Peter Bensley (born 6 February 1954) is an Australian actor.
Career Television and film One of Bensley's earliest roles was as Dennis Braithwaite on the Seven Network drama series Class of '75. He also appeared in ABC Television children's show, Waterloo Street. In 1976, he appeared in an episode of Rush, followed by a guest appearances in Chopper Squad and Tickled Pink in 1978.
Bensley appeared in several Grundy Television soap operas, starting with The Restless Years in 1979. He then took on his one of his most well known roles as Dr. Mike Newman in The Young Doctors from 1980. After The Young Doctors was cancelled in 1983, Bensley played the title role of Stanley Dunstan in the 1984 comedy film Stanley. He had to have his hair cut short for the role and he did his own stunts. He followed this with a stint in Prisoner in 1984 as Matt Delaney, one of the three male prisoners.
In 1986, Bensley played Tony Chapman in Neighbours. He joined Home and Away in 1988 as school teacher Andrew Foley. In 1992, he appeared as Dr. John Austin in the Australian miniseries The New Adventures of Black Beauty. Two years later, he guested in the G.P. episode "Ties of the Blood". The following year, he played Andrew Teigan, father of Jo Teigan, in the Australian/New Zealand co-production Mirror, Mirror.
Bensley starred as Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker in the police procedural drama series Water Rats for the entire run from 1996 until 2001. In 2009, he returned to Neighbours for a two-episode guest role as Dean Naughton. Bensley appeared in the 2020 romantic comedy Romance on the Menu.
Advertisements In the 1980s, Bensley appeared as a nude centrefold in Cleo magazine wearing only strategically placed scuba gear. He also featured in an 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 TitleRoleNotes 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 TitleRoleNotes 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 YearTitleNotes 1992 Steam Across the Mountain
References
External links
Peter Bensley – "The Young Doctors" Peter Bensley – "Water Rats" Peter Bensley – "Water Rats" Author page at Random House publishers