Peter O'Brien is an Australian actor, best known for his role as an original cast member in 1985 of Australian soap opera Neighbours as Shane Ramsay. He has also acted in numerous British and American productions.

Peter O'Brien
Born
OccupationActor
Years active1983–present
Spouses
(m. 1990; div. 1994)
(m. 2003)
Children1

Career

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O'Brien played a regular role in short-lived soap opera Starting Out (1983), in then had guest roles in Carson's Law in 1983 and Prisoner in 1984 and appeared in The Henderson Kids. He was then cast as Shane Ramsay, a regular original character in soap opera Neighbours on the Seven Network in 1985. He became one of the serial's most popular cast members, continuing in the series until 1987. He then played a leading regular role in drama series The Flying Doctors from 1988 until 1991.

In 1994, O'Brien sent up his soap opera star past by taking a regular role in Psycho Ward 10, a soap opera parody in The All New Alexei Sayle Show.

O'Brien took on the role of surgical registrar Mr. Cyril 'Scissors' Smedley in the popular BBC series Cardiac Arrest through the second and third series between 1995 and 1996.

He later starred in television series Queer as Folk, White Collar Blue and Gossip Girl.

O'Brien has appeared in numerous miniseries, including The Day of the Roses and Through My Eyes (the story of Lindy Chamberlain). He has also guest starred on numerous television series, including Halifax f.p.. For his work, O'Brien has won Australian Film Institute and Logie Awards. He also appeared as Carl Morgan in Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord, and he appeared in the 1998 Australian/Brisbane comedy television series of Minty. In 2009 he played Sydney underworld figure and racing identity George Freeman in the series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.[1] He later reprised his role as George Freeman in the follow-up in the Underbelly series The Golden Mile.

O'Brien was part of the cast of BBC television series Casualty as a new consultant called Stitch.[2] He also appeared in ITV police drama The Bill in which he played corrupt Detective Inspector Peter Cavanaugh.[3]

He appeared as Ed in The Waters of Mars, the second of the 2009 specials of Doctor Who.[4]

In 2022, it was announced O'Brien had reprised his role of Shane Ramsay in Neighbours following the news that the serial would be concluding later that year.[5]

Awards

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O'Brien has won several acting awards in his career. He won two Logie Awards - one in 1987 for the 'Most Popular Actor' (for his role in Neighbours) and one in 2003 for the 'Most Outstanding Actor' (for his role in White Collar Blue).

Personal life

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O'Brien was in a relationship with his Neighbours co-star Elaine Smith for four years.[6] He married actress Joanna Riding on 24 December 1990, after meeting while they were both starring in a production of The Wizard of Oz in England.[6] Their separation was announced in December 1993.[6]

On 1 January 2003,[7] O'Brien married actress Miranda Otto, after the two had met while performing in A Doll's House.[8] They have one child, a daughter, who was born on 1 April 2005.[8]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1983 The Mortal Coil Hugh Short film
1996 Hotel de Love Norman Carey Feature film
Michael Collins Pianist in restaurant (uncredited) Feature film
1999 Sally Marshall Is Not an Alien David Lawson Feature film
Sabrina Down Under Dr. Julian Martin TV movie
2002 The Pact Roy Folksdale Feature film
2005 Hell Has Harbour Views Tim Sullivan TV movie
2006 The Return Terry Stahl Feature film
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America Alan TV movie
2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine John Howlett Feature film
2012 Dangerous Remedy Dr. Barry Smith TV movie
Hanyut Kasper Almayer Feature film
2013 Love of My Life Surgeon / Thomas Feature film
2014 The Killing Field Inspector Lachlan McKenzie TV movie
2016 Maximum Ride Jeb Feature film
2018 What Still Remains The Prisoner Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref
1983 Starting Out Craig Holt TV series
1984 Prisoner Tim Carter TV series, 1 episode
1985–87, 2022, 2024 Neighbours Shane Ramsay TV series, 298 episodes
1988–91 The Flying Doctors Captain Sam Patterson TV series
1991 The Trials of Oz James Anderson BBC dramatisation of the 1971 trial
1992 Cluedo Warren 'Axeman' Hackett TV series, 1 episode
1993 Taggart Bill Hamilton TV series, 1 episode
1994 The All New Alexei Sayle Show Dr Scott Jordan TV series, season 1 (segment: "Psycho Ward 10")
1995–96 Cardiac Arrest Mr. Cyril 'Scissors' Smedley TV series, seasons 2-3
1997 The Day of the Roses Boris Osman TV miniseries
Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord Carl Morgan TV series
1998 Minty Ric da Silva TV series
1999 Queer as Folk Cameron Roberts TV series
See How They Run Don Morton / Cassidy TV series
2000 The Knock Glen Vaughan TV series, 4 episodes
2000–01 Water Rats Matthew Grierson TV series, 3 episodes
2001 Relic Hunter Allan Devaut TV series, 1 episode
2002 Young Lions Daryll Flynn TV series, 1 episode
2002–03 White Collar Blue Detective Joe Hill TV series
2003 Code 11–14 Detective McElroy
2004 Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story Ian Barker Q.C. TV miniseries
The Bill Detective Inspector Peter Cavanaugh TV series, 6 episodes
2005 Blue Heelers Dr. Peter Nelson TV series, 2 episodes
2006 Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King Keenan TV miniseries
2007 Gossip Girl Photographer TV series, 1 episode
Casualty Theo 'Stitch' Lambert TV series, 18 episodes
2008 City Homicide Warren Endicot TV series, 1 episode
2009 Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities George Freeman TV miniseries, 10 episodes
A World Away John
Doctor Who Ed Gold TV series, 1 episode: "The Waters of Mars"
Rogue Nation John Stephen Jr 009
All Saints Sam Whittaker TV series, 1 episode
30 Seconds Bill Brooker TV series
2010 Underbelly: The Golden Mile George Freeman TV miniseries, 3 episodes
Dance Academy Sebastian TV series, 2 episodes
2012 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries René Dubois T V series, 1 episode [9]
2015 Winter Detective Inspector Lachlan McKenzie TV series
2018 Lake Alice Greg Thomas
GLOW Rick Hollander TV series, 2 episodes
Tidelands Bill Sentelle TV series, 7 episodes
The OA Duke TV series, 1 episode
2019 Breaker Finch
2020 Wentworth Tony Cockburn TV series, 1 episode [10]
2021 The Unusual Suspects Nick TV miniseries
The Moth Effect TV series, 1 episode
Sola
2022 Grey Nomads Luca Rossi TV series, 6 episodes
Darby and Joan Chris TV series, 1 episode
Riptide Sean Weston TV series, 4 episodes [11]
2024 Ladies in Black Don Holloway 1 episode
2024 Return to Paradise Artie Farrell TV series 1 episode [12]

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 Battlefield 1 Frederick Bishop Video game

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 A Doll's House Sydney Theatre Company

References

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  1. ^ "Peter O'Brien moves from Underbelly to Rogue Nation".
  2. ^ "Neighbours veteran bags Casualty role". 7 February 2007.
  3. ^ "O'Brien fits The Bill". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 2004.
  4. ^ "Peter O'Brien lands Doctor Who special | TV Tonight". 10 July 2009.
  5. ^ Warner, Sam (3 March 2022). "Neighbours to bring back Shane Ramsay ahead of final episodes". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Wingett, Fiona (18 December 1993). "Peter O'Brien's marriage split". TV Week. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Miranda Otto marries in cathedral lock-out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 2 January 2003. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b Staff writers (5 August 2019). "Miranda Otto biography". Tribute. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Episode Seven - Murder in Montparnasse - Episodes & Video - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - ABC TV". ABC Online. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Australian Television: Wentworth: Series 8 cast".
  11. ^ "Australian Television: Riptide: Cast".
  12. ^ Knox, David (12 August 2024). "Airdate: Return to Paradise (Aussie Death in Paradise spin-off) | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
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