Alastair Duncan (actor, born 1926)

Duncan was born in Ilford, Essex, England.^[2] At the age of 16, he won a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating with a Diploma and the Herbert Tree Shakespeare Award.^[3] He performed for several seasons at London's Arts Theatre, before being called upon to join the British Army, which saw him posted to the Middle East, Germany and Austria for a period of three years, during which time he served with the troops entertainment unit, Stars in Battledress.^[3][1][4]

After being demobilised from the army, Duncan worked in radio as a member of the BBC Repertory Company for three years, and performed in several West End productions including Fanny's First Play and The Bread-Winner^[5][1] at the Arts Theatre, playing the role of Tim.^[3]

In 1951, Duncan relocated to Sydney, Australia,^[3] where he immediately landed radio work with Australian Broadcasting Commission, the day after his arrival.^[1] He starred in the radio series Dr Paul, in the titular role,^[6] and played lead roles in several other commercial radio serials.^[1] From 1951, he also appeared in numerous theatre roles,^[7] including playing Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream to largely (but not exclusively) school student audiences in 1951 and 1952 at the Theatre Royal in Adelaide.^{[citation needed]}

In 1954, Duncan left for the US, where he performed as a regular in Lux Radio Theatre in Los Angeles, acting alongside Tyrone Power and Joan Crawford. For five years he starred in radio in New York, with lead roles in two long-running US national radio serials and the international The CBS Mystery Half Hour.^[1] He also appeared on Broadway in a 1957 production of the play Under Milk Wood.^[8][1]

Duncan returned to Australia in 1959^[1] and began starring as Captain Bligh in ABC television serial Stormy Petrel.^[9] In 1962, he played Captain Robert Robison in ten-part historical miniseries The Patriots.^[10] The following year, he presented Time Out, an Australian television series in which actors portrayed Australian historical figures, who were 'interviewed' by Duncan. The series lasted 26 episodes,^[11] after which a spin-off Tribunal was produced, from 1963 to 1964. Once again, Duncan hosted, this time interrogating the actions of controversial historical figures (such as Brutus, General Custer, Lizzie Borden and Richard III) as portrayed by actors including Ruth Cracknell and Ron Haddrick.^[12]

Duncan was chairman of Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) when its first committee was formed in 1963.^[1] He became artistic director of Killara Memorial Hall in Sydney in 1973, renaming it Marian Street Theatre the following year.^[1][3][13] For eight years, he managed the venue, helping establish it as a hub for Australian talent, appearing in and directing productions throughout the 1970s and 1980s.^[1]

After radio drama became less popular, Duncan also voiced TV and radio commercials, narrated documentaries and presented on the Discovery Channel. He also continued to perform in television and for the stage.^[1] From 1972 to 1973, he voiced the lead character of Phileas Fogg in two seasons of NBC animated series Around the World in Eighty Days. It was the first Australian-produced cartoon to be broadcast on American network television.^[14]

In 1984, Duncan appeared in the AFI Award-winning drama film Annie's Coming Out, alongside Angela Punch McGregor and Bud Tingwell.^[15] Later in his career, Duncan also appeared in the long-running television soap opera Home and Away.^[1]

In 2004, Actors' Blood, Duncan's book about the Fullers (his wife Virginia's family), pioneers of the Australian and New Zealand entertainment industry, was published.^[1][2]

In 1958, Duncan married Diana Sharpe, with whom he worked alongside at the Australian Theatre for Young People. The couple had a son and a daughter, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1982.^[1]

Duncan married his second wife, Virginia Fuller, granddaughter of theatre entrepreneur Sir Benjamin Fuller in 1993.^[1][16]

Duncan died in 2005, at the age of 79.^[1]

Source: ^[7]