Penghlis was born in
Surry Hills,
New South Wales of Greek parentage. Penghlis started his career in acting on stage, performing in
Jockeys under
Milton Katselas's direction. Penghlis first appeared to daytime audiences in 1981 on
General Hospital during the Ice Princess saga when he played the role of
Victor Cassadine, brother of
Mikkos and Anthony Cassadine. After his character was written out of the show by being taken to prison, he was cast as the villainous Count
Tony DiMera, the son of villain
Stefano DiMera in the
NBC daytime drama
Days of Our Lives. Penghlis returned to daytime in his one-time role of Victor Cassadine on
General Hospital from 30 January 2014 to 4 March 2014, although he made subsequent returns in the same year. He returned for one episode on 1 May 2014, and then again from 7–12 August and once more from 3 September until 16 September 2014 when the character was killed. Penghlis starred in the
1980s revival of
Mission: Impossible, which was filmed in his native Australia. Penghlis' role as actor, makeup artist, and voice impersonator Nicholas Black in the revival was a counterpart to
Martin Landau's Rollin Hand and
Leonard Nimoy's The Great Paris. Penghlis played a role in the 2013 film
The Book of Esther. ==Awards and nominations ==