Bruce Samazan

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Bruce Samazan (b: 13 November 1970) is an Australian Actor who has appeared in several Australian soap operas and drama series.

His break in Television came in 1989 when he accompanied his girlfriend to an audition for a part in the Channel 10 soap E Street. The series had launched 6 months earlier and had received a lukewarm reception from audience and critics alike and a major cast and crew re-shuffle was imminent. His girlfriend didn't get the part, but the casting director liked Bruce so much they offered him the part of a new character called Max Simmons, a new recruit at the community police station. Debuting 8 months into the shows run, his role was primarily comic relief, but with the addition of ruthless killer Sonny Bennett to proceedings, E Street's storylines got darker and the character of Max became a more central and balanced.

At the beginning of 1993, E Street's popularity dwindled and the producers became more and more desperate to lure viewers. This resulted in one of the soap's most outrageous plots which involved Bruce's character Max turning into a werewolf. Despite this scene being part of a dream sequence, it is at this point many fans feel E Street jumped the shark and was axed in May 1993. Bruce stayed with the show until the final episode where his character fell in love with Bonnie Tate (Melissa Bell) who awoke from a coma just in time to see the final credits sequence.

After the demise of E Street, Bruce was immediately cast in the other Channel 10 soap Neighbours. Here, he played Mark Gottlieb, brother of established character Stephen. During his 2 and half years in Neighbours, his character got romantically involved with bombshell blonde Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies) and in the 1994 cliffhanger, Mark jilted Annalise at the alter to become a priest. Mark's irratic behaviour in Neighbours continued when he renamed the infamous Daphne's Coffee Shop 'The Holy Roll' and departed Ramsay Street in 1995 to become a TV chatshow host.

Bruce then went straight into Channel 7's Home and Away for a 6 month guest stint as phsychotic Brad Cooper who raped Chloe Richards. After this, Bruce's TV appearances have been rather sporadic, appearing in guest roles in shows such as Big Sky, Game Room and Head Start.

[edit] Trivia

• Samazan is the only actor to have played regular roles in Australia's 'Big Three' soap operas of the 1990's (E Street, Neighbours and Home and Away.