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Nigel Tasman Lovell (27 January 1916 – 13 December 2001) was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama.

History

Lovell was born in Sydney, a son of H(enry) Tasman Lovell, Professor of Psychology and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sydney University, living at Honda Road, Neutral Bay. He was educated at "Shore" (Sydney Church of England Grammar School) and studied law at Sydney University, graduating BA in 1938, and was an active member of the Sydney University Dramatic Society under director May Hollinworth. While with SUDS he was spotted by the director of drama for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Frank Clewlow, who gave him small roles in several radio plays. Handsome, well-connected and gregarious, his name frequently cropped up in Sydney's social pages.

In 1950 he joined the Metropolitan Theatre, again under Hollinworth, and when she fell ill he took over production.

In 1951 he won a Commonwealth Jubilee Arts Scholarship in Drama, a travelling scholarship awarded by the British Council to study production in England.

He continued acting for the ABC under producers Eric John and Frank Zeppel in the last decade of Australian radio drama, and in several ABC-TV historical plays.

In 1959 Lovell appeared as the main protagonist in the convict-themed Pardon Miss Westcott, which was the first Australian musical written specially for live television.

He was also a regular in Crawford Productions for commercial TV; notably as the avuncular spy chief on late 60s series Hunter. During the 1970 to 72 seasons of Crawfords' long-running Melbourne police series Homicide, he served as a line producer and television dialog director before it moved completely into being a fully-filmed program. In 1972 he returned to Sydney joining the staff of ABC Radio as a producer of education programmes.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

As actor

As producer/director

Radio

As actor

Family

Lovell was a brother of Dr. Bruce Tasman Lovell (1910 – 19 September 1986) and Guy Tasman Lovell (15 August 1919 – ). Former cricketer Geoff Lovell is a nephew.

Lovell married Sue Dalton in 1941 and had a daughter Catherine Lovell on 1 January 1947. His wife died of a heart condition later that year.

He married again, to Patricia Anna Parr (1929 – 26 January 2013) in 1956, having met through work with Sydney's Metropolitan Theatre. They had two children – Simon Lovell, a helicopter pilot, and Jenny Lovell, an actor known for her role in the television series Prisoner. Patricia Lovell had a significant career in radio and film both before and after their divorce.

References

1. ^ Richard Lane (31 January 2002). "At home on radio, on stage, directing opera or Tarzan". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 38. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
2. "Glow Of Tropic Color At Cuba Ball". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. IV, no. 84. New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Social and Personal". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 871. New South Wales, Australia. 22 February 1940. p. 19. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Jubilee Arts Awards". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. XVI, no. 7. New South Wales, Australia. 31 March 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "People on Parade". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. III, no. 143. New South Wales, Australia. 5 September 1938. p. 6. Retrieved 1 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Well-known Crowd Premiere At Minerva". The Sun (Sydney). No. 9481. New South Wales, Australia. 24 May 1940. p. 11. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Review". Freeman's Journal. No. 46. New South Wales, Australia. 8 May 1851. p. 11. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Mr E. Reeve, Founder of the N.S.W. Academy of Art". Illustrated Sydney News. Vol. VII, no. 89. New South Wales, Australia. 10 July 1871. p. 3. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Fine Singing Heard In Verdi Opera". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 336. New South Wales, Australia. 24 March 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Wagner opera opening". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Vol. XVIII, no. 107. New South Wales, Australia. 25 July 1953. p. 8. Retrieved 8 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Opera's New Singers". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 338. New South Wales, Australia. 9 June 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 5 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
12. "Faust Was Not Really Well Done". The Sun (Sydney). No. 13, 855. New South Wales, Australia. 9 July 1954. p. 22. Retrieved 8 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
13. ""Urnmali" (?!) (30 September 1955). "At Sydney Theatres". Le Courrier Australien. No. 39. New South Wales, Australia. p. 7. Retrieved 8 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "Advertising". The Sun (Sydney). No. 1878. New South Wales, Australia. 26 March 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 1 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
15. ""By Wire"". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 622. New South Wales, Australia. 8 May 1939. p. 13. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "Next Week's Radio Attractions". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 16 March 1940. p. 9. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia. The film was in turn based on a play, Sister Act by Fannie Hurst
17. "Radio Roundup". The Sun (Sydney). No. 11, 358. New South Wales, Australia. 19 June 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 8 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.

1. The Mysterious Mr Lynch also by Afford, with the same two sleuths, but played by Finch and Dickson, was broadcast on ABC radio around the same time.

• 1916 births
• 2001 deaths
• Australian male stage actors
• Australian radio producers
• Australian male radio actors
• Australian male film actors
• Australian male television actors
• Australian opera directors
• People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School
• University of Sydney alumni