# Max Gillies

Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group.

## Early life and education

Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Teachers College and featured in the theatre productions School for Scandal and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll with Kerry Dwyer in 1964. He graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966. He then studied secondary teaching at the Melbourne Teachers' College, now part of the University of Melbourne.

## Career

Max Gillies was a member of the Australian Performing Group (APG) in the 1970s. The group was officially formed in 1970 and then set up a theatre in a former pram factory in Drummond Street, Carlton. Here, and in other venues throughout Melbourne and other parts of Australia, the ensemble presented alternative, experimental, avant-garde and radical plays, musical comedies, vaudeville, stage shows, street theatre and circus acts, using comedy, drama, music and dance. In the many APG productions in which he appeared, Gillies became renowned for his prodigious talent as an actor and comedian. Those plays included "The Hills Family Show", "Dimboola" and "A Stretch of the Imagination".
In 1984–85, Gillies hosted The Gillies Report on ABC Television. This was followed in 1986 by Gillies Republic and in 1992 by Gillies and Company. He was known for his ability to dress up and parody a wide range of political figures, both on television and in live solo theatrical performances (i.e. The Big Con and Your Dreaming: The Prime Minister’s Cultural Convention). In July 2008 he resurrected his caricatures of Australia's former prime ministers in a live production of No Country for Old PMs: An Evening with Max Gillies at the Noosa Longweekend festival.
Gillies stated in an interview with The Courier-Mail that he and co-writer Guy Rundle were watching the then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, for a possible new caricature in a new production being developed. "I'm watching him closely" he said.

## Personal life

He is married to publisher Louise Adler, and they have two adult children.

## Accolades
### Honours

Gillies became a member of the Order of Australia on New Year's Day 1990 for his services to the performing arts. In 1997, he was recognised with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Monash University and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2015.

### Awards

| Year | Organisation | Award | Result |
| 1977 | Theatre Australia Awards | Actor of the Year for A Stretch of the Imagination | Won |
| 1985 | Mo Awards | Specialty Act of the Year | Won |

## Caricatures

Gillies, through his television programs or theatre performances, has caricatured the following people:
* Australian prime ministers: Robert Menzies, Harold Holt, William McMahon, Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd.
* Other Australian politicians: Kim Beazley, Alexander Downer, Amanda Vanstone, Ian Sinclair, Philip Ruddock, John Kerr, Don Chipp, Andrew Peacock, Fred Nile, Russ Hinze, Gareth Evans.
* Australian state premiers: Robert Askin, Henry Bolte, Neville Wran, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, John Bannon.
* Australian businessmen: Kerry Packer, Rupert Murdoch, Alan Bond, John Singleton, John Elliott.
* Australian writers: Phillip Adams, Bob Ellis, Geoffrey Blainey, Clive James, Thomas Keneally, Gerard Henderson, Bob Santamaria.
* Foreign leaders: Ronald Reagan, Pik Botha, F. W. de Klerk, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Mikhail Gorbachev, David Lange, Queen Elizabeth II, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Pope John Paul II.
* Other people: Tony Barber, Barry Crocker, David Attenborough, Jonathan Shier, Frank Sinatra, David McNicoll, Arthur Daley (a main character from Minder)

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | Stork | Uncle Jack | |
| 1971 | The Girl on the Roof | Freddy | Short film |
| 1973 | Libido | Gerry | Segment: The Family Man |
| 1973 | Dalmas | Rojack | |
| 1974 | The Cars That Ate Paris | Metcalfe | |
| 1974 | Applause Please | Various characters | Short film |
| 1975 | The Firm Man | Managing director | |
| 1975 | The True Story of Eskimo Nell | Deadeye Dick | |
| 1975 | The Great Macarthy | Stan | |
| 1975 | Pure Shit | Dr. Harry Wolf | |
| 1976 | The Trespassers | Publisher | |
| 1979 | Dimboola | Vivian Worcester-Jones | |
| 1980 | A Wild Ass of a Man | James Muldoon | TV movie |
| 1982 | A Shifting Dreaming | William 'Nugget' Morton | Documentary film |
| 1985 | The Coca-Cola Kid | Frank Hunter | |
| 1988 | As Time Goes By | Joe Bogart – The Alien | |
| 1990 | A Stretch of the Imagination | Monk O'Neill | TV movie |
| 1991 | A Woman's Tale | Billy's Son-in-Law | |
| 1996 | Lust and Revenge | Art Critic | |
| 2003 | The Ball | John Howard, Prime Minister | Short film |
| 2006 | Wil | The Therapist | |

### Television

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | This Love Affair | Harry | TV series – 2 episodes |
| 1974 | Flash Nick from Jindavick | Inspector Hare/Mayor of Dubbo/Gerry the Fireman | TV series – 3 episodes |
| 1975 | Homicide | Lennie | TV series – 1 episode |
| 1975 | Tandarra | Dr. Roland Clancy | Miniseries – 1 episode |
| 1977 | Bluey | John Clancy | TV series – 1 episode |
| 1980 | Lawson's Mates | | TV series – 1 episode |
| 1980 | Spring & Fall | Charlie | TV series – 1 episode |
| 1978–1981 | Tickled Pink | Willeke/Uncle/Bill | TV series – 4 episodes |
| 1983 | Home | Barney | Children's TV series – 2 episodes |
| 1984–1985 | The Gillies Report | Various characters | Sketch show – 14 episodes |
| 1986 | The Gillies Republic | Various characters | Sketch show – 6 episodes |
| 1992 | Gillies and Company | Various characters | Sketch show |
| 1995 | Blue Heelers | Bill Foster | TV series – 1 episode |
| 2000 | All Saints | Ian Benson | TV series – 1 episode |
| 2003 | Welcher & Welcher | Larry | Sitcom – 1 episode |
| 2012 | House Husbands | Noel | TV series – 1 episode |
| 2020 | Bloom | Archbishop Gibson | TV series – 3 episodes |

## Theatre

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1962 | The School for Scandal | | University of Melbourne |
| 1964 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Barney | University of Melbourne |
| 1964 | Love’s Best Doctor | | Union Theatre |
| 1964 | Endgame | | Union Theatre |
| 1970 | The Hero Rises Up | | |
| 1970 | Knuckle | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1970–1971 | Marvellous Melbourne | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1971 | The Feet of Daniel Mannix | Mr Greensleeves | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1972 | He Can Swagger Sitting Down | George Wallace | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1973 | Dimboola | Bayonet | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1973 | The Dumb Waiter | Gus | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1973 | The Dragon Lady’s Revenge | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1974 | Housey | | |
| 1974 | River Jordan | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1974 | The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1974 | On Yer Marx | Groucho Marx | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1974 | Who | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1975 | Smoking is a Health Hazard | Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1975 | Bedfellows | Paul Cummins | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1975 | The Money Show | | APG at Carlton Festival |
| 1975 | The Department | Robbie | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1975–1977 | The Hills Family Show | Fitzroy Hills | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1976 | Yours for the Masking | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1976 | A Toast to Melba | Oscar Wilde, Buffalo Bill, Pietro Cecchi & Truth Editor | APG at National Theatre & Adelaide Festival |
| 1976 | A Stretch of the Imagination | Monk O’Neill | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1976 | Knuckle | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1978 | The Ship’s Whistle | | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1979 | Beware of Imitations | Sir Wilfred McLuckie | APG at Pram Factory |
| 1979 | Marsupials | | MTC at Russell Street Theatre |
| 1979–1980 | Traitors | | APG at Nimrod |
| 1980 | Clouds | | Nimrod |
| 1980–1981 | Scanlan | Professor Scanlan | Universal Theatre, Nimrod & La Boite |
| 1980–1981 | Smoking is a Health Hazard | Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin | Phillip Street Theatre & Universal Theatre |
| 1981 | Squirts | Various characters including Malcolm Fraser | STCSA at Universal Theatre & Playhouse |
| 1982 | A Night with the Right | Various characters | Nimrod |
| 1982 | Welcome to the Bright World | | Nimrod |
| 1983 | Accidental Death of an Anarchist | | Athenaeum Theatre |
| 1987 | A Chorus of Disapproval | Dafydd | MTC |
| 1987–1988 | The Department | Robbie | Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at Seymour Centre |
| 1990 | Allo Allo | René | State Theatre & Her Majesty's Theatre |
| 1990–1991 | A Stretch of the Imagination | Monk O’Neill | MTC at Russell Street Theatre |
| 1992 | Fiddler on the Roof | Tevye | Opera Australia |
| 1993 | In Two Minds | | Theatre Royal |
| 1993 | The Beaux’ Stratagem | Foigard | MTC |
| 1993 | Scrooge, The Musical | The Ghost of Christmas Present | Princess Theatre |
| 1994 | The Sisters Rosensweig | Mervyn Kant | MTC |
| 1995 | Three Birds Alighting on a Field | | |
| 1995 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Lord Augustus Lorton | MTC |
| 1996 | Gillies Live at the Club Republic | Various characters | Civic Theatre |
| 1996 | Little Shop of Horrors | | Enmore Theatre |
| 1996 | Competitive Tenderness | Brian | Playbox |
| 1997 | After the Ball | Ron Macrae | QTC at Suncorp Theatre |
| 1997 | Run for Your Wife | | Civic Theatre |
| 1998 | Misalliance | John Tarleton | MTC |
| 1998 | The Club | Ted Parker | MTC |
| 1998 | Noises Off | | Civic Theatre |
| 1999 | Happy Days - The Arena Mega Musical | Howard Cunningham | Paul Dainty |
| 1999 | The Merry Widow | Miko Zeta | Essgee Entertainment at Sydney Lyric |
| 2000 | A Couple of Blaguards | | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2000 | Your Dreaming: The Prime Minister’s Cultural Convention | Poets, Pontificanfs & Ex-Patriots | Playbox (A Centenary of Federation Event) |
| 2003 | The Dock Brief | Wilfred Morgenhall | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2003–2004 | Last of the Red Hot Lovers | Barney | Hit Productions at Q Theatre |
| 2004 | What the Butler Saw | Dr Rance | Belvoir St Theatre |
| 2003, 2006 | Babes in the Wood | Tía Avarice | Merlyn Theatre |
| 2004–2005 | The Big Con | Various characters | ANZ Pavilion Arts Centre |
| 2005 | Love Letters | Andrew Makepeace Ladd III | Parade Theatre, NIDA |
| 2005–2006 | A Couple of Blaguards | Malachy McCourt | York Theatre |
| 2006 | A Hard God | | |
| 2007 | Dimboola | | Malthouse Theatre |
| 2007, 2008 | Heroes | Henri | QTC at Cremorne Theatre |
| 2008 | No Country for Old PMs: An Evening with Max Gillies | Himself | Noosa Longweekend Festival |
| 2009 | The Man from Mukinupin | Eek Perkins | MTC / Company B |
| 2009–2010 | Godzone | Various characters | MTC at Sumner Theatre |
| 2011 | Much Ado About Nothing | Dogberry | STC |
| 2012 | The Seed | Brian Maloney | MTC |
| 2013 | The Haunting of David Gartrell | David Gartrell | Straightjacket Productions |
| 2014–2015 | Once Were Leaders: An Evening with Max Gillies | Various characters | Wander Productions |
| 2018 | Krapp's Last Tape | Krapp | Fortyfivedownstairs |
| 2019 | Senior Moments | Various characters | Return Fire Productions |
| 2021–2023 | Mono: A Three-Person One-Man Show | Various characters | Bunbury Productions |