James Smillie, (born 28 November 1944), also credited variously as Jim Smillie and Jim Smilie, is a Scottish/Australian actor. He has worked in both Britain and Australia in film, extensively on stage, on television, with voice-over and animation work. Smillie was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents emigrated to Australia in the early 1950s when Smillie was still a child. While his family remained there, Smillie returned to the United Kingdom to appear in stage roles in London's West End and would divide his time between the UK and Australia for several decades, working in various television shows, films and stage productions, and as a voice-over artist. On television, he is perhaps best remembered for the roles of lawyer Steve Wilson in Prisoner Cell Block H and Doctor Dan Marshall in the 1980s drama series Return to Eden.

Career

Television and film

Smillie has appeared in films and television shows as featured actor and host. His television credits include Return to Eden, Prisoner: Cell Block H, Adventure Island, Space: 1999 the episode End of Eternity, Thriller, The Gentle Touch, Skin Deep, Comedy Playhouse, The Mackinnons, Red Dwarf and Highlander: The Series. He has also made numerous appearances in a variety of light entertainment shows, including Highway (with Sir Harry Secombe), An Evening with Barry Humphries, the BBC series Battle of the Sexes, A Tribute to Robbie Burns (for Scottish television), Crackerjack, and hosted his own series I Like Music. He was also the original voice of Sky, voicing programmes there for over a decade. In film, Smillie has had small roles in International Velvet and Jaguar Lives!. In 2005, he appeared in two German-made films – Dark Ride and Rich Girl, Poor Girl. Most recently he has had parts in the films La Correspondenza (directed by Giuseppe Tornatore), Tommy's Honour (director Jason Connery), Romans (directed by The Shammasian Brothers) and Boyz in the Wood (director Ninian Doff).

Theatre

Smilie has appeared as a leading man on stage in both the UK and Australia. On the London stage, he played Tony in West Side Story. The following years saw him playing leading men in a string of West End productions, notably: an Italian Lothario in Brian Clemens' whodunit Lover (Ambassadors Theatre); Henry II in Thomas and The King (Her Majesty's Theatre) music written by John Williams; Dr. Thomas Barnardo in Barnardo (Royalty Theatre); Nicos in Zorba; Georges in La Cage aux Folles (London Palladium); and also as Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate (Royal Shakespeare Company, Savoy), George Bernard Shaw's Candida as the Reverend James Mavor Morrell. Other stage roles include Orin in Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra, Chance Williams in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth, Eilif in Mother Courage and Her Children, the lead in Tom Jones, Emile de Beque in South Pacific, and as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Followed by his success as Mack Sennet in the 1996 London production of Mack & Mabel, Smilie recorded the part of Fred / Petruchio again in the full live production of Kiss Me, Kate for the BBC in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra. 1998–99 and 2000 saw Smillie touring in the UK Productions tour of 42nd Street, playing the lead role of producer Julian Marsh. In 2001, he returned to Australia to play Pastor Manders in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts for the Perth International Arts Festival. In 2003, he returned to the UK to play Charles in Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together at the Library Theatre in Manchester. This was followed in 2004 by Daddy Warbucks in a touring production of Annie with Su Pollard and Caesar in a Sadlers Wells Lost Musicals production of Harold Rome, Joshua Logan and S. N. Behrman's Fanny. In 2005, Smillie returned to Australia for several years for personal reasons to care for his ageing mother and took a break from the business. His mother died in 2010 (his father died in the 1970s). On his return to the UK, he settled back in Glasgow, and has since appeared in stage productions at the Traverse Theatre, Oran Mor and the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Smillie also has a Royal Variety Performance to his credit.

Radio

Smillie is also a regular radio and concert broadcaster for the BBC, particularly on the series Friday Night is Music Night, presenting special occasions such as Sondheim on the South Bank, An Evening with Cole Porter at the Royal Festival Hall, and as Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican Centre.

Voiceover work

He is also a voice-over artist working in animation and on commercials, dubbing, audiovisuals, documentaries, and talking books.

Stage

Filmography

Television

Film

Podcast series

Video game

Awards and nominations