Ray Meagher

Ray Meagher OAM
Born	(1944-07-04) 4 July 1944 (age 80) Roma, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–present
Spouse	Gilly Meagher ​ (m. 2010)​

Raymond Francis Meagher OAM (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Stewart on Home and Away, having played the role since the first episode in 1988. Meagher won a Gold Logie Award for his role in Home and Away in 2010 and has currently played the role of Alf for over 36 years.

Meagher was born and raised on a sheep and cattle station in Queensland, before attending a boarding school on the Gold Coast from the age of nine. He became a keen sportsman at high school, Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane, representing the school at a number of sports including rugby union, a sport which he ultimately played at state level.^[1]

Meagher played at first five eighth for Queensland at senior level in the late 1960s, including playing against France.^[2]

Meagher played Sergeant Drummond in the 1980 war drama Breaker Morant, which he said was one of his favourite roles.^[3] His other film appearances include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), Newsfront (1978), My Brilliant Career (1979), The Shiralee (1987),^[1] Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Money Movers (1978), The Odd Angry Shot (1979), The Earthling (1980), Hoodwink (1981), Runaway Island (1982), and The Fire in the Stone (1984).^[3] He had a cameo in the 1979 war comedy The Odd Angry Shot.^[3]

Meagher first appeared on television as host of the late night ABC folk music programme Around Folk in June–August 1973.^[3] His first regular acting work on television was in the soap opera Number 96, briefly appearing as Fred Shrimpton in 1977.^[4] Meagher became "a much in demand character actor", with his early television roles including Matlock Police, Ben Hall, Rush, Certain Women, Pig in a Poke, The Restless Years, Glenview High, The Oracle, Kingswood Country, Cop Shop, Skyways, Sporting Chance, Holiday Island, and Bellamy.^[3] Subsequent television acting roles included three different roles as villains in Prisoner, including Geoff Butler between 1979 and 1980, Kurt Renner in 1984, and Ernest Craven in 1986. He also had two different guest starring roles in A Country Practice and substantial roles in several 1980s miniseries.^[1]

In 1984, Meagher was cast in the Nine Network miniseries A Fortunate Life, based on Albert Facey's book of the same name. He plays the role of evil cattle-rustler Bad Bob.^[3] Marie Ussher of TV Week observed that Meagher was often cast as the "baddie" or tough, ruthless characters in his early career.^[3] He also appeared in an episode of Five Mile Creek as Irish bushranger Lightning Ridge.^[3] Meagher won a Penguin Award for his starring role in Mail Order Bride (1984) for the ABC. He filmed the 12-part series Five Times Dizzy in Sydney in 1986. Meagher played The Red Headed Person, who was billed as "a tough standover man."^[5] Meagher liked playing "heavy" characters, who showed their lighter sides.^[5] While filming Five Times Dizzy, Meagher also flew back and forth to Melbourne to film miniseries The Great Bookie Robbery in which he plays Bob Temple. During the same period, he also made an appearance in A Country Practice as alcoholic, pub owner Wally, followed by a role in television film The Blue Lightning for America's CBS network.^[5]

Meagher joined the cast of soap opera Home and Away in 1987 and has appeared in the role of Alf Stewart continuously since the first episode aired in January 1988.^[4] Meagher holds a Guinness World Record as the longest-serving actor in an Australian serial.^[6] Meagher also appeared in the 1988 children's series The True Story of Spit MacPhee, along with John Bach and Elspeth Ballantyne.^[7]

In September 2009, Meagher was the third-highest paid personality on Australian television, behind Eddie McGuire and Rove McManus.^[8]

Meagher won the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 2010 Logie Awards, where he was also nominated for "Most Popular Actor".^[9] Meagher subsequently won that Logie Award in 2018.^[10]

In 2007, Meagher took over the role of Bob the mechanic in Priscilla Queen of the Desert from Bill Hunter.^[11] From 30 September 2010, he took over the role of Bob in the West End production of Priscilla until March 2011.^[12] In June 2011, it was announced that Meagher would be returning to the West End production from October.^[13] He then rejoined the show for its New Zealand tour in 2016.^[14]

Meagher regularly travels to the United Kingdom to take part in the traditional Christmas pantomimes. In December 2008, he played Abanazar in a production of Aladdin at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke and in 2009 he performed as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Royal Tunbridge Wells.^[15][16]

• Ray Meagher at IMDb
• Profile at Home and Away site
• Profile from UK TV channel Five