Peter Bensley

Peter Bensley (born 6 February 1954)^[1] is an Australian actor.

Peter Bensley
Born	(1954-02-06) 6 February 1954 (age 71) Warialda, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations	Actor, author
Years active	1973–present
Known for	Dr. John Austin in The New Adventures of Black Beauty Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker in Water Rats Andrew Teigan in Mirror, Mirror Dr Mike Newman in The Young Doctors Matt Delaney in Prisoner Andrew Foley in Home and Away

Career

Television

One of Bensley's earliest roles was as Dennis Braithwaite on the Seven Network drama series Class of '74. He also appeared in ABC Television children's show, Waterloo Street.

Bensley appeared in several Grundy Television soap operas including The Restless Years (1979); The Young Doctors as Dr. Mike Newman (from 1980 until the show finished in 1983); Prisoner as one of the three male prisoners, Matt Delaney (for 34 episodes in 1984); Neighbours (1986) as Tony Chapman;^[2] and Home and Away (1988 to 1990) as school teacher Andrew Foley.^[3] In 2009, he returned to Neighbours for a two-episode guest role as Dean Naughton.^[2]

In 1992, Bensley appeared as Dr. John Austin in the Australian miniseries The New Adventures of Black Beauty.^[4] In 1995, he appeared in the Australian/New Zealand co-production Mirror, Mirror, as Andrew Teigan, father of Jo Teigan.

Bensley also appeared in the long-running television series Water Rats about the Sydney Harbour Water Police Squad, in which he had the major role of Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker for the entire series run (1996–2001).

Film

After The Young Doctors was cancelled, Bensley played the title role of Stanley Dunstan in the 1984 comedy film Stanley.^[5] He had to have his hair cut short for the role and he did his own stunts.^[5] Bensley appeared in the 2020 romantic comedy Romance on the Menu.

Advertisements

In the 1980s, Bensley appeared as a nude centrefold in the magazine, Cleo, wearing only strategically placed scuba gear. He also featured in a cheeky advertisement for Palmolive Gold, in which he is seen in bed with fellow The Young Doctors actress Judy McBurney, and semi-naked in a shower.

Author

His first fiction book, On a Wing and a Prayer, was published in 2006.

Personal life

Bensley and his partner have 3 children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Stanley	Stanley	Feature film
2010	Tangerine	Alex	Short film
2017	Don't Tell	Karen's Father	Feature film
2020	Romance on the Menu	Dale Whitely	Feature film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Class of 74	Dennis Braithwaite	Series regular
1976	Rush	Patsey O'Halloran	Episode: "Welcome Back Sergeant McKellar"
1978	Chopper Squad	Vince	Episode: "A Pride of Lions"
1978	Tickled Pink	Penny	Episode: "The Family Business"
1979	The Restless Years		TV series
1979	Cop Shop	Gary Sinclair	Episode 186
1980–1983	The Young Doctors	Dr Mike Newman	Series regular
1984–1985	Prisoner	Matt Delaney	Recurring
1986	Neighbours	Tony Chapman	Recurring
1988–1990	Home and Away	Andrew Foley	Recurring
1991–1994	G.P.	Dean Noonan	Episodes: "Nowhere to Run", "Ties of the Blood"
1992	Round the Twist	Mr Shelford	Episode: "Nails"
1992	Police Rescue	Phil Dorrick	Episode: "The Hard Way"
1992	The Time Game	Electricity Serviceman	TV film
1992–1994	The New Adventures of Black Beauty	Dr. John Austin	Recurring
1994	Ship to Shore	Taxi Driver	Guest
1994	Paradise Beach	Martin Taylor	Episode 130
1995	Mirror, Mirror	Andrew Tiegan	Series regular
1996–2001	Water Rats	Chied Inspector Jeff Hawker	Series regular
1997	Roar	Alwyn	Episode: "The Eternal"
2001	Corridors of Power	Mail Man	Recurring
2009	Neighbours	Dean Naughton	Guest
2009–2010	Packed to the Rafters	Derek	Recurring
2010	Cops LAC	Chief Superintendent	Episode: "The Killer Wore Sneakers"

As director

Year	Title	Notes
1992	Steam Across the Mountain