Tom Oliver
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Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938, in Hampshire, England) is an Australian television, film and theatre actor, best known today for playing the role of Lou Carpenter in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.
Oliver started in amateur theatricals as a child before pursuing a career as a jockey, however he failed to gain an apprenticeship due to his size. He joined the Merchant Navy at 16 and travelled the world, eventually settling in Sydney in 1956. In Australia he found work as a stockman, spending three years in this job, working his way around the country. He subsequently returned to the UK before beginning an overland trek across Asia to return to Australia, however the journey was halted by illness and he was returned to the UK. In the UK Oliver contacted Albert Finney who was then planning to produce the film Ned Kelly in Australia in 1963. Finney gave him a letter of introduction to an agency in Sydney and Oliver emigrated in 1963, later becoming an Australian Citizen.
Oliver became a busy theatre and television actor in Australia. He had many guest starring roles on Australian drama series, appearing frequently in the top-rated Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police, and in Crawford's adventure series Hunter (1967). Oliver was then cast in serial Bellbird, playing the role of Tom Grey from 1969 to 1971. After this he returned to television guest roles for Crawfords, and other companies.
In 1972 he joined the cast of fledgling soap opera Number 96 playing the role of Janie Somers' new beau Jack Sellars. Back-slapping rough diamond Jack was intended as a guest character to appear for a run of just three weeks, but the makers of the show were impressed with his performance and the character was made into an on-going lead regular in the serial.
Oliver became one of the Number 96's most popular cast members. During his run in the show he married fellow Number 96 actor Lynn Rainbow, and opened a wine bar in Kensington, Sydney cunningly named Jack's Cellar. In late 1973, along with much of the show's regular cast including Lynn Rainbow, he reprised his television role in a feature film spinoff of the serial. Oliver stayed in the role in the series for more than two years, finally electing to leave the series in mid 1974. After leaving the serial he quickly returned to television guest starring roles and roles of varying size in feature films. He briefly returned to Number 96 in the role of Jack Sellars in September 1975.
Oliver's film roles included ABBA: The Movie. His primary role in the film is as ABBA's gruff bodyguard, however he additionally appears in the film as a barman and as a chatty moustached taxi driver shown mainly from behind. Through the late 1970s and the 1980s Oliver appeared in guest and regular roles in many Australian drama series and serials including Prisoner, Holiday Island and Sons and Daughters. He also appeared in the acclaimed miniseries The Dismissal. With actor Steven Grives he started a film production company which produced the film The Right Hand Man in 1987. Oliver has been nominated for the Australian Film and Television Awards for Best Supporting Actor three times. Oliver also acted on the stage, appearing in such plays as The Knack, Cactus Flower, How the Other Half Loves and The Club.
Today Oliver is most known for his long-running role of Lou Carpenter in Neighbours. He first appeared briefly as loveable rogue used-car salesman Lou in 1988. In early 1992 the character was reintroduced to the series and has been a key character ever since. He is now the shows longest serving continuous character ever, now in his fifteenth year in the show, surpassing the twelve and a half years of Anne Haddy who played Helen Daniels.
