AustLit

One of Australia's most recognisable actors, Bryan Brown has also carved out a very successful international career, starring in such films and television series as Breaker Morant, Cocktail, A Town Like Alice, The Thorn Birds, Gorillas in the Mist, FX: Murder by Illusion and FX 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion, Newsfront, The Shiralee, Blood Oath, Risk and Two Hands (for which he won his second Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor), Dirty Deeds, To Catch a Killer (based on the Joanne Lees story) and Baz Lurhman's Australia. Brown has appeared opposite Rachel Ward in the Golden Globe nominated telemovie On The Beach, which won an Australian Film Institute Award, and opposite Candice Bergen in Footsteps for the American CBS network.

Brown began his acting career while in England in 1964, eventually winning minor roles with the Old Vic theatre company. After returning to Australia he became a member of Sydney's Genesian Theatre and later joined the Queensland Theatre Company. He made his first film appearance in 1977 with a small role in The Love Letters from Teralba Road. During the next two years he played in several more Australian films before undertaking his breakthrough in 1980 as one of the leads in Breaker Morant. In addition to playing roles in a number of Australian productions over the next few years Brown also appeared in several American TV mini-series due to his popularity with US audiences following the release there of A Town Like Alice (1981). A few years later he was cast alongside Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward in The Thorn Birds (1983) and was subsequently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of the character Luke O'Neill. He and Ward later married. By the end of the 1980s he had co-starred in several Hollywood-produced films, including Tai-Pan (with Joan Chen), Gorillas in the Mist (with Sigourney Weaver), Cocktail (with Tom Cruise) and the two FX films (with Brian Dennehy). He also took on the role of Cliff Hardy in the 1985 adaptation of the Peter Corris novel Empty Beach.

In the 1990s Bryan began producing film and television, through his company New Town Films. He co-authored (with Tony Morphett{d)) the company's 1991 feature, Sweet Talker (1991), while also co-starring opposite Karen Allen. A later production, Dead Heart, drew much praise for its powerful depiction of contemporary Aboriginal life, while his 12 part series Twisted Tales, featuring some of Australia's most highly profiled actors and promising new directors, has been seen in over 100 countries. With the success of the first series Brown was commissioned to produce a second series of 14 tales called Two Twisted. He also starred in one of the tales and presented the Introduction to each story. In 2007 Brown was executive producer for the new In division feature Cactus, and later co-produced Beautiful Kate with Leah Churchill Brown (directed by Rachel Ward).