# James Condon

James Thomas Condon (27 September 1923 – 14 February 2014) was an Australian actor of radio and stage, a scriptwriter and voice over, however best known for his numerous television roles in serials and television movies in Australia, particularly for appearing as the title character in the early soap opera The Story of Peter Gray, as well as smaller roles in Number 96 and Neighbours. He was the husband of Neighbours actress Anne Haddy

## Early life

James Thomas Condon was born in Fremantle, Western Australia. His career started in repertory theatre, before he joined ABC Radio in Perth in 1942. He served with the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, being promoted to flight lieutenant.

## Career

After the war, Condon worked for the BBC before returning to Australia in 1951 to resume his acting career, working on radio serials, including Portia Faces Life. When TV arrived in 1956 he moved to Sydney and appeared on the opening night of ABN2, Sydney, and in a number of ABC plays, including Tomorrow's Child and A Phoenix Too Frequent.
He played the lead role in ATN7's The Story of Peter Grey, one of the first soap opera dramas produced for Australian television in 1961.
Also in 1961, while hosting his variety show What's Next, Condon hosted an old friend from Perth, Ray Hartley, to talk about his recent successes in London and New York. Hartley was a world-class Australian pianist, composer, arranger and philanthropist.
He made many other appearances on television, including Homicide, Matlock Police, Number 96 (both the TV serial and the 1974 feature film spin-off, playing different characters), Bellamy, The Young Doctors, Carson's Law, Sons and Daughters, Prisoner, The Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers and Something in the Air.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1958 | The Stowaway | The Purser | Feature film |
| 1959 | Desert Conquest | Narrator | Documentary film |
| 1973 | The Three Musketeers | Voice | Animated TV movie |
| 1974 | Number 96 | Nicholas Brent | Feature film spin-off |
| 1975 | Scobie Malone | Walter Helidon | Feature film |
| 1976 | Silent Night, Holy Night | Voice | Animated TV movie |
| 1978 | Cass | | TV movie |
| 1979 | Tim | Mr Harrington | Feature film |
| 1979 | Barnaby and Me | The Chairman | TV movie |
| 1981 | Hoodwink | Newsreader | Feature film |
| 1984 | Supersleuth | Dennis Powell | TV movie |
| 1985 | The Boy Who Had Everything | Televisio Newsreader | Feature film |
| 1986 | Body Business | Sir Charles | TV movie |
| 1988 | Backstage | Frank Turner | Feature film |
| 1988 | Evil Angels | Reginald Scholes | Feature film |
| 1989 | Trouble in Paradise | Captain Londstrom | TV movie |
| 1990 | Bony | Tom Hemmings | TV movie |
| 1991 | The Private War of Lucinda Smith | Mr Spencer Grant | TV movie |
| 1991 | Spotswood ( aka The Efficiency Expert) | Executive 1 | Feature film |
| 1997 | Kangaroo Palace | Judge | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1957 | Three Cornered Moon | Duke of Mall | TV play |
| 1957 | Tomorrow's Child | | TV play |
| 1957 | A Phoenix Too Frequent | Tegeus | TV play |
| 1957 | The Importance of Being Earnest | John Worthing | TV play |
| 1958 | Point of Return | | TV play |
| 1958 | Sixty Point Bold | President Ortega de Riverde | TV play |
| 1958 | An Enemy of the People | Dr Stockman | TV play |
| 1959 | Lady in Danger | Bill Sefton | TV play |
| 1959-60 | Shell Presents | John Roberts / Dr Davidson | TV play series, 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Stormy Petrel | Colonel Maurice O'Connell | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1960 | The Life and Death of King Richard II | Bolingbroke | TV play |
| 1961 | The Big Client | JG Henderson | TV play |
| 1961 | Play of Daniel | Narrator | TV play |
| 1961 | The Story of Peter Grey | Peter Grey | TV series, 156 episodes |
| 1961 | The Outcasts | Colonel Maurice O'Connell | TV series, 1 episode (sequel to Stormy Petrel) |
| 1961 | What Next | Host | TV variety show |
| 1962 | The Patriots | William Wentworth | TV miniseries, 10 episodes |
| 1962 | Jonah | William Wentworth | TV series, 2 episodes: "The Marquis of Mullambimbee", "The Treaty of South Island" |
| 1963 | The Long Sunset | Arthur | TV play |
| 1964 | Tribunal | James Connolly | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1964 | The Purple Jacaranda | Max Stevenson | TV miniseries, 7 episodes |
| 1964 | The Play of Herrod | Narrator | TV play |
| 1966 | Point of Departure | Molac | TV play |
| 1966-72 | Homicide | Christoper White / Gerard Naismith | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1968 | Contrabandits | Austin | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969 | I've Married a Bachelor | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | The Link Men | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | The Rovers | John Fleming | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | Chequerboard | Creon | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1971-72 | Catwalk | Ray Shannon | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972 | Matlock Police | Eric Bard | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972-73 | Number 96 | S r Arnold Ashton | TV series, 9 episodes |
| 1972-75 | Behind the Legend | Wentworth | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1974 | Ryan | John Moss | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1975 | Shannon's Mob | Sir Arthur Maitland | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1976 | McCloud | Charles Oakland | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1976 | Luke's Kingdom | Jason Firbeck | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 1976 | King's Men | Petersen | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1977 | The Young Doctors | Sir Thomas Kendall | TV series, 40 episodes |
| 1978 | Case for the Defence | Nathan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Chopper Squad | Norman Chambers | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Carrots | Horace W Hathaway | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1980 | Cop Shop | Doug Francis | TV series, 7 episodes |
| 1981 | Bellamy | Daley | TV series, 21 episodes |
| 1982 | 1915 | Mr Gillen | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1982 | Secret Valley | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1982 | Der Schwarze Bumerang | Arzt | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1983 | The Catlins | Senator Mahoney | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984 | Sons and Daughters | Sean O'Donnell | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 1984 | Carson's Law | Attorney General / Sir Harold Watson | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1982-88 | A Country Practice | Flynn / Michael Christie / Doug Abbott / James Saunders | TV series, 7 episodes |
| 1985-86 | Neighbours | Douglas Blake | TV series |
| 1985-86 | Prisoner | James Dwyer | TV series, 23 episodes |
| 1987 | The Petrov Affair | Robert Menzies | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1987 | The Flying Doctors | Bob Cameron | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1989 | The Magistrate | Sampson | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1991 | Boys from the Bush | John | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1991 | Half a World Away (aka The Great Air Race) | Sir Macpherson Robertson | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1992 | The Late Show | Oir Man from the Hardly Permanent | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993 | Time Trax | Sal Mondriano | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995 | Neighbours | Reuben White | TV series, 37 episodes |
| 1998 / 2000 | Blue Heelers | Doc Bourke / Klaus Schultz | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Something in the Air | Gordon Flood | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2003 | After the Deluge | Brian Corstairs (uncredited) | TV miniseries |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1945 | Granite | | Cathedral Hall, Perth |
| 1949 | The Man Who Came to Dinner | Sheridan Whiteside | Perth Repertory Theatre |
| 1955 | Mary of Scotland | | Somerville Auditorium |
| 1956 | Lord Arthur Savile's Crime | Lord Arthur Savile | Perth |
| 1961 | Play of Daniel | | St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney |
| 1964 | Breakfast with Julia | | Phillip Street Theatre |
| 1964 | The Play of Herod | Narrator | St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney |
| 1965 | Poor Bitos | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1965 | My Life with an Interval for Asprin | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1966 | Three Sisters | | University of NSW, Old Tote Theatre |
| 1966 | Aspects of Love | | University of NSW, Old Tote Theatre |
| 1967 | Hostile Witness | Sir Peter Crossman | Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, Princess Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1967 | The Cocktail Party | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1967 | Halloran's Little Boat | Terry Byrne | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1968 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1968 | The Anniversary | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1968 | Loot | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1968 | A Delicate Balance | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1968 | Wait Until Dark | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1969 | Everything in the Garden | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1969 | Treasure Island | | University of NSW |
| 1970 | The Seagull | | Scott Theatre, Adelaide |
| 1970 | Murder in the Cathedral | Thomas Becket | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1970 | King Oedipus | | University of NSW, Sir John Clancy Auditorium, Sydney, Canberra Theatre, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Octagon Theatre, Perth, University of Adelaide |
| 1971 | Conduct Unbecoming | Major Alastair Wimbourne V.C. | Theatre Royal, Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1971-72 | The Man who Shot the Albatross | | Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Canberra Theatre, Elizabethan Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide |
| 1972 | Under Milk Wood | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1972 | Blop Goes The Weazel | | University of NSW |
| 1973 | The Third Secretary | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1974 | Love for Love | | Sydney Opera House |
| 1975 | Candida | | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1975 | The Jockey Club Stakes | | Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, Princess Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1976 | The Brass Hat | Major General Charles Anderson-Green | University of NSW |
| 1976 | The Shoemaker's Holiday | Earl of Lincoln | Sydney Opera House |
| 1976 | Getting On | | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1977 | The Business of Good Government | | Assembly Hall, Sydney |
| 1977 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Rufio | Sydney Opera House |
| 1977 | Any Fool Can | Ernest Seaton | Bondi Pavilion |
| 1977 | Some Other Town | Editor | Bondi Pavilion |
| 1977 | The Tempest | Antonio | Sydney Opera House |
| 1979 | The Bed Before Yesterday | Fred Castle | Theatre Royal, Sydney |
| 1980-81 | The Magic Pudding | Voice Over Artist | Sydney Opera House, VIC & WA Country Tour, Playhouse, Adelaide, Regal Theatre, Perth, Monash University |
| 1983 | Morning's at Seven | | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1984 | Born Yesterday | Norval Hedges | Sydney Opera House |
| 1992 | The Freedom of the City | | National Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1993 | M. Butterfly | M. Toulon / Man 1 / Judge | Playhouse, Melbourne, Canberra Theatre, Seymour Centre |
| 1994 | A Flea in Her Ear | | Mietta's, Melbourne |
| 1994 | There's One in Every Marriage | | Mietta's, Melbourne |
| 1995 | The Best of British: Rookery Nook / When We Are Married | | Mietta's, Melbourne |

## Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1952 | Portia Faces Life | Walter Manning | 3UZ Melbourne |
| 1957 | Jenny Villiers | Julian Napier | ABC Radio play |
| 1957 | Quadrille | Hubert, Marquess of Heronden | ABC Radio play |
| 1979 | Incompletions | Father / Barber | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1979 | Lies My Father Told Me | Father | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1979 | Laura and the Angel | Azrafel | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1979 | Amphitryon 38 | Jupiter | ABC Radio Sydney |
| | We'e Asking You | Compère | Radio quiz show |

## Personal life

Condon was the brother of actress and theatre producer Coralie Condon, who was a recipient of the Order of Australian and was known as "The First Lady of Western Australian Television" and had a brother Terry. His first marriage was to Joan Cranmer. The couple had four daughters. Condon was married to Australian actress Anne Haddy, best known for the role of matriarch Helen Daniels in Neighbours, from 1977 until her death in 1999. Condon was the stepfather of Haddy's children Jane and Tony. He acted alongside Haddy in Neighbours twice – as Douglas Blake in 1985 and again in 1995 as Reuben White after previously appearing with Haddy in several episodes of Cop Shop in 1980. Condon suffered a stroke in 2013.

## Death

He died from a stroke at an RSL retirement home in Narrabeen, Sydney on 14 February 2014, aged 90.