Overview
Steve Bisley (born 26 December 1951) is an Australian writer, film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Mad Max (1979) and The Great Gatsby (2013). On television, some of his better-known roles include Detective Sergeant Jack Christey in Water Rats and Jim Knight in Doctor Doctor.
Early life
Bisley was born at Lake Munmorah, New South Wales and grew up on a small farm called Stillways. The son of schoolteachers, he moved to Sydney just after his seventeenth birthday. After a few years of working in various jobs, he enrolled in the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating with a degree in acting in 1977. Other actors in his class included Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Debra Lawrance and Sally McKenzie.
Career
While still training at NIDA, Bisley and his friend Mel Gibson made their film debuts in Summer City (1977). Towards the end of the course, they were approached by director George Miller and asked to audition for parts in Mad Max (1979). Both were successful and Bisley went on to play "Jim Goose", the best friend and partner to Gibson's titular character. Mad Max has since become a cult classic and it launched Mel Gibson to mainstream stardom. After this, Bisley played the lead role in the thriller The Chain Reaction (1980), with Mel Gibson making a brief appearance. His other early film credits include roles in The Highest Honor (1983), The Winds of Jarrah (1983), Fast Talking (1984) and Silver City (1984).
In 1980, Bisley played Joe Byrne in The Last Outlaw, a critically acclaimed TV mini-series about Ned Kelly. He was also seen in A Town Like Alice, The Boy in the Bush and the original 1985 miniseries of the medical drama The Flying Doctors.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).