Scott McGregor (television presenter)

Scott McGregor (born 22 October 1957[citation needed]) is an Australian actor and television presenter.

Scott McGregor
Born (1957-10-22) 22 October 1957 (age 67)
Occupation(s)Actor, TV presenter
Children2

Early life

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Scott McGregor was born in Orange, New South Wales where his parents Douglas and Joyce McGregor owned a farm and managed The Central Western Daily newspaper. In 1969 the family moved to Mudgee when his parents purchased the Mudgee Guardian.[1]

Scott was educated at Mudgee High School and The Scots College in Sydney. He commenced studying communications at the then Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst. Now part of Charles Sturt University, before being accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art where he graduated in 1979.[1]

Career

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Stage

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In the 1980s McGregor had leading stage acting roles in productions of the Perth Playhouse, Queensland Theatre Company, Marian Street Theatre and Nimrod Theatre Company.

Television

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From 1980 to early 2000s McGregor had acting roles in many Australian television series including The Young Doctors, Skyways, The Sullivans, Cop Shop, A Country Practice, Sons and Daughters, Police Rescue, Home and Away, Water Rats and All Saints.[citation needed]

During the 1980s he had lead roles in the epic ABC mini-series 1915, the Coral Island and Chase Through the Night and was nominated for the best actor award in the 1983 Logies for his role as Walter Gilchrist in 1915. He had numerous film and radio appearances and was one of the Bouncers in the highly successful national tour of the play of the same name in 1985/86. [citation needed]

Presenting

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From the 1997 McGregor turned to presenting lifestyle television as a travel and collectables presenter on The Lifestyle Channel programs Out and About, Australian Living and Australian Collections. From 2000 to 2003 he was a DIY presenter on Better Homes and Gardens and from 2002 to 2004 hosted the home renovation series Room for Improvement on the Seven Network.[citation needed]

In 1999 he combined television presenting with his interest in railways by hosting the travel series Railway Adventures Across Australia for Channel 10.[2] In 2004 he followed up with the series Down The Line with Scott McGregor covering railway journeys in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. Both series have sold extensively in markets around the world and have had enormously successful video and DVD releases.[peacock prose][citation needed]

In 2005 McGregor presented Australian Icon Towns made for The History Channel. A second series was broadcast from January 2007.

Books

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McGregor is also a published author, having written two books: 'Fix It: How to Do All Those Little Repair Jobs Around Your Home' (2007) And 'Big Boys' Toys: Blokes and their Magnificent Obsessions' (2008).[3][4]

Interest in railways

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McGregor had a keen interest in railways since childhood. From the 1980s he started collecting railway memorabilia, including several vintage railway carriages which he restored on his property, 'Ruwenzori', near Mudgee NSW. By 1989 he had collected so much he decided to sell some and opened a stall called 'Off The Rails' at the now closed 'Chelsea House' antiques emporium in Camperdown, New South Wales. Branches were later opened at Sydney's Central Railway Station and in Balmain. In 1992 a new 'Off The Rails' shop was opened in Newtown. It moved again to a larger shop and restoration workshop at Camperdown.[citation needed]

In 2005 McGregor opened his country property as tourist accommodation. 'Ruwenzori Retreat' is perched on the Great Dividing Range, north of Mudgee and is made up of a collection of 9 vintage carriages (a number of which date back to the 1890s), with the 3 main carriages restored as the luxury guest accommodation. The 50 acre property also has station buildings, track, signals, a plethora of memorabilia and a network of bush tracks.

Ruwenzori Retreat has featured on TV programs such Getaway, Today, World's Most Extreme Homes, Bricks and Mortar and many others. McGregor and his Ruwenzori railway collection have also appeared on the ABC TV program Collectors.[5]

McGregor now runs a railway tour company, 'Railway Adventures' which he founded in 2012.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1983 Chase Through the Night Yorkie TV movie
1995 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Security Guard Feature film
2002 The Nugget Derek McLeod Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Type
The Young Doctors TV series
Skyways TV series
1980–81 Cop Shop Constable Stephen Waters TV series, 7 episodes
1981 The Sullivans Jerry Halpern TV series, 2 episodes
1981; 1982; 1986; 1992 A Country Practice Brett Hill / Paul Higgins / Ray Wallace / Peter Gleeson TV series, 9 episodes
1982 1915 Walter Gilchrist Miniseries, 7 episodes
1983 The Coral Island Jack Miniseries, 9 episodes
1983 Carson's Law Ron TV series, 2 episodes
1984–85 Sons and Daughters Robin Elliott TV series, 34 episodes
1985–86 Five Mile Creek Edward Armstrong TV series, 6 episodes
1988 True Believers Jim Comerford Miniseries, 4 episodes
1991 Heroes II: The Return Corporal Claire Stewart TV series, 2 episodes
1993 Police Rescue Det Sgt Tony Wilson TV series
1994 The Ferals Fireman TV series, 1 episode
1995 Eat My Shorts Head TV series
1995 Echo Point Clive McInery TV series, 6 episodes
1993; 1996 G.P. Ron King / Colin Hodges TV series, 2 episodes
1996 Home and Away Keith Williams TV series, 4 episodes
1997 Big Sky Owner TV series, 1 episode
1997 The Adventures of Sam Voice TV series, 2 episodes
1998 Children’s Hospital Ray Reynolds TV series, 1 episode
Out and About Presenter TV series
Australian Living Presenter TV series
Australian Collections Presenter TV series
1998 Water Rats Rob Jennings TV series, 2 episodes
1998–2000 Search for Treasure Island Paul Raymond TV series, 8 episodes
2000 Railway Adventures Across Australia Host TV series
2000–03 Better Homes and Gardens DIY presenter TV series
2002 All Saints Steve Brooker TV series, 1 episode
2002–04 Room for Improvement Host TV series
2004 Down The Line with Scott McGregor Host TV series
2005 Australian Icon Towns Host TV series, 1 episode (History Channel)
2005–06 Blue Water High Harvey TV series, 2 episodes
2008 The Stamp of Australia Host TV special (History Channel)

Theatre

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Year Title Role Type
1979 The Three Sisters Jane Street Theatre with NIDA
1979 Lower Depths NIDA Theatre
1979 The Beggar’s Opera NIDA Theatre, Playhouse, Canberra
1979 The Ballad of the Sad Café NIDA Theatre
1980 Under Milk Wood Playhouse, Perth
1980 Loot Hal Playhouse, Perth
1982 Saturday Sunday Monday Rocco, the younger son SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre
1982 The Tempest Ferdinand Albert Park Amphitheatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre
1984 Stage Struck Marian Street Theatre with Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
1985; 1986 Bouncers Walter Seymour Centre, Universal Theatre, Melbourne
1986 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Melbourne Athenaeum
1987 Tartuffe Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company
1987 The Winter's Tale Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company
1987 The Golden Age Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company
1987 Les Liaisons Dangereuses Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company
1988 Faces in the Street Seymour Centre for Sydney Festival
1988 Drums of Thunder Belvoir Street Theatre
1996 Down an Alley Filled With Cats Marian Street Theatre for Sydney Festival

[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Scott McGregor, TV Presenter, author and Collector". www.otr.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Railway adventures across Australia / directed by Rodney Long; produced by Michael Neil Smith". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  3. ^ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/grafton/mcgregor-on-the-way/news-story/81cc6313a763153498385ee4d465a7b1
  4. ^ https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Scott-McGregor-Fix-It-9781741753264
  5. ^ "About Scott, Railway Adventures". Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  6. ^ https://railwayadventures.travel/about-us/
  7. ^ https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/3779
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