Shane Connor (born 3 April 1959) also billed/credited as Shane Feeney-Connor, is an Australian actor, who has had extensive experience in stage, television and film productions, both locally and internationally in the United Kingdom and United States. He is probably best known for his role in TV serial Neighbours as patriarch Joe Scully.

Shane Connor
Born (1959-04-03) 3 April 1959 (age 65)
Other namesShane Feeney-Connor
EducationVictorian College of the Arts at University of Melbourne
OccupationActor
Years active1981–present
Known forNeighbours as Joe Scully
Spouse(s)Karen Connor (m. 1987; div. 1992)
Nell Feeney (m. 1994; div. 1997)
Children3 (Thomas, Grace and Jessica)

Early life

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Connor was born in Woodville, South Australia in April 1959 and graduated from University of Melbourne drama division the Victorian College of the Arts in the early 1980s. He worked steadily in film, theatre and television for many years.

Career

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Connor's television credits include the Channel Seven series Fire, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation drama Heartland, the miniseries The Harp in the South and Poor Man's Orange and Halifax f.p. (1998). He appeared in the USA television network miniseries Moby Dick as Flask.

Connor also played guest roles in Australian soap operas: He played Kevin, husband of Cheryll (Lisa Aldenhoven), in the women's prison drama serial Prisoner. Then in 1986 he returned to the series in the recurring role of biker Bongo Connors, the brother of Glenda Linscott's character, Rita Connors. He later appeared in its re-imagined series Wentworth on Foxtel.[1] playing the partner of Leah Purcell's updated version of the very same character. Connor had a brief role as another biker, Angel, in another soap opera Sons and Daughters, in 1986.

Awards include the 1984 Penguin Award for Best Actor and the 1995 Green Room Award for Outstanding Fringe Performer. He also received a nomination for the 1998 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama (for Halifax f.p.).[2]

Neighbours

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In July 1999, Connor joined the cast of Neighbours and began filming the ongoing role Joe Scully of builder and family patriarch, with his first scene's going on air in October.[3] The show's producers invited him to audition for the role, and he decided to accept when he found out that he would be working with actress Janet Andrewartha, who plays Joe's on-screen wife Lyn Scully.[3] Connor had previously played a guest role in the series as character Phil Hoffman debuting on-screen on 26 March and appearing until 16 April 1991.[4] Joe Scully gave Connor the chance to play a character who was not a "bad guy, a confrontational type, a man on the verge".[3] Connor was initially contracted with Neighbours for three years, with 12-month renewal options.[3]

Connor was fired from the series in September 2003, several months after receiving a written warning from producers and overcoming an amphetamine habit. There had been ongoing hostility between him and Andrewartha; who had been the source of the vast majority of complaints about him.[5] He sued the show's producer, Grundy Television, for wrongful termination of his contract, seeking about $200,000.[5]

The court hearing heard that he had an amphetamine drug habit while performing on the show. Connor's older brother died in June 2001 and he had been badly affected by this, leading to the drug habit. Members of the cast and crew had complained about his behaviour at work. This included alleged aggressive behaviour and lateness that delayed production. After being confronted about his problem, he met with the cast in May 2003 and admitted the problem and apologised.[5] Connor won the case and was awarded by the Supreme Court of Victoria over $230,000 in libel damages.[6]

After Neighbours

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Connor worked in the United Kingdom in pantomime.[6] He also appeared as a guest in reality TV show The Salon and Killing Time.[1]

Connor later guested in Nine Network's House Husbands.[1] He joined the cast of Wentworth in a recurring role in 2018,[1], followed by a recurring role in 2022 miniseries The Twelve.

Personal life

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Connor was married to first wife Karen Connor from 1987 to 1992.

He met his future wife, fellow Neighbours alum Nell Feeney, when he guested in tv series Phoenix, on which Feeney was starring. They were married in 1994 and Feeney gave birth to their twins Thomas and Grace in 1995. They were divorced in 1997.

Connor also has another daughter Jessica.

Filmography

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Film

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Title Year Role Type
1984 Street Hero Yokel's Mate Feature film
1984 Every Move She Makes Tony TV movie
1985 Rooted TV movie
1985 Emerging McNair TV movie
1986 Army Wives Grant TV movie
1988 Tender Hooks Wayne Feature film
1988 Breaking Loose: Summer City II Sampson Film
1989 Action Replay Film
1995 Rainbow's End Detective Sergeant George O'Brien TV movie
2008 Playing for Charlie Joe Ruddock
2013 Wolf Creek 2 Senior Sergeant Gary Bulmer Jnr. Feature film
2013 Man Sam Flanagan Short film
2016 The Manny Dad TV movie
2021 OMG Dad Short film

Television

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Title Year Role Type
1981 Cop Shop Gardener No. 1 TV series, season 1, episode 339
1983; 1984 Carson's Law Clerk / Joe / Gil Bishop / Albert Rudge TV series, 6 episodes
1983; 1984; 1986 Prisoner Kevin Armstrong / Maintenance Squad Man / Brian 'Bongo' Connors TV series, 16 episodes
1987 The Harp in the South Charlie Rothe TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1987 Poor Man's Orange Charlie Rothe TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1987 Sons and Daughters Angel Jones TV series, 5 episodes
1987; 1991 The Flying Doctors Rick/Ross Becher TV series, 2 episodes
1984; 1989; 1991 A Country Practice Peter Neal / Barry Hamilton / Colin Scott TV series, 6 episodes
1991 Neighbours Phil Hoffman TV series, 5 episodes
1992 Phoenix Manny TV series, season 1, episode 7: "Old Rules, New Games"
1992 Police Rescue Geoff TV series, season 3, episode 13: "Heartbeat"
1994 Heartland Ben Lovell TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1993–1994 Law of the Land Harry Miles TV series, 26 episodes
1994 Sky Trackers Sergeant Blake TV series, 2 episodes
1995 Fire David 'Giraffe' Simpson TV series, 13 episodes
1995 Snowy River: The McGregor Saga Tyler Morgan TV series, 2 episodes
1996 The Bite Thompson TV miniseries
1997 Good Guys, Bad Guys Bianco TV series, 2 episodes
1997 Halifax f.p. Ray TV series, season 3, episode 3: "Afraid of the Dark"
1998 Raw FM Digger TV series, season 1, episode 13: "One"
1998 Blue Heelers Danny Hobson TV series, 2 episodes
1998 Moby Dick Mr. Flask TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1998 Wildside Terry Young TV series, 2 episodes
1999 Stingers Terry Collis TV series, 2 episodes
1999–2004 Neighbours Joe Scully TV series, 392 episodes
2004 The Salon Himself TV series
2005 Twisted Tales Ben Kettle TV series, season 1, episode 10: "Cursed House"
2008 Mark Loves Sharon Roy Wary TV series, 2 episodes
2009 Dirt Game Max Mees TV miniseries, 6 episodes
2009–2010 Satisfaction Karl TV series, 6 episodes
2007; 2011 City Homicide Gareth Nunn / Philip Carter TV series, 2 episodes
2011 Killing Time Detective Sergeant Wayne Strawhorn TV miniseries, 4 episodes
2015 House Husbands Farmer Todd TV series, 2 episodes
2018–2019 Wentworth Ray Houser TV series, 6 episodes
2022 The Twelve[7] Steve Dokic TV series, 5 episodes

Theatre

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Title Year Role Type
1985 The Doll Trilogy Johnny Dowd Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC, Sydney Opera House with STC
1988 Backbeat Dan / Terry / Stan Stables Theatre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company
1988 And The Big Men Fly Achilles Jones Russell Street Theatre with MTC
1989 Kid Stakes Roo Playhouse, Newcastle, with Hunter Valley Theatre Company
1989–90 Byzantine Flowers Eddie STC[8]
1990 This Old Man Comes Rolling Home George Russell Street Theatre with MTC
1991 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Featured Seymour Centre, Sydney
1992 Coast Mongrels Paulor Playhouse, Newcastle with Hunter Valley Theatre Company
1995 Nil, Cat & Buried Cat Carlton Courthouse with La Mama, Melbourne
1995 The Snake Pit La Mama, Melbourne[9]
1996 The Shifting Heart Clarry Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA[10]
1997 Gary's House Gary Playbox Theatre, Melbourne
1999 Wonderful Ward Melbourne International Comedy Festival
2004 Anyone for Breakfast Gilbert UK tour
2012 The New Black Rupert Arts Centre Melbourne
Fool for Love Eddie Canberra Theatre
The Harp in the South Various roles STC
The Custodians

[11][12][13]

Awards

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Year Work Award Category Result
1984 Shane Connor Penguin Award Best Actor Won
1987 Army Wives AFI Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Telefeature Nominated
1988 Poor Man's Orange AACTA Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries Nominated
1995 Shane Connor Green Room Award Outstanding Fringe Performer Won
1998 Halifax f.p. AFI Award Showtime Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Nominated[2]
1998 Afraid of the Dark AFI Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Nominated

[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Knox, David (16 June 2018). "Shane Connor cast in Wentworth". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Neighbours turn nasty, Connor shown door". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 October 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Enker, Debi (10 February 2000). "Rumblings in Erinsborough". The Age. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. ^ Fletcher, Mary (20 April 1992). "I'd rather be a stud than a kidnapper!". Woman's Own: 52–53.
  5. ^ a b c "Sacked from Neighbours over drugs, star sues". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Sacked Neighbours star gets $230,000". news.ninemsn.com.au. 1 December 2005. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ^ "The Twelve | TV Tonight". 19 June 2022.
  8. ^ https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3116100679/findingaid#nla-obj-3411698841
  9. ^ https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/338518?lsk=630b5344b3076cf6081918d56f0c7cd6
  10. ^ https://murraybramwell.com/?p=2081
  11. ^ http://imcompany.com.au/actors/shane-connor/
  12. ^ https://actors.co.nz/talent/shane-connor/
  13. ^ https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/106485
  14. ^ https://www.rmk.com.au/voices/voices/shane_connor/
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