# Neil Pigot

Neil Pigot (born 28 December 1961) is an Australian film, television and award-winning stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Falcon Price in television series Blue Heelers. He has presented several documentaries on his niche subject, Australian military history. He is also the author of several works of non-fiction.

## Early life

Pigot was born in Melbourne, the eldest son of a butcher turned commercial pilot and his wife who would become one of Australia's pioneering female car sales people. At age 8, his family moved to Darwin and then South East Asia. He completed his schooling in Sydney. He then left his "dysfunctional family home" at the age of 17.
Pigot has claimed he was always interested in the Arts but for the first two years after finishing high school he drifted between jobs as a sales clerk, freight clerk, sales canvasser and finally as the manager of a flying school before "falling into acting" at the age of 20.

## Career

Pigot began work with the semi professional Lieder Southern Regional Theatre in Goulburn, NSW in the early 1980s first appearing as Meriman the butler in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. He then worked in community theatre and on drama programmes with long term institutionalised adults at Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital before joining Theatre ACT in 1984. After a time as a contract actor in Canberra he established the Black Inc theatre company with Paul Corcoran, Tim Ferguson and Ian Hagan and The Katt Klub, a late night cabaret where he performed with many artists including the Doug Anthony Allstars. His work in theatre has continued and he has played leading roles for all of Australia's major companies including the Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies, Belvoir, Playbox/Malthouse, Queensland Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia and also leading independent companies Brink, Back to Back and Kickhouse most often appearing in new works.
Pigot's television credits include leading guest roles in over twenty television series and several telemovies beginning with G.P. in the 1980s up until recent appearances in The Kettering Incident for Foxtel. Notable series include The Man from Snowy River, The Games, The Adventures of Lano and Woodley, The Secret Life of Us, Laid, Marshall Law, Wicked Science, Stingers, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Neighbours, Society Murders and The Doctor Blake Mysteries. For nine years he performed the role of Inspector Falcon Price on the drama series Blue Heelers for which he is best known.
Australian films Pigot has been featured in include Head On, Lucky Country, The Condemned, Stepsister from Planet Weird, Red Dog, The Dish, Oranges and Sunshine and Blessed.
Pigot is also a documentary writer and presenter who specialises in Australian military history and has fronted 2 series and three stand-alone feature documentaries for Fox History on the subject.
In 1994, he completed his first work of non-fiction The Changi Diary. He also recorded an album The Changi Songbook, a compilation of original songs written by an Australian POW in a Changi POW Camp with the remaining members of the Changi Concert Party in that same year. A live album of the songs, recorded during two concerts at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2013, is to be released in the future.

## Personal life

Pigot lived and worked in many Australian cities and in the UK, before returning to the place of his birth in 1995.
In 2001 he married his longtime partner Rachel Mackie, an academic. He has a step daughter, Keone Dodd. The couple divorced in 2016. He lives with his current wife, an artist, in Broken Hill, New South Wales.
Pigot has been open about suffering from Bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and alcoholism, and having attempted suicide. He spent time in mental and rehab facilities for treatment in 2016.
He is a lifelong collector of stamps and contemporary Australian Art, and is an avid cook and gardener which has led to active involvement with both the Slow Food Movement and Gardening Australia.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Head On | Senior Constable | |
| 1999 | Redball | Bingo Wright | |
| 2000 | The Dish | Journo | |
| 2001 | Like It Is | Narrator | Short film |
| 2007 | The Condemned | Wade | |
| 2009 | Blessed | Sergeant Kerrick | |
| 2009 | Dark Frontier | Carver | |
| 2010 | Oranges and Sunshine | James | |
| 2011 | Red Dog | Vet | |
| 2017 | Pillars | Richard | Short film |
| 2017 | Mrs McCutcheon | Parncut | Short film |
| 2017 | Australia Day | Michael Bester | |
| 2020 | Strangers to the World | Bishop | |
| 2021 | Some Happy Day | Radio Announcer | |
| 2022 | Slant | Martin | |
| TBA | Stringybark | John Kelly | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Home and Away | Electrician | 1 episode |
| 1991 | The Girl From Tomorrow | Cameraman | |
| 1994 | G.P. | Dave | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Snowy River: The Mcgregor Saga | Ambrose Wylie | 1 episode |
| 1997 | State Coroner | Senior Constable | 1 episode |
| 1997 | The Last of the Ryans | Speed | TV movie |
| 1997–1999 | The Adventures of Lano and Woodley | Sgt Pearce | 3 episodes |
| 1997–2006 | Blue Heelers | Russell Falcon-Price | 42 episodes |
| 1998 | The Games | David Pigot | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Stepsister from Planet Weird | Fred Larson | TV movie |
| 2001 | The Secret Life of Us | Mad Dog Martin | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Marshall Law | Brett | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Stingers | Barry Hunter | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Wicked Science | Earl | 1 episode |
| 2006 | The Society Murders | DS Steve Waddell | TV movie |
| 2007 | Neighbours | Christian Johnson | 7 episodes |
| 2009 | For Valour | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2009 | Rush | Eddie | 1 episode |
| 2011 | The Digger | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2012 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Ted Coglan | 1 episode |
| 2012 | Laid | Hilary | 1 episode |
| 2013 | Breaker Morant | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2013–2016 | The Doctor Blake Mysteries | Derek Alderton | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Secret City | Brian Huxley | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | The Kettering Incident | Dominic Harrold | 8 episodes |
| 2018 | Back In Very Small Business | Radio Talkback Host | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Total Control | Stephen | 1 episode |

## Theatre
### As actor

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| Early 1980s | The Importance of Being Earnest | Meriman the Butler | Lieder Southern Regional Theatre, Goulburn |
| 1985 | Picnic on the Battlefield / Orison / Fando and Lis | | Gorman House, Canberra with Australian Theatre Workshop |
| 1985 | Two Gentlemen of Verona / The Private Ear | | Gorman House, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1985 | No. 3 | | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Red Square Theatre |
| 1985 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | | ANU, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1986 | The Lover | | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1986 | Bedroom Farce | | Playhouse, Canberra with Canberra Comedy Theatre Co. |
| 1986 | Ubu Roi | | Australian National Gallery Theatre, Canberra |
| 1988 | Naked | | Childers Street Theatre, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1992–1993; 1995 | A Bright and Crimson Flower | | Princes Wharf, Hobart, Launceston Showgrounds Motor Pavilion, HMAS Lonsdale, Melbourne, Echuca, Hamilton, Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, Bendigo, Mt Nelson Theatre, Hobart with Zootango Theatre Company |
| 1993 | As You Like It | Duke Frederick / Silvius / Forrester | Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart with Zootango Theatre Company |
| 1995 | The Ship That Never Was | | Polly Woodside, Melbourne with Round Earth Theatre Company |
| 1996 | Travesties | Henry Carr | Melbourne Athenaeum with Black Inc |
| 1996 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know | Lord Byron | Melbourne Athenaeum with Black Inc |
| 1996 | The Truth Game | | Carlton Courthouse with Missing Link Productions |
| 1997 | Ned Kelly | | Theatre Works, Melbourne with Kickhouse Theatre |
| 1998 | Judgement | Captain Vukhov | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne |
| 1999 | The Boneyard | | La Mama, Melbourne |
| 1999 | Fred | Barry / Egyptian Man | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2001 | Crave | | Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney |
| 2002 | Uncle Bob | Uncle Bob | Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2002 | The Fortunes of Richard Mahony | Richard Mahony | Brisbane Powerhouse, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company & QTC |
| 2002 | Rapture | Tom | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company |
| 2003 | Breath By Breath | | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne with La Mama |
| 2003 | The Country | Richard | Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney |
| 2004 | Traitors | Krasin, an Army officer | Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne with La Mama |
| 2004 | Dinner | Lars | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2005 | Weary - the Story of Sir Edward Dunlop | Weary Dunlop | Australian tour with McPherson Touring |
| 2005 | Oleanna | | The Butter Factory Theatre, Wodonga with HotHouse Theatre |
| 2006 | A Single Act | Neil | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2007 | Heaven | | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk |
| 2007 | Evidence | | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk |
| 2007 | Hamlyn | | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk |
| 2007 | Black Box 149 | | Trades Hall, Melbourne with theatre@risk |
| 2007; 2008 | Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) | Thom Pain | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Street 2, Acton, Canberra with MTC |
| 2008 | Frost/Nixon | | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2008 | The Lower Depths | | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne with Ariette Taylor Productions |
| 2008–2010 | When the Rain Stops Falling | Gabriel York | Australian tour with Brink Productions, STCSA, STC & QTC |
| 2009 | Flashpoint: Big Noise / Topsy / Whiteley's Incredible Blue | | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne |
| 2011 | Song of the Bleeding Throat | Abraham Lincoln | The Eleventh Hour Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2011 | Whiteley's Incredible Blue ... an hallucination | Brett Whiteley | Fortyfivedownstairs for Melbourne International Arts Festival |
| 2017 | The Realistic Joneses | Bob | Red Stitch Actors Theatre |
| 2019 | The Tree of Man | | Old Treasury Building, Melbourne with Stork Theatre |
| 2023 | Green Time & Tempo | | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2023 | Good Works | Alan / Brother Clement / Barry / Mr Donovan | Mill Theatre, Canberra |
| 2024 | Terror | Christian Lauterbach | Mill Theatre, Canberra |

### As crew

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Lighting Designer | Theatre 3, Acton, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1985 | Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris | Assistant Director | Gorman House, Canberra with Black Inc |
| 1985 | Private Lives | Lighting Designer | Theatre 3, Acton with Canberra Repertory Society |
| 1986 | After Magritte | Publicist | Rehearsal Room, Civic Square, Canberra with Black Inc & Canberra Theatre Trust |