Michael Preston (born Jack Charles Davis; 14 May 1933 – 8 June 2026) was an English-born singer and television and film character actor who worked in his native United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. He is sometimes credited as Mike Preston.
Preston launched a career as a singer after being discovered in the West End by agent record producer Denis Preston and appeared on the Oh Boy! television series, he released his first single on Decca Records, "A House, A Car And A Wedding Ring" by Jerry Lordan, and his third record, "Dirty Old Town" (1959) was produced by Joe Meek. Preston had three Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including reaching No. 12 with his cover version of The Fleetwoods "Mr. Blue" in November 1959, before emigrating to Australia, where he worked as a nightclub singer.
Television and film
Preston later became a host on television, and also an actor. He was a regular host on In Melbourne Tonight in 1968, and in 1969 was a guest celebrity on the game show The Celebrity Game; he went on to host the revival from 1976 to 1977.
His first ongoing starring role on television was in police drama series Homicide as Sen. Det. Bob Delaney from 1972 to 1973. He then had a recurring role in the soap opera Bellbird as Fr. John Kramer between 1974 and 1976.
He later took a lead role in the prison-based soap opera Punishment (1981), but this series was short-lived. In 1984, he had an ongoing role in Hot Pursuit, as the character Alec Shaw.
Preston also acted in films. His first feature was Surabaya Conspiracy (1969); other film roles included playing Pappagallo in Mad Max 2 (1981), his best-known role, and Jared-Syn in the science fiction B-movie Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983). H
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