Garry McDonald

Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. He is known for his portrayal of the bawdy Wollongong interviewer and Gold Logie award winning character Norman Gunston and for his role of hapless Arthur Beare in the ABC television sitcom Mother and Son.

Career

McDonald was born in Bondi, Sydney, and was educated at Cranbrook School. During his time at Cranbrook, McDonald developed an interest in acting and, despite family objections, went on to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he obtained a Diploma in Acting in 1967.

Norman Gunston

It was while working on The Aunty Jack Show in 1973, that McDonald first performed the character for which he would become best-known, the gauche and inept TV personality, Norman Gunston. Gunston's first appearance was in a series of brief sketches written by Wendy Skelcher which saw him reporting uncomfortably on a "sex-scandal drought" in his home town, the New South Wales city of Wollongong; a drought he eventually breaks by appearing nude on camera.