University Theatre Guild.^[3]

In Sydney, McDermott was a regular in the ABC radio serialBlue Hills, and also appeared in revues atPhillip Street Theatre.^[4] In 1963, McDermott founded Sydney's Q Theatre alongside fellow performersDoreen Warburton,Ben Gabriel,Edward Hepple,Robert McDarra andWalter Sullivan. They contributed five pounds each to establish the company, enabling them to launch the Q Theatre Group’s Lunch Hour Theatre at the AMP Theatrette.^[5]

It was in television however, that McDermott made his breakthrough, playing the role of Detective Sergeant Frank Bronson, one of three main characters, in theCrawford Productions police seriesHomicide from its 1964 debut until 1966. He left the show due to a disagreement over contracts and concerns about performing his own stunts. His character was one of the first detectives killed off by an unknownGerard Kennedy playing aRonald Ryan-type escapee in Episode 58 entitled "Vendetta".^[6]

After a 1966 return to the stage asBill Sikes inOliver! and a 12 month stint in the stage productionMan of La Mancha, McDermott joined the cast of the rural soap operaBellbird as Max Pearson in 1969, remaining with the series until 1973. McDermott and fellow cast memberGary Gray producedCountry Town, a feature film based on the series, with their newly formed company AVARGO ('have a go').^[7]

He had further television roles inAdventures of the Seaspray,Skippy,Division 4,Matlock Police,Bluey,Young Ramsay,Whiplash,The Sullivans,Skyways,Prisoner,Barrier Reef,Anzacs,Neighbours andCop Shop. He also made a guest appearance in the Australian-filmed late-1980s reboot ofMission: Impossible, reuniting him with American actorPeter Graves, with whom he had worked onWhiplash 30 years earlier.^[8]

McDermott also continued to work extensively in theatre, in both plays and musicals. He toured nationally withJ. C. Williamson's productions ofCactus Flower,The Amorous Prawn,The Constant Wife andMan of La Mancha. He was also involved numerous productions withMelbourne Theatre Company includingLondon Assurance,The Doctor's Dilemma,Desire Under the Elms,The Play's the Thing,Freeway,Cyrano de Bergerac,Shindig,The Misanthrope andCat on a Hot Tin Roof. He was also in a revival ofGuys and Dolls and performed in the comedyFlexitime, which toured Australia for almost two years.

McDermott met his wife, teacher Nathalie Kavanagh in 1956, who was working on a production ofThe Glass Menagerie that he was performing in. They were married the same year. The couple had five children – Amanda, Bernadette, Guy, Michael and Tara. They lived between Sydney and Adelaide, before eventually settling inUpwey, an outer eastern of Melbourne. The family were churchgoers, attending Catholic Church of St Thomas More inBelgrave.^[9]

McDermott was diagnosed withParkinson's disease in his late 70s and died from the disease on 14 December 2018, at the age of 90.^[10] At the time of his passing, he had 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.^[11]

^[13]

• Terry McDermott atIMDb 

• 1928 births
• 2018 deaths
• Australian male film actors
• Australian male television actors
• 20th-century Australian male actors
• Actors from Sydney

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