Leonard Teale
Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is best remembered for his role in the long-running Australian police prodedural drama "Homicide" as David "Mac" MacKay. As a professional actor he adopted Teale – a homophone of his birth surname, Thiele – as a stage name. Biography. Early life. Leonard George Thiele was born in Brisbane, to Maude Henrietta Thiele, née Rasmussen, and Herman Albert Thiele, a chemist. He attended Milton  State Primary School and Brisbane Grammar School (1934–38) on a scholarship. However, the family's financial situation during the Great Depression forced Leonard to leave school and enter the workforce. He worked as a junior clerk for Brisbane City Council's Electricity Supply Department. In his spare time, he took up amateur drama, with local repertory groups. From the age of 17, he augmented these activities with a role as a part-time radio announcer, after successfully auditioning at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Brisbane. Military service. Following the outbreak of World War II, Thiele joined the Militia and  served as a signaller. Interested in becoming a pilot, he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 10 October 1942. He graduated from flying school the following year and was commissioned as officer. In 1944, Thiele was posted to the Mediterranean theatre, where he served with No. 458 Squadron RAAF, a maritime patrol/strike unit, flying Vickers Wellingtons, from bases at Foggia, Italy, and Gibraltar. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in September 1945 and was discharged on 16 January 1946, after returning to Australia. Radio serials. Thiele's career as a professional actor commenced in the late  1940s and early 1950s, in radio serials; his roles included that of Superman/Clark Kent and Tarzan. He also made regular appearances in radio variety programs such as the "Bonnington's Bunkhouse Show", and voiceovers in countless commercials. Films. He appeared in several feature films, including "Smiley", "Smiley Gets A Gun", and "Bungala Boys". In the early 1950s, with Raymond Hanson, Roland Robinson and others, Thiele helped form the short-lived Australian Cultural Defence Movement, aimed at protecting local arts and crafts production from the perceived inroads being made by imported content, particularly from the US. However, the movement faltered  after becoming a target of anti-communist activists, (His brother, Neville Thiele, was also targeted, for participating in left-wing theatre.) TV presenter and actor. Thiele was a co-compère of the radio ABC Children's Session, as "Chris" from 1951 to 1954 (also playing the title role in its "Muddle-Headed Wombat" serial), his involvement possibly cut short by management for political reasons. At this time he was still using the surname "Thiele" professionally. Major television roles included a regular comedic role in the "Mobil-Limb Show", host roles in variety programs "Singalong" and "Folkmoot", and acting roles in  locally produced drama series including "Whiplash", "The Hungry Ones", "Adventure Unlimited", and "Consider Your Verdict". He is best remembered, however, for his long-running role as Senior Detective (later Detective Sergeant) David "Mac" Mackay in "Homicide" from 1965 to 1973. "Homicide" was Australia's first-ever locally produced TV police drama. Teale won a Logie for best Australian actor in 1974. He also hosted a documentary about the series, "The Homicide Story", in 1970. Other leading television roles included Captain Woolcott in "Seven Little Australians" (1973), and headmaster Charles Ogilvy in school-based soap opera "Class of '74" (1974–75). Narrator . Teale narrated for Australian Broadcasting Corporation audio recordings, including the Banjo Paterson poem "The Man from Snowy River", and a spoken-word version of the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven" on ABC-TV's "The Money or the Gun". His reading of Dorothea Mackellar's poem "My Country", which included the lines "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains" was so widely played in Australia during the 1970s that it was also frequently parodied. Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1992 Queen's New Years Honours List for  his services to the performing arts and community. Personal life. Married three times, Leonard Teale had four children, Amanda, Juli, Jennifer and Melinda. He married his third wife, entertainer Liz Harris in 1968; Harris had appeared in three episodes of "Homicide". Leonard Teale died of a heart attack in 1994. A documentary, "Homicide: 30 Years On", aired later that year which included reminiscences from former "Homicide" castmates and footage of an appearance made by himself and "Homicide" actors George Mallaby and Alwyn Kurts in 1992 presenting a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Series "partially" in character (with hilarious results). Discography . Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom: Songs of the Sundowners LP CBS 1964 Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom: Travelling down the Castlereagh LP CBS 1965