Lewis Fitz-Gerald

Lewis Fitz-Gerald (born 15 November 1958) is an Australian actor, screenwriter and television director.

Early life and education

Fitz-Gerald studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art.

He furthered his education in 2009, when he obtained a Master of Arts (Comms), and again in 2016, when he completed a Doctorate of Philosophy, both at University of New England (UNE).

Career

Fitz-Gerald had an early recurring guest role in Skyways from 1979–1980, playing Leslie Foy. Guest roles in The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Young Ramsay followed, before scoring his first film role in Bruce Beresford's 1980 biographical war drama Breaker Morant, opposite Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson, in which he played Lt. George Witton, a junior officer, who'd quickly become disillusioned.

He appeared in several miniseries' including The Last Outlaw (1980), Outbreak of Love and I Can Jump Puddles (both 1981), followed by the 1982 drama film We of the Never Never (based on the 1908 autobiographical novel of the same name) alongside John Jarratt and Angela Punch McGregor. Other film credits of the 1980s included Fighting Back (1982), The Boy Who Had Everything (1985), The More Things Change (1986) and Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1987), as well as TV films The Dean Case (1983), Time's Raging (1985), Ivanhoe (1986) and Police State (1989).

Fitz-Gerald secured a 26-episode role as pilot David Gibson in medical drama series The Flying Doctors in 1986. It was his first long-running series and he admitted to thinking "long and hard" before signing up. To aid his portrayal of David, Fitz-Gerald spent time with real-life pilots to learn about flying. He also starred as Tony in the acclaimed 1987 TV movie The Shiralee, opposite Bryan Brown.

In 1988, he appeared alongside Meryl Streep and Sam Neill in the Fred Schepisi biopic Evil Angels (aka A Cry in the Dark), which portrayed the true story of the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain and the ensuing legal case and media storm. The same year, he starred in Rikky and Pete. Television guest credits in the late 1980s included western drama series Five Mile Creek, the American Mission: Impossible reboot (filmed in Australia), and the sports miniseries The Four Minute Mile.

The 1990s brought further guest roles in series' including EARTH Force, A Country Practice, G.P., Time Trax, The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, Snowy River: The Mcgregor Saga, Cody: Bad Love, Big Sky, Murder Call, Wildside, Good Guys, Bad Guys, Stingers.

Fitz-Gerald earned an AFI Award nomination for his 1993 directorial docudrama film The Last Man Hanged, in which he also starred as journalist, Keith Willey, who followed the events leading up to the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Pentridge Prison in 1967.

He played the recurring role of Dr. Sebert Blitho in medical drama series RFDS from 1993 to 1994, and had a part in 1994 buddy movie Spider and Rose opposite Ruth Cracknell. He next portrayed Les in 1996 mystery thriller film Dead Heart, and the same year, appeared in anthology series, Twisted Tales.

At the turn of the century, Fitz-Gerald starred in the Hollywood sci-fi film Pitch Black alongside Vin Diesel and Radha Mitchell. Television guest roles of the era included Ponderosa, Farscape, Out There and Blue Heelers and appearances in miniseries' and TV movies included The Three Stooges (2000), Border Patrol (2001), The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) and Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005). In 2009, he appeared in drama film The Boys are Back, alongside British actor Clive Owen, the TV movie A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne and crime series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. The following year he scored a recurring guest role as Snr Detective Gordon Eaves in long-running soap opera Home and Away.

In 2011, Fitz-Gerald had a lead role in ABC legal drama series Crownies, as David Sinclair, King's boss and the director of public prosecutions. That same year, he appeared as racehorse owner Sir Michael Smurfit in The Cup, the true story of the 2002 Melbourne Cup, which he followed with romantic comedy Not Suitable for Children (2012) opposite Ryan Kwanten and Hollywood superhero blockbuster The Wolverine (2013) starring Hugh Jackman.

Fitz-Gerald played Alan Reid in 2013 political drama miniseries Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War and resumed his role as David Sinclair in Crownies spin-off, Janet King. In 2016, he had an ongoing part in US drama series Hunters, as Truss Jackson.

Later guest roles have been in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Winter, Rake, Blue Murder: Killer Cop, Reef Break and The Wilds, while more recent film credits include Dance Academy: The Movie (2017) and Harmony (2018). In 2018, Fitz-Gerald was also named for six-part ABC / Netflix political thriller series Pine Gap, in which he played Rudi Fox, the Chief of Intelligence at Pine Gap, a Defence Facility in remote Central Australia.

Fitz-Gerald appeared in both seasons of psychological thriller series The Secrets She Keeps, beginning in 2020. In 2022, he played the recurring role of Henry in political comedy series The PM's Daughter. His most recent television role has been as Richard Rankin in NCIS: Sydney from 2023 to 2025.

Fitz-Gerald helped found Belvoir St Theatre Company and has also acted extensively for the stage, since the 1970s. He has lectured in Screen and Media Studies at Australia's University of New England School of the Arts since 2017.

Awards

Filmography

Theatre

See also

• List of University of New England (Australia) people

References

External links

• Lewis Fitz-Gerald at IMDb