# Leslie Dayman

Leslie Calmond Dayman (19 January 1933 – 20 October 2023), credited as Les Dayman, was an Australian actor with a career spanning over 50 years, he was best known for his performances on television (serials and telemovies) and film, major small screen roles including Homicide, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, and E Street.

## Early life

Leslie Calmond Dayman was born at Burn Brae Private Hospital in Footscray, Melbourne, on 19 January 1933. He was the son of Ria Dilks and Les "Bro" Dayman, whose address is given as 49 Napier Street, Footscray. His father was an Australian Rules footballer who played in both the South Australian Football League and Victorian Football League for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Footscray Football Club, and the baby's birth was announced in the Adelaide Advertiser.

## Career

Dayman started his career in theatre in 1955 and thereafter worked as an actor, director and narrator.

### Television roles

Dayman was best known as a staple of the small screen in numerous serial roles. His television career began in 1964 in a TV film, and he appeared in the police procedural crime series Homicide as senior detective Bill Hudson in 104 episodes from 1966 to 1968.
In the 1980s, he was a regular cast member in three major Australian soap operas, all of which had international success: in Grundy Television's Sons and Daughters, he played Roger Carlyle, a ruthless shady businessman in episodes broadcast in 1984 and 1985; also in 1985, he starred in Prisoner, another Grundy production, as Geoff MacRae, one of three male prisoners in a 6-month story arc, and in E Street, he played Senior Sergeant George Sullivan for the series entire run from 1989 to 1993. opposite co-star Cecily Polson who played his wife Martha O'Dare.

### Other credits

Other television appearances included Division 4, Bellamy, Cop Shop, Holiday Island, A Country Practice, Water Rats, Stingers, All Saints, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and Sara Dane. Movie appearances include Weekend of Shadows, Gallipoli, Oscar and Lucinda, Footy Legends, Stepfather of the Bride, The Silence and Holy Smoke!. He acted in many South Australian Theatre Company productions and was its director from 1968 to 1969.

## Death

Leslie Dayman died on 20 October 2023.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1964 | Weather at Pinetop | Cal | TV movie |
| 1974 | Parent Teacher Interviews | The Parent / The Major | Short film |
| 1976 | Democracy | | Short film |
| 1977 | How to Gromble a Flub | Performer | Documentary short film |
| 1978 | Weekend of Shadows | Riley | Feature film |
| 1979 | Pesticides: Friends or Foe | | Documentary short film |
| 1981 | Gallipoli | Artillery Officer | Feature film |
| 1981 | Revenge | | Short film |
| 1981 | Bush Corridors | Phil Green | Documentary short film |
| 1983 | With Prejudice | Shadbolt | Feature film |
| 1983 | Molly | Bill Ireland | Feature film |
| 1984 | Stanley: Every Home Should Have One | Second detective | Film |
| 1985 | I Can't Get Started | Sgt. Beale | Film |
| 1986 | The Last Frontier | | TV movie |
| 1987 | Witch Hunt | David Rofe QC | TV movie |
| 1997 | Oscar and Lucinda | Glassworks Forman | Feature film |
| 1998 | In the Winter Dark | Minister | Film |
| 1998 | Poppy's Head | Poppy | Short film |
| 1999 | Holy Smoke! | Bill | Feature film |
| 2000 | Cheek to Cheek | George | Short film |
| 2004 | Out on the Tiles | Desmond | Short film |
| 2006 | The Silence | Edwin Hall | TV movie |
| 2006 | Footy Legends | Bob | Feature film |
| 2006 | Stepfather of the Bride | Grandpa Bob | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1966–1968 | Homicide | Roy Smith / Detective (later Senior Detective) Bill Hudson | TV series |
| 1974 | Division 4 | Jimmy Morgan | TV series |
| 1980 | The Last Outlaw | Jack Lloyd | TV miniseries |
| 1981 | I Can Jump Puddles | Ted Wilson | TV series |
| 1981 | Holiday Island | | TV series |
| 1981 | Bellamy | Peter Bellamy | TV series |
| 1982 | Sara Dane | Convict Leader | TV miniseries |
| 1984 | Bodyline | Bert Oldfield | TV miniseries |
| 1985 | Possession | | TV series |
| 1985 | Special Squad | Mr. Fitzgerald | TV series |
| 1984–1985 | Sons and Daughters | Roger Carlyle | TV series |
| 1984–1985 | Prisoner | Geoff McRae | TV series |
| 1987 | Willing and Abel | | TV series |
| 1987 | Rafferty's Rules | Sregrant Davis | TV series |
| 1982–1988 | A Country Practice | Blind Freddie / Warwick 'Wok' Larsen / Owen Butler / Phonse McGrath | TV series |
| 1989–1993 | E Street | Senior Sergeant George Sullivan | TV series |
| 1995 | Blue Murder | Commissioner Avery | TV miniseries |
| 1997 | Big Sky | Phillip | TV series |
| 1997–1999 | Water Rats | Ken Miles / Alan Rismore | TV series |
| 1998 | Federation | Voice | TV miniseries |
| 2000 | Stingers | Ossie Fischer | TV series |
| 2002 | Blue Heelers | Frank Jarvis | TV series |
| 2000–2008 | All Saints | Ray Hanson / Viv Woods / Kevin Goldman | TV series |