Barry Otto

Barry Otto was born in 1941 in Brisbane, the son of Alice Long and Bob Stephens, a car dealer from the suburb of Chermside. His mother later married Ronald Otto, a butcher of German ancestry. Barry is actually of Scottish and Irish descent. He has a sister named Denise, who was a model. for the likes of Myer and McWhirters, while he took classes in cutting and designing, with dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Otto started his acting career in amateur theatre, but never formally trained as an actor. ==Career==

Otto began acting in amateur theatre and drawing room comedies in the 1970s. His performance as Doug Hastings (father of Paul Mercurio’s Scott) in Baz Luhrmann’s first feature film Strictly Ballroom (1992) earned him two awards for Best Supporting Actor from the Australian Film Institute and Film Critics Circle of Australia. for which he received a Green Room Award for Best Actor. opposite Cate Blanchett. The same year he had a role in Kiss or Kill (1997), He voiced a character in 2010 animated film ''Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and in 2015, he voiced the role of Mayor Wilberforce Cranklepot, a goanna, in animated feature Blinky Bill the Movie''. Otto has worked extensively in television, beginning with an ongoing role as Trevor McKenzie in Grundy's soap opera Until Tomorrow in 1975. He later starred as Douglas Goddard in the acclaimed 1987 miniseries Vietnam alongside Nicole Kidman. His other miniseries credits include The Dismissal (1983), The Paper Man (1990) and Through My Eyes (2004) alongside daughter Miranda. He starred as Sir Jeffrey in dance series Dance Academy in 2013, and as Julius Bechly in Sisters in 2017. In 2023, the film Australia received a spin-off miniseries, Faraway Downs in which Otto reprised his role as Administrator Alsop. He has also had guest roles in Case for the Defence, Spring & Fall and A Country Practice, Shadows of the Heart, G.P., Murder Call, Outriders, Farscape, The Secret Life of Us, HeadLand, All Saints, Stupid Stupid Man, Rake and The Other Guy. Additionally, Otto has appeared in numerous theatre productions during his career, including The Marriage of Figaro for which he won a 1991 Green Room Award. ==Personal life==

Otto married Lindsay Clayton, whom he met while performing in amateur theatre in Brisbane. They appeared together in a Brisbane Repertory Theatre 1967 stage production of Goodnight Mrs Puffin. Together they had a daughter Miranda (also an actress), who was born in Brisbane in 1967. They divorced in 1973. After his marriage broke down, Otto met second wife Susan 'Sue' Hill (eventual co-founder of Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre), Through daughter Miranda and her actor husband Peter O’Brien, Otto is grandfather to Darcey O'Brien. Otto was prone to suffering from depression, which hit an all-time low when he suffered a nervous breakdown after a blow to his confidence when performing in a stage production of The Kreutzer Sonata at the Adelaide Festival. ==Filmography==

in 2012 Film Television ==Theatre==

, Ritz Cinema, Randwick, Sydney Honours Otto was inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame in 2012 (located outside Ritz Cinema in ‘The Spot’ at Randwick) alongside actress Deborah Mailman. Recipients honoured in years before him were Charles 'Bud' Tingwell (2008), Michael Caton, (2009), Roy Billing (2009), Claudia Karvan (2010), Steve Bisley (2010), Gary Sweet (2011) and Jack Thompson (2011). Awards and nominations ==References==