# Arthur Dignam

Arthur Dignam (9 September 1939 – 9 May 2020) was an Australian actor.

## Early life

Dignam was born on Lord Howe Island. He attended Newington College in Sydney as a boarder in 1955 and 1956 and then the University of Sydney.

## Career

He was best known for one of his early roles, that of Brother Francine in Fred Schepisi's The Devil's Playground (1976). While he worked mainly in film and television, he also worked in theatre, including musical theatre. He played Pontius Pilate in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972–73, and appears on the original Australian cast recording.
During 1980, Dignam was part of A Shakespeare Company, funded by a one-off grant from the Australia Council, and worked with actors Ruth Cracknell, Ron Haddrick and others on two texts for six months and then presented them at the Seymour Centre.

## Personal life

His son together with Bobbie Gledhill – actor Nicholas Gledhill was born in Sydney in 1975.

## Death

Dignam died of a heart attack on 9 May 2020, in Sydney at the age of 80.

## Theatre
### As actor

| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Company |
| 1961 | 'Tis Pity She's a Whore | | University of Sydney |
| 1962 | The Dumb Waiter and A Slight Ache | Gus / Edward | Old Dolphin Theatre, Perth & University of Sydney |
| 1962 | Coriolanus | | University of Sydney |
| 1963 | Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | University of Sydney |
| 1966 | The Royal Hunt of the Sun | | University of Adelaide |
| 1968 | War and Peace | | New Theatre, Sydney with Melbourne Theatre Company |
| 1969 | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Guildenstern | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1969 | The Man of Mode | | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | The Pope's Wedding | | Old Dolphin Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | You Can't Take It with You | | Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | The Haunted House / Black Comedy | Callidamates / Brindsley Miller | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | Twelfth Night, or What You Will | Orsino | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | Othello | Cassio | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | Brecht on Brecht | | Old Dolphin Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | The Seagull | | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | Hadrian the Seventh | | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | Narrow Road to the Deep North | | Old Dolphin Theatre, Perth |
| 1970 | What the Butler Saw | | Playhouse Theatre, Perth |
| 1971 | The Recruiting Officer | | Southern Highlands Festival Theatre |
| 1971 | Doctor Faustus | | Southern Highlands Festival Theatre |
| 1971 | Macbeth | | Nimrod Street Theatre |
| 1971 | An Evening of Victorian Music Hall | | Paddington Town Hall with Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1972 | Trelawny of the 'Wells' | | UNSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1972 | The Good Man of Setzuan | | UNSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1972 | Jesus Christ Superstar | Pontius Pilate | Capitol Theatre, Sydney |
| 1972 | Julius Caesar | | UNSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1973 | Hamlet | | Nimrod Street Theatre & Playhouse, Canberra |
| 1973 | Kabul | | UNSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1973 | The Threepenny Opera | | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1974 | Antony and Cleopatra | Antony | New Fortune Theatre for Perth Festival |
| 1974 | The Rocky Horror Show | Narrator | New Art Cinema, Sydney |
| 1975 | Berenice | | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1975 | Scapin | | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1975 | Waiting for Godot | | Octagon Theatre, Perth |
| 1975 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Potiphar / Simeon | Seymour Centre |
| 1976 | T.Zee | The Beast | Royal Court Theatre, London |
| 1977 | Big Toys | Ritchie Bousanquet | UNSW, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne & Canberra Theatre with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1977–78 | Ned Kelly | Superintendent Hare | Adelaide Festival Centre & Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney |
| 1978 | Pandora's Cross | The Goose | Paris Theatre, Sydney |
| 1979 | The Lady of the Camellias | Baron de Varville | Sydney Opera House with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1979 | Hedda Gabler | Judge Brack | SGIO Theatre with QTC (left before opening night) |
| 1979 | Life of Galileo | Cardinal Barberini | Nimrod Upstairs |
| 1980 | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Launce / Lucetta / Host / Outlaw | Seymour Centre |
| 1980 | Measure for Measure | Duke of Vienna | Seymour Centre |
| 1986 | Hedda Gabler | | Wharf Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1993 | Mesmerized | | Stables Theatre |
| 1993–94 | The Temple | Sir Thomas Burchett / Henry / Freddie Arrow | Wharf Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1994 | The Crucible | Judge Hathorn | His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, Riverside Theatres Parramatta, Monash University |
| 1994 | Sixteen Words for Water | | Subiaco Theatre Centre |
| 1997 | The Governor's Family | | Belvoir St Theatre |
| 2005 | Julius Caesar | Julius Caesar | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 2008 | The Women of Troy | Menelaus | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with Sydney Theatre Company & Merlyn Theatre |

### As producer

| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Company |
| 1964 | Victimes du Devoir | Producer | University of Melbourne |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1962 | Lend Me Your Stable | | |
| 1973 | Libido | Father Burn | Feature film, segment: The Priest |
| 1974 | Petersen | Prof. Charles Kent | Feature film |
| 1974 | Between Wars | Peter Avante | Feature film Oz Movies |
| 1976 | The Devil's Playground | Brother Francine | Feature film |
| 1976 | Summer of Secrets | Doctor Beverley Adams | Feature film |
| 1977 | The Duellists | Captain with Eyepatch | Feature film |
| 1978 | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | Man in Butcher Shop | Feature film |
| 1979 | Cathy's Child | Minister | Feature film |
| 1981 | Grendel Grendel Grendel | The Dragon / Beowulf (voice) | Animated film |
| 1981 | Strange Behavior | Dr. Le Sange / Nagel | Feature film |
| 1982 | Duet for Four | Doug Quincey | Feature film |
| 1982 | We of the Never Never | Aeneas Gunn | Feature film |
| 1983 | The Return of Captain Invincible | Lawyer | Feature film |
| 1983 | The Wild Duck | Gregory | Feature film |
| 1984 | The Schippan Mystery | Sir Josiah Symon | TV film |
| 1985 | Burke & Wills | Sir William Stawell | Feature film |
| 1986 | Comrades | Fop | Feature film |
| 1987 | The Right Hand Man | Dr. Redbridge | Feature film |
| 1987 | Those Dear Departed (aka Ghosts Can Do It!) | Producer | Feature film |
| 1988 | The Everlasting Secret Family | The Senator | Feature film |
| 1988 | The Dreaming | Professor Bernard Thornton | Feature film |
| 1991 | Isabelle Eberhardt | Cauvet | Feature film |
| 1993 | The Nostradamus Kid | Pastor Anderson | Feature film |
| 1996 | Dating the Enemy | Dr. Kamins | Feature film |
| 1997 | Paradise Road | Mr. Pike | Feature film |
| 1997 | Oscar and Lucinda | | Feature film |
| 1998 | Gods and Monsters | Ernest Thesiger (uncredited) | Feature film |
| 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Christian's Father | Feature film |
| 2002 | Beneath Clouds | Old Man in pub / Mercedes driver | Feature film |
| 2006 | The Libertine | Man | Short film |
| 2008 | Australia | Father Benedict | Feature film |
| 2010 | The Tree | Uncle Jack | Feature film |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Uncredited | Feature film |
| 2017 | 7 from Etheria | Old Kurt Gödel | Anthology film (segment: "Gödel Incomplete") |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1976 | The New Avengers | Dr Graham | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Water Under the Bridge | Maynard Dickens | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1981 | Tickled Pink | | TV series |
| 1983 | The Dismissal | Eric Robinson | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Five Mile Creek | Arthur Archer | TV series |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Grayson | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984 | Bodyline | Mr Jardine (Douglas Jardine's father) | TV miniseries |
| 1987 | The Storyteller: Greek Myths | King Acrisius | TV series, episode: Perseus and the Gorgon |
| 1989 | Shadow of the Cobra | Gupta | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Edens Lost | Heath | TV miniseries |
| 1992 | The Flying Doctors | Royce Phelan DC | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993 | Minder | Geoffrey Evans | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994–95 | Escape from Jupiter | Professor Ingosol | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 1996 | Pacific Drive | Marcus (theatrical agent) | TV series |
| 1996 | Heartbreak High | Athol Pike | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2001 | All Saints | Father Francis Tyler | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2023 | Faraway Downs | Father Benedict | TV miniseries, 1 episode |