Gerard Sont (born 24 January 1961), also known as Gerry Sont and Gerald Sont (billing as), is an Australian actor and TV host.

Gerard Sont
Born (1961-01-24) 24 January 1961 (age 63)
Occupation(s)Actor, host
Years active1977–present
Notable workMelvin, Son of Alvin as Melvin
Home and Away as Brett Macklin, Chan Macklin
Chances as Cal Lawrence

Early life & education

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Sont studied acting at E.15 Stratford in London, and later trained with Ms Uta Hagen in New York. He joined Actors Equity of Australia in 1976.

Career

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Film and television

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Sont played the titular Melvin in Melvin, Son of Alvin.[1] He played recurring character Brett Mackin on Home and Away (from the series inception in 1988, with appearances until 2005), and a main character, Cal Lawrence, in the TV series Chances.[2]

He was the first host of Australia's version of Double Dare[3] and was a presenter on ABC's magazine style TV series Antenna.

Theatre

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Sont has appeared on stage in productions such as How Does Your Garden Grow? at the State Theatre, Sydney in 1996,[4][5] The Cherry Orchard at the New Theatre, Sydney in 1996,[6] The Gospel of Mark at Belvoir Street Downstairs Theatre in 2000[7] and The Object of Desire at La Mama in 2007.[8][9] He appeared as Jean-Michel in a 1985 production of the musical La Cage aux Folles at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney and the Palais Theatre.[10][11][12]

He currently works together with his wife at the theatre company they founded together, 'Théâtre Excentrique', based in Botany, Sydney. His 2017 performance in the play, I'd Rather Goya Robbed Me of My Sleep was met with rave reviews.[13]

Sont has appeared in numerous television advertisements since 1981, for brands including Streets Cornetto, Adidas, KFC, Aero, New Woman magazine, Land Rover Discovery, TD Waterhouse, Mitsubishi, Youi, Colgate, Oral-B, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Chivas Regal.

Teaching

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Sont taught at NIDA for nine years, where he created and facilitated their TV Presenters course, and was a senior trainer in Corporate Performance. He also taught classes at The Actors Centre, and was Head of Drama at the Australian College of Entertainers in Melbourne for a year. He eventually transitioned into theatre productions and corporate training, and became an affiliate lecturer at UNSW Business School, AGSM.[14]

Personal life

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Sont met his wife Anna Jahjah, a French-Lebanese actor, in 2012 while working on a workshop for the Alliance Française. They were married in 2014.[15]

Filmography

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Film

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Title Year Role Type
1982 Running on Empty Victor Feature film
1982 Early Frost Party Guest Feature film
1984 Melvin, Son of Alvin Melvin Purple Feature film
2006 Superman Returns Hospital Reporter Feature film
2006 Gene-X Professor White Feature film
2013 Mover Mr. Carter Short film
2015 The LSD Man Journalist Short film

Television

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Title Year Role Type
1976–78 The Young Doctors Ric Martin / Billy Webb TV series, 26 episodes
1977 Glenview High Andrew TV series, 1 episode
1982–83 A Country Practice Martin Simpson / Fredo TV series, 4 episodes
1983 Waterloo Station Rick Thompson TV series
1983 The Don Lane Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
1984 Antenna Presenter TV series
1985 Butterfly Island Bob Gallio TV series, season 1, 7 episodes
1988; 2005 Home and Away Brett Macklin TV series, 46 episodes
1989 Double Dare Host TV series
1991 The Flying Doctors Joe Mitchell TV series, 1 episode
1991–92 Chances Cal Lawrence TV series, 36 episodes
1993 Paradise Beach Peter TV series, 1 episode
2000 Pizza Ad Director TV series, 1 episode
2000 Head Start Journalist TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2002 All Saints Andre Klugston / Klugsten TV series, 3 episodes
2009 The Cut Radio Chat Show Host TV miniseries, 1 episode
2024 Critical Incident Vic Kaczmarek TV series, 1 episode

Theatre

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As actor

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Title Year Role Type
1977 One Wayside Theatre, Sydney with Keyhole Productions
1977 Something for Everyman Sydney with Keyhole Productions
1977 Baxter Roger Baxter Wayside Theatre, Sydney with Keyhole Productions
The Green Bay Tree Fort Lauderdale's Public Theatre, Florida
1985 La Cage aux Folles Jean-Michel Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Palais Theatre, Melbourne with J. C. Williamson
1988 A Streetcar Named Desire Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney & Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane
1991 Life St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Melbourne with Fly on the Wall Theatre & Performing Arts Projects
1991 Loving Friends Rippon Lea Estate, Melbourne with Performing Arts Projects
1991 Working Out Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with Victorian Arts Centre
1991 Heroic Measures Klimov / Slava / Lebedev Merlyn Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company[16]
1996 The Father We Loved on a Beach by the Sea New Theatre, Sydney for Sydney Fringe Festival
1996 How Does Your Garden Grow? State Theatre, Sydney with GLS Productions
1996 The Cherry Orchard New Theatre, Sydney
Othello Stables Theatre, Sydney
2000 The Gospel of Mark Belvoir Street Downstairs Theatre
2003 Milk Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney
2003 Three Winters Green Stables Theatre, Sydney
2005 About Alice The Crypt Theatre, Sydney with Raw-em Theatre Company
2006 Action / Shakers The Crypt Theatre, Sydney
2007 The Object of Desire Grant La Mama, Melbourne with Fly on the Wall Theatre for Midsumma Festival
2010 Taking a Bullet Agent Kubrick Still Knocks Productions for Short+Sweet[17]
2013 Richard III (Or Almost) Guy Laurence King Street Theatre, Sydney[18]
2014 Poo Poo Pee Doo July-et Caputlet Short+Sweet & Sandy Point Theatre with Théâtre Excentrique[19]
2014 Leaves Chas King Street Theatre, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique & Emu Productions[20]
2015 Antigone First Guard PACT, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique[21]
2016 7 Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse Labrosse Creative Space 99, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique
2017 I'd Rather Goya Robbed Me of My Sleep Than Some Other Son of a Bitch Father / Narrator Old 505 Theatre, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique[22]
2017; 2018; 2019 Murders at the Museum Australian Museum, Sydney, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique[23]
2019 Exit the King The Doctor Théâtre Excentrique[24]
2022 Tideline Old 505 Theatre, Sydney with Théâtre Excentrique

As director / producer

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Title Year Role Type
2004 Mamet x 2: All Men Are Whores Director Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Sydney with Roughhouse Theatre
2005 Dwarf Spotting Director Seymour Centre, Sydney with Out Of Bounds Productions for Short+Sweet
2005 True West Director Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Sydney with Insomniac Theatre Company
2013 Robert Zucco Producer Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney with Le Theatre des Assassins & Independent Theatre Company
2016; 2017 Beirut Adrenaline Production Manager Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney[25]

[26][27][28]

References

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  1. ^ McDonald, Dougal (16 January 1985), "'Melvin' funny at times", The Canberra Times, retrieved 17 May 2023
  2. ^ Sadlier, Kevin (1 March 1992), "The barefacts", The Sun Herald
  3. ^ Holmes, Peter (9 March 1992), "From dare to bare", The Sydney Morning Herald
  4. ^ Dunne, Stephen (21 June 1996), "Sex and - sensibility", The Sydney Morning Herald
  5. ^ How Does Your Garden Grow?, AusStage
  6. ^ Adamson, Judy (21 November 1996), "Opposites attract for Chekhov devotee", The Sydney Morning Herald
  7. ^ Bodey, Michael (11 April 2000), "Following the faith", The Daily Telegraph
  8. ^ Perrett, Bill (4 February 2007), "Show of the week", The Age
  9. ^ The Object of Desire, AusStage
  10. ^ Dionysus (14 March 1985), ""Cage" traps talents for top musical fare", The Canberra Times, retrieved 17 May 2023
  11. ^ La Cage aux Folles, AusStage
  12. ^ La Cage aux Folles, AusStage
  13. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/person/gerry-sont/#
  14. ^ https://www.icacm.com.au/gerry-sont#biography
  15. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/person/gerry-sont/#
  16. ^ https://stories.malthousetheatre.com.au/shows/heroic-measures/
  17. ^ https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/short-sweet-final-this-week
  18. ^ https://sydneyartsguide.com.au/richard-iii-or-almost/
  19. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/poo-poo-pee-doo-2/
  20. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/leaves/
  21. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/antigone-by-jean-anouilh/
  22. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/id-rather-goya-robbed-me-of-my-sleep-than-some-other-son-of-a-bitch/
  23. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/murder-at-the-museum2/
  24. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/exit-the-king/
  25. ^ http://www.theatrexcentrique.com/beirut-adrenaline/
  26. ^ https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/405244
  27. ^ https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/229018
  28. ^ https://gerrysont.com
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