Mark Furze

Mark Furze (born 7 May 1986) is an Australian actor and singer who is best known for his role as Eric "Ric" Dalby on the popular Australian soap opera Home and Away.

Career

Furze has starred in several productions by the Orange Theatre Company, including Oliver!, where he played the lead role at the age of ten.^[1] His first TV appearance was in the children's television program Outriders^[1] followed by a role in the film "Balmain Boys".^[2] At the age of 14 Furze had found himself an agent and landed a role in Water Rats.^[3] He appeared also in the movie 'Jessica' as the son of the main character.

Mark was cast in the role of "Ric Dalby" in Home and Away from September 2004 until he left on 24 July 2008, though his character was not killed off, keeping fans' hopes of seeing him in the show again, alive. He took part in It Takes Two, a celebrity singing challenge, and was partnered with Rachael Beck. The two came 3rd overall. Furze participated in Soapstar Superstar, filmed in Manchester, England. He was listed in the annual Cleo's Most Eligible Bachelors list in 2006.

He played the lead role in the short film "Count Me In" written and directed by Johnny Barker and Jared Kahi. Produced by Lense Flare productions as part of the Coca-Cola beach base activation in Summer 2008-2009, this interactive short film was shot on location at beaches around New Zealand and stars Mark Furze as 'Cam'.^[4]

Mark portrayed "Trent" in the successful television series Underbelly: The Golden Mile in 2010.^[5][6]

Mark also played the role of "Damian" in the Australian feature film A Heartbeat Away^[7] and he played the role of "Dodd" in the US thriller movie Strays.

Apart from acting Furze also has a passion for music. He has played in such rock bands as Falcon Road and Shotgun Alley^[8] who released 3 albums and shared the stage with Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Slash and Steel Panther. He was also seen in the video clip of Guy Sebastian's single 'Elevator Love' in 2006 playing Bass guitar.

Soapstar Superstar

Furze appeared as a contestant on the UK TV show Soapstar Superstar.^[9] The series aired on 5 January 2007.

The fourth performance of the series was Supreme by Robbie Williams. Judge comments were somewhat mixed. Chris Cowey thought that Mark was "onto a sticky wicket" with his song as people would compare it to Robbie Williams' version. Michael said Mark had a great voice and a great look, but agreed with Cowey that the song need Williams' showmanship to pull it off. Martine told Mark that he sang the song better than she thought he would, and told him that he "looked gorgeous". Billy commented to Mark that his performance was "great" and "the competition is in your hands".

The fifth performance was Tom Jones's It's Not Unusual. Cowey commented that the performance was "mega", Martine said Mark had taken the competition to a whole new level. Billy said that Mark reminded him of young Elvis Presley, and that the future was bright for Mark.

Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi was Mark's sixth song of the series, Judges Billy Sammeth and Chris Cowey said that the performance was on par with Bon Jovi's and that they would be proud of that performance. Michael felt that the key was too low, but that overall the performance was good.

On the seventh night of the competition Mark was given Luck Be a Lady, from the musical Guys and Dolls to sing. All of the judges agreed that this genre is not Mark's forte, but said his performance was good.

Mark's next performance was Jamiroquai's Canned Heat, a song which he chose himself. Martine said there are loads of good looking guys, singers and actors, but if you put them all together you get Mark Furze. Guest judge David Gest said Mark was simply great. Billy said Mark looks like a pop star. Cowey told Mark that if he continued with his past form then he would be in the final. After the end of the performances on the seventh show the judges told the remaining contestant that they would be singing three songs and would also need to learn a dance routine for one of the songs.

The three songs Mark had to perform were Kiss from a Rose by Seal, Billy Joel's Tell Her About It, and I Can Make You Feel Good by Shalamar. The judges comment varied but on the whole the comments were really positive, but they did comment that Mark's dancing could have been better, Billy Sammeth told him that he knows Mark can dance, as he did when he performed It's Not Unusual.

Furze finished third in the competition, after being beaten for a place in the final by Emmerdale's Hayley Tamaddon and Coronation Street's Antony Cotton.

Music

Mark formed the band Falcon Road^[10] and they released a music video for their single "Favourite Habit", which is available on YouTube.^[11] The music video features a cameo appearance from Guy Sebastian and Todd Lasance, Mark's co-star from Home and Away. Mark joined New Zealand based rock band Shotgun Alley^[12] in Feb 2011. His 2nd performance with the band was as support to ZZ Top playing to a crowd of 20,000.^[13] His first single with the band, called "Eventually" was released in June 2011 along with a music video. witch included Mark's Girlfriend Laural Barrett as his Girlfriend on the Video. Together they completed 2 national tours of New Zealand and released 3 albums: Shotgun Alley was their debut album in 2011, an 8 track E.P. titled Damnation in 2012 and their third release Dying To Survive also in 2012. The band has since split up.^[8]

References

External links

• Mark Furze at the Internet Movie Database
• Balmain Boys at Anything Oz or New Zealand Films site