Brian Moll

Brian Percy Moll (19 May 1925 – 9 August 2013) was a British-born Australian comedian character actor of stage, television and film and director and producer. He was best known for his soap opera television roles, but also appeared in film and numerous theatre productions, over a 50 year career. Moll started his career in his native England in theatre in 1945.^[2]

Moll was born on Chaucer Road in Wanstead, North East London on 19 May 1925, to Hedges Percy Moll and Dorothy 'Dot' Alice Sarah Moll (née Mitchell). He had a brother Peter James Moll.

During World War II, Moll was conscripted to the Royal Navy in 1943 at the age of eighteen and spent the later years of the war serving on a minesweeper. His ship was involved in the D-Day operation and he watched the action from just off the Arromanches beach.

In October 1950, Moll immigrated from England and arrived in Melbourne, Australia under the £10 assisted passage emigration scheme. Quitting his job as a publicity officer, to continued his acting career. In December 1975, he took Australian citizenship.

Moll began his stage career taking on leading parts with the Melbourne Little Theatre from 1951. As well as acting, he was producing and directing difficult plays by playwrights including Chekov and Ibsen. In 1963, he moved to Brisbane and joined the Queensland Arts Theatre. He continued his acting career in his spare time. In the 1960s he was campaigning in Brisbane for a new permanent arts centre and was involved in plans which resulted in the Queensland Performing Arts Complex being built.

In 1970 he appeared in It's a Rum Do in the role of Samuel Marsden, the priest who was partly responsible for bringing merino sheep to Australia, which started the wool industry. The play was chosen to be given a Royal Command Performance in the Brisbane Arts Centre. He was presented to the Queen and he told her that over the past two years he had played eight priests. She asked him why, and smiled when he answered "It was my purity of spirit and a bald head". Following this, his acting career took off.

Moll made his television debut in 1958.^[3] He was known for his villainous roles, once remarking that this was due to his bald head (he had been completely bald since the age of 25). As a working actor, like many of the era, he had numerous character roles on the Crawford Productions TV serials including Matlock Police, Homicide and Division 4, as well as many guest roles on other television series, miniseries, telemovies and films. Some of these included Bellbird, The Sullivans, and Cop Shop.^[3]

In 1975, he became better known however for playing the recurring role of slimy town clerk Eddie Buchanan in soap opera Number 96, Dr. Vincent Snape in The Young Doctors from 1977 to 1978, and briefly as Mr. Spencer in Prisoner in 1980.

He was most likely however best known for his long running itinerant role in serial A Country Practice, as devious and pompous town councillor Alfred Muldoon – a role he played from 1982 to 1992, through 120 episodes. He commuted interstate from the north Queensland coast to Sydney, while working on the series.^[3]

In 1990, he appeared as Mr. Gordian in action drama film Bloodmoon,^[4] which was filmed in Brisbane.^[3] He also had a small cameo role in the martial arts action film Street Fighter in 1994, alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme.

When he realised acting work was no longer providing him a sufficient income, Moll moved to the north coast of Queensland in the late 1980s to ease the financial burden, commuting to Sydney for work. To supplement his income, he relied on his war pension.^[3]

Moll retired in 1994 and resided in Sippy Downs, Queensland in a nursing home, where he died on 9 August 2013, aged 88.^[5] His ashes were scattered near his home on the Sunshine Coast.

He was honoured in the 'In Memoriam' segment of the 3rd AACTA Awards, for his "contribution to Australian screen culture".^[6]

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• Brian Moll at IMDb