# Wynn Roberts (actor)

Wynn Roberts (April 29, 1924 – 24 August 2021) credited also as Wyn Roberts and Wynne Roberts, was an Australian radio, stage and screen actor who appeared in more than 70 film and television productions between the early 1950s and 2001. He appeared in numerous TV plays and was also featured in TV miniseries for a career spanning 50 years.

## Career

His television credits include Homicide, Special Squad, The Flying Doctors, Police Rescue, A Country Practice and Wildside. He may be most recognisable to international audiences for his role in the cult Grundy Television prison drama, Prisoner (also known as Prisoner: Cell Block H. 1979-1986), in which he appeared as (Stuart) Gillespie, a mean-spirited prison department inspector, in episodes originally aired in 1980-81. His character's authoritarian regime led to the 1980 season cliffhanger, where a number of inmates escape in a tunnel which subsequently collapses, killing a prisoner and trapping others. Later, in 1987, he guest starred in another Grundy soap opera, Neighbours (1985-), as Frank Darcy, an artist friend of Anne Haddy's character, Helen Daniels. The character memorably wore a leather eye patch and came from Bungle Bungles, and he and Helen almost moved there together, but in the end, Helen decided to stay in Melbourne with her family and Frank left without her. He is also known for his prominent role as Sergeant Bumpher in the 1975 film classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock. He was also a leading stage actor, starting in the late 1940s.
He worked for a number of years in radio.
A 1965 article called him "one of the best and most versatile actors left in Australia - probably the best in Melbourne".

## Death

He died on 24 August 2021 in Tanja, New South Wales, aged 97.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1988 | The Man from Snowy River II | Priest | Feature film |
| 1985 | Wills & Burke | William Wright | Feature film |
| 1982 | Fighting Back | Payne | Feature film |
| 1978 | Weekend of Shadows | Sergeant Caxton | Film |
| 1977 | Born to Run (aka Ride a Wild Pony or Harness Fever) | McGinnis | Feature film |
| 1977 | Listen to the Lion | Hunter | Feature film |
| 1975 | Picnic at Hanging Rock | Sergeant Bumpher | Feature film |
| 1974 | Essington | | TV film |
| 1972 | Flashpoint | Foxy | Feature film |
| 1972 | The Survivor | | Feature film |
| 1968 | Cobwebs in Concrete | Dan Fenner | TV play |
| 1966 | Flight into Danger | | TV play |
| 1966 | Ticket to Nowhere | | TV play |
| 1966 | Should the Woman Pay | Gerald Henderson | TV play |
| 1966 | The Tape Recorder | Voice of Novelist | TV play |
| 1965 | Macbeth | Macbeth | TV play |
| 1965 | Moby Dick - Rehearsed | Ahab | TV play |
| 1965 | A Time to Speak | Gilly (the Doctor) | TV play |
| 1965 | Romanoff and Juliet | Vadim Romanoff | TV play |
| 1964 | The Physicists | Mobius | TV play |
| 1964 | Everyman | Death | TV play |
| 1964 | Corruption in the Palace of Justice | Counsellor Enzi | TV play |
| 1964 | A Man for All Seasons | Sir Thomas More | TV play |
| 1963 | Prelude to Harvest | Governor Phillip | TV play |
| 1962 | Murder in the Cathedral | Beckett | TV play |
| 1962 | Light me a Lucifer | Bill | TV play |
| 1962 | The Hobby Horse | Billy Brocknell | TV play |
| 1962 | Shadow of Heroes | Laszlo Rajk | TV play |
| 1962 | Manhaul | Charles Forrester | TV play |
| 1961 | The Lady from the Sea | The Stranger | TV play |
| 1961 | Burst of Summer | Clinton Hunter | TV play |
| 1961 | Hedda Gabler | Eilert Lovborg | TV play |
| 1960 | Macbeth | Banquo | TV play |
| 1960 | Uncle Martino | Trulla | TV play |
| 1960 | Heart Attack | Dr Rutherford | TV play |
| 1959 | Treason | | TV play |
| 1959 | Last Call | | TV play |
| 1958 | Symphonie Pastorale | Pastor Etieene | TV play |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 2001 | The Farm | George Cooper | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Wildside | Lionel | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1997 | Big Sky | Fred Morgan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1996 | Sun on the Stubble | Ebeneezer Blitz | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Snowy River: The McGregor Saga | Sir Harry Garfield | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993-99 | Law of the Land | Hamilton Chalmers | TV series, 14 episodes |
| 1993 | Snowy | Alf Rutherford | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 1993 | A Country Practice | Gordon Moss | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1992 | The Adventures of Skippy | Grumpy Johnston | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1992 | Bony | Templeman | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1992 | Boys from the Bush | Harry | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1991 | Embassy | Dave | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1986-91 | The Flying Doctors | Dr Don McKenzie / Bill Richards / Stirling / Mal Pryor | TV series, 4 episode |
| 1991 | Police Rescue | Anthony Mason | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999 | Rafferty's Rules | Matt Keegan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988 | Spit MacPhee | Judge Laker | TV miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 1988 | The Last Resort | Exeter Shannon | TV series |
| 1988 | All the Way | Maynard | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1988 | Neighbours | Frank Darcy | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1988 | Always Afternoon | Pastor Jules | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1987 | The Petrov Affair | Brigadier Spry | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Sword of Honour | Arthur Lawrence | TV miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 1986 | Whose Baby? | Edward Hudson KC | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1985 | The Dunera Boys | Slattery | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1985 | One Summer Again | James Smith | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Superintendent Kerslake | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1983-84 | Carson's Law | Andrew Riley KC / Andrews | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 1984 | Waterfront | Inspector Legge | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1982 | Spring and Fall | Clive | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1980-82 | Cop Shop | Alan MacNamara, George Payne, Jack Gren, Walter Green | TV series, 8 episodes |
| 1981 | Holiday Island | David Owens | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1980-81 | Prisoner: Cell Block H | Stuart Gillespie | TV series, 9 episodes |
| 1979 | Disneyland | McGinnis | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1978 | Skyways | Barney Waters | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1975 | Behind the Legend | Christopher Brennan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974 | Homicide | Ross Bullen | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1968-70 | Delta | Rand / Janosek | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1979 | Adventure Island | Captain James Cook | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1967-68 | Contrabandits | Joshua Stoney / Arnell | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1967 | Sergeant Musgrave's Dance | Sergeant Musgrave | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1966 | Australian Playhouse | Johnson / Gerald Henderson / The Author | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1962-64 | Consider Your Verdict | Defence Counsel Robert Winter / Crown Prosector Robert Winter | TV series, 19 episodes |
| 1964 | Barley Charlie | Jim Fogarty | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1962 | Jonah | Morgan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1958 | Killer in Close Up | | TV series, 1 episode |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1947 | Othello | Brobantio (Desdemona's Father) | Melbourne Repertory Theatre |
| 1950 | An Inspector Calls | Eric Birling | University of Melbourne |
| 1951 | Desert Highway | | University of Melbourne, National Theatre, Melbourne, Hobart |
| 1952 | Montserrat | | University of Melbourne |
| 1953 | The Giaconda Smile | Henry Hutton | University of Melbourne |
| 1954 | Ned Kelly | Ned | University of Melbourne |
| 1954 | Escape | Matt Dennant | University of Melbourne |
| 1956 | Death of a Salesman | Uncle Ben | University of Melbourne |
| 1956 | Misalliance | Mr Tarleton | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | The Play's the Thing | Almady | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Our Town | Dr Gibbs | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | The Matchmaker | Horace Vandergelder | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Tonight in Samarkand | | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Ring Around the Moon | | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Brick | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Jonathan Brewster | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | A View from the Bridge | Mr Alfieri | University of Melbourne |
| 1957 | Speak of the Devil | | University of Melbourne |
| 1958 | The Making of Moo | Frederick Compton | University of Melbourne |
| 1958 | A Hatful of Rain | John Pope Snr | University of Melbourne |
| 1958 | The Threepenny Opera | Peachum | University of Melbourne |
| 1958 | The Ballad of Angel's Alley | Nobbler | New Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1961 | The Sentimental Bloke | Ginger Mick | Melbourne |
| 1961 | The One Day of the Year | Alf Cook | Russell Street Theatre, Devonport Town Hall, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Burnie, National Theatre, Launceston |
| 1962 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | | Russell Street Theatre |
| 1966 | The First Country | | Emerald Hill Theatre |
| 1973 | A Celebration of the Life and Vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin | | Dallas Brooks Hall |
| 1979 | Cymbeline | Cymbeline | ABC Radio, Melbourne |
| 1984 | The Cherry Orchard | | The Mill Theatre, Melbourne |