MELBOURNE: Television, theatre actor Peter Curtin dies

The Melbourne Theatre Company is mourning the death of actor Peter Curtin.

Curtin’s varied career with the Melbourne Theatre Company began in 1973, when as a member of the MTC Ensemble he played Jack Clitheroe opposite Wendy Hughes in The Plough and the Stars.  

His subsequent performances included Summer of the Seventeenth DollA Touch of SilkLittle MurdersA Streetcar Named DesirePrivates on ParadeA Doll’s House, Bremen Cafe, Shakespeare the SadistAntigoneThe Beaux StratagemDesire Under the ElmsThe Merchant of VeniceArden and the national tour of Sylvia – to name a few.

A familiar face and voice on television and radio, Curtin appeared in MDA, White Collar Blue, All Saints, Ponderosa, Blue Heelers, Something in the Air, The Games, SeaChange, Backberner, Stingers, A Country Practice, Embassy, Mission Impossible, The Bodysurfer, Here Comes Bucknuckle, and Winner Takes All, while his screen appearances include Till Human Voices Wake Us, Don’t Peek, and Blood Money.

Curtin took his final bow with Melbourne Theatre Company in the 2003 production of The Goat with Philip Quast and the late Wendy Hughes.

“Peter Curtin’s career stretched through the history of MTC, through the eras of the late John Sumner AO CBE, Roger Hodgman and Simon Phillips,” said MTC’s current artistic director Brett Sheehy AO.

“He was known and loved by so many and his presence on our stages will be sorely missed.  

“Our hearts go out to his wife Ailsa Piper, also a much loved member of the MTC alumni, and to her and Peter’s family and friends.”