Grant Piro

Notes

2009 Helpmann Award Nominee for Best Male Actor In a Supporting Role In A Play – REALISM 2009 Helpmann Award Nominee for Best Male Artist In A Supporting Role (Theatre) – 39 STEPS 2005 Winner of Green Room Award for Male Artist In A Supporting Role (Musical Theatre) THE PRODUCERS 1999 Winner of Green Room Award for Best Male Artist In A Featured Role – THE MERRY WIDOW Grant Piro is one of Australia’s most established and well respected actors. With over 32 years as a professional actor his career could best be described as 'vast', having worked in every facet of the industry. Theatre, Musical Theatre, Feature Film including international features, television, radio drama, television host, and as one of the busiest voice over actors in the country. Grant began his career at 16, with an eighteen month stint in the television soap opera SONS AND DAUGHTERS during the early 1980's. As a young actor he spent many years hosting local television programmes in South Australia, as well as appearing in several plays for the State Theatre Company Of South Australia and other theatre companies; PRAVDA, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, MOBY DICK, THE WEEKENDERS, UNDER MILKWOOD, WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY and TAKING STEPS. This was also a time of prosperity for the SA film industry, where he met and worked with film makers such as Scott Hicks, Rolf DeHeer, Don Crombie, George Ogilvie and Simon Wincer, on film and tv projects such as THE RIVER KINGS, PLAYING BEATIE BOW, CALL ME MR BROWN, SEBASTIAN AND THE SPARROW, THE TERRITORIANS, MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS (the movie), SECOND CHILDHOOD, THE LIGHTHORSEMAN, FINDERS KEEPERS, CAPTAIN JOHNNO and PALS. After completing George Miller's classic Australian Christmas feature film MIRACLE DOWNUNDER (BUSHFIREMOON) in 1987, a chance meeting with English theatre director Ray Cooney led to Grant moving to England, where he toured in the Cooney penned farces WIFE BEGINS AT FORTY and IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY for the London Theatre of Comedy, and appeared in the television shows SHELLEY and CASUALTY, as well as a sitcom version of WIFE BEGINS AT FORTY for the BBC. Grant returned to Australia in 1990 and spent the next six years writing and presenting his own TV show for the ABC, the one project he is probably best remembered for in 20 to 30 year old demographic of today. COUCH POTATO became cultish, and has been voted in many lists as one of the most popular children's television programmes of the 1990's. The 90's was an exceptionally fruitful period for Grant. He appeared in an extraordinary amount of film and television projects. Featured roles on TV that included JANUS, CORRELLI, TWISTED TALES, GOOD GUYS BAD GUYS, TALES OF THE SOUTH SEAS, GP, THE DEVIL GAME, WILDSIDE, BLUE HEELERS, WITCHHUNT, and SEACHANGE. And films such as JOEY, AIRTIGHT, AMY, MR ACCIDENT alongside Yahoo Serious, CROCODILE DUNDEE IN LA with Paul Hogan, and the French feature L'AMOUR EN EMBUSCADE for director Carl Shultz. It was during this time that Grant received an AACTA nomination for his work on JANUS. For the next ten years, Grant gained a reputation as one of Melbourne's foremost theatre actors, working predominantly for the Melbourne Theatre Company in productions such as LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR, THE MAD WOMAN OF CHAILOT, THE 39 STEPS, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, REALISM, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, and HIS GIRL FRIDAY. He also appeared in Musicals such as THE PRODUCERS, HELLO DOLLY, HAIRSPRAY, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. During this time he received a Green Room Award nomination three times, winning twice, and a Helpmann Award nomination for REALISM. More TV and film followed. CRASHBURN, HEADLAND, RAINSHADOW, THE LIBRARIANS, CITY HOMICIDE, THE ELEPHANT PRINCESS, SEA PATROL, and WINNERS AND LOSERS on television. The American feature films DARKNESS FALLS, THE OUTSIDER, and THE CONDEMNED, and local films THE INDEPENDENT and SAVE YOUR LEGS!. Grant says that he is equally as proud of work completed more recently. The Malthouse Theatre Company's HATE, the television MISS FISHER MURDER MYSTERIES and HARTMAN, and his latest feature film CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. AWARDS/NOMINATIONS Received the 1999 Green Room award for Best Male Artist in a Featured Role for THE MERRY WIDOW (Musical Theatre) Recieved the 2000 Green Room Award for Best Male Artist in a Supporting Role: THE PRODUCERS (Musical Theatre)